The Emmys are moving to Prime Video. Amazon closed a six-year global deal with the Television Academy on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, giving its streaming service the rights to the annual Emmy Awards ceremony, which it will make free to watch on Prime Video each September, Deadline reported.
How much the Emmys Prime Video deal is worth
Deadline, citing sources, said the agreement is worth $20 million to $25 million a year, with one source putting it at $24 million annually, or more than $120 million over the full term. Amazon took worldwide rights rather than a U.S.-only package, which means the show can be marketed as a single global event rather than sold country by country.
The end of the network rotation
The deal ends a long run on broadcast television. Since 1995, ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC have taken turns airing the Primetime Emmys in a rotating “wheel.” Now the TV industry’s top honors will stream on a platform rather than air on a network, a shift that tracks with how much of today’s award-winning television is made for streamers.
Deadline reported that keeping the broadcast free to view was a must for the Academy, so Prime Video will not put the show behind its paid membership.
What Amazon wants from the Emmys
Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, told Deadline the company wants to turn the ceremony into a “global event.” “We thought we could increase the viewership, bring in a younger audience, work with the Academy to put a lot more energy, and maybe look at the production itself to try to innovate,” he said.
Award shows have been chasing younger viewers through streaming and social clips, the same playbook that drives buzz around events like the 2026 MTV VMAs and viral live-TV moments such as Taylor Swift’s SNL cameo.
A busy week for Hollywood deals
The Emmys news landed the same day Hollywood’s map was redrawn by the close of the Paramount Warner Bros merger, which put CBS, a longtime Emmys broadcaster, and HBO, a perennial Emmys winner, under one company. Under the new deal, the ceremony’s home for the next six years is Amazon’s streaming service rather than a broadcast network.
Source: Deadline.