WASHINGTON DC. WA, October 10, 2026 — Hollywood’s biggest awards show is close to ditching broadcast television altogether. The Television Academy is in negotiations to reach an agreement with Amazon Prime Video to livestream the Emmy Awards beginning next year. If it goes through, the plan would end a decades-long practice of rotating the ceremony among major networks.
The History of the Broadcast Wheel
Insiders refer to the arrangement as the “wheel deal,” which saw the Emmys rotate annually on ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC for 31 years. That pact lapsed after this year’s ceremony, which was broadcast by NBC and streamed live on Peacock. The Television Academy said it is examining new rights deals as that agreement nears its end.
According to Nielsen, the industry standard for audience measurement, NBC’s broadcast attracted approximately 6.7 million viewers — a drop of roughly 10 percent from last year’s ceremony on CBS. That decline mirrors a larger trend of shrinking audiences for traditional awards shows across television. Streaming services have started to win over viewers that used to flock to live network events.
Here is Why Amazon Looks Like a Probable Destination
Amazon Prime Video has experience with live awards programming, having streamed the Academy of Country Music Awards since 2022. That awards show was the first nationwide country music program to transition completely to streaming. According to Amazon’s press materials, the company is investing more in live event programming in both sports and entertainment.
While the Emmys would be the latest major awards show to depart traditional television, it would make a move to Amazon exclusively. The Oscars, meanwhile, will switch exclusively to streaming platforms in future rights cycles, another blow for linear broadcast. Industry research from the Pew Research Center shows a steady transition in consumer preference away from cable subscriptions toward on-demand digital platforms. Analysts identify this as part of a larger cultural shift regarding how audiences consume major cultural events.
The Potential Implications of a Streaming Shift
The ceremony has had widespread reach to casual viewers due to the nature of free broadcast television, but moving to a subscription streaming service could potentially alter that. Its supporters claim that streaming platforms could provide viewers with experiences more flexible than linear broadcasts. Critics fear that paywalled access will only contract an audience for the ceremony, which has been in decline.
Public financial terms of any Amazon deal were not provided, and the duration of a potential agreement is also unknown. The Television Academy hasn’t revealed where the event will be broadcast in 2027, with the industry waiting for an official announcement. Insiders are said to believe that a choice could arrive “within several months.”
Wider Pattern in Awards Shows
The change is part of a broader trend in recent years of awards shows moving away from broadcast networks and onto streaming platforms, which the Motion Picture Association has documented in its annual industry reports. Other industry ceremonies like the Screen Actors Guild Awards have already made this transition for recent seasons. Television executives increasingly think of streaming exclusives as necessary for subscriber gain — not just simple advertising revenues.
Whether the move will help or harm the Emmys’ cultural relevance is a question that remains to be answered. Streaming has a much more natural audience than conventional scheduled broadcast television — especially among younger audiences. For loyal watchers used to network coverage, the move signified the end of an era almost as old as the awards show.
Mixed responses to a streaming-only ceremony in the future came from nominees and presenters. However, not all acts have been resistant to the change; many performers believe that streaming means more creative production opportunities. Some are worried about losing the collective cultural moment a major broadcast event can bring.
Advertisers are also keeping a close eye on the possible shift, as streaming services have different ad-buying models compared to traditional TV spots. Insights from the Interactive Advertising Bureau note that digital video formats offer targeted advertising structures compared to traditional broadcast slots. The kind of exclusivity that comes in a subscription can alter the way brands engage in sponsorship deals around the ceremony. That is a change that parallels broader industry-wide transformations in how advertising integrates into television.
In past decades — the height of the award show’s glory days on broadcast television — Emmy ceremonies regularly reached tens of millions of viewers. Audiences today are much smaller, in a media environment that is not the same as it was then. An Emmys streaming home, then, may end up a way of recognizing that television audiences already have moved on.
