The Emmy Awards are leaving broadcast television for a streaming-first future, marking a historic shift for entertainment industry awards.
The golden age of television is officially cutting the cord. Starting in 2027, the Emmy Awards will abandon their decades-old home on broadcast networks to find a new exclusive stage on Prime Video.
The shift ends the familiar annual rotation that saw ABC. CBS. FOX. and NBC take turns hosting the industry’s most prestigious night. Under the new six-year deal with the Television Academy. the ceremony will be streamed for free to viewers across more than 240 countries and territories. Users will not be required to hold a Prime subscription to access the event.
Amazon is committing between $20 million and $25 million annually for the rights to the main ceremony. The move signals a broader transition for the Television Academy. which may also place its other programming—including the Hall of Fame ceremony—under the Prime Video umbrella. The future of the Creative Arts Emmys, however, remains unconfirmed.
The optics of the industry’s top honors moving away from traditional broadcast are sharp. This year’s top-tier winners. *The Pitt* and *Widow’s Bay*. originated on streaming platforms. proving that the medium has already fundamentally shifted away from the networks that once hosted the trophies for those very programs.
This decision establishes the Emmys as the first major entertainment awards ceremony to move exclusively to a streaming service. It beats the Academy Awards to the milestone. as the Oscars are slated to make a similar move to YouTube beginning in 2029. After years of streaming platforms gaining ground on the awards circuit. the industry has finally moved the stage itself into the cloud.
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