Two of television’s biggest annual events are shifting toward streaming. The Television Academy and Amazon announced Tuesday that the Emmy Awards will leave their decades-long broadcast network rotation for Prime Video starting in 2027, under a six-year exclusive global streaming deal. Separately, Disney+ confirmed it will simulcast Super Bowl LXI on February 14, 2027, marking the first time the Super Bowl streams on Disney’s flagship service, airing alongside, not instead of, its traditional ESPN and ABC broadcast.
The Emmys deal ends the broadcast “wheel,” the rotating arrangement between ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox that’s determined which network aired the ceremony each year since 1995. NBC aired the most recent ceremony on September 14. Under the new agreement, Prime Video becomes what the companies are calling the Emmys’ “permanent home,” streaming the ceremony free to all viewers, including non-subscribers, in more than 240 countries and territories. Deadline reports the deal is worth an estimated $20 million to $25 million per year, with Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, framing the move as an opportunity to build the Emmys into “a global event” and attract younger viewers who are more inclined to stream than watch broadcast television. Television Academy chair Cris Abrego said a singular streaming home, rather than a new network partner each year, was his goal from the outset, and that keeping the telecast free to view was a non-negotiable condition of the deal.
The Super Bowl move follows a different logic, expanding access rather than replacing the existing broadcast entirely. ESPN will produce the Super Bowl for the first time ever in 2027, with the traditional game presentation airing on both ESPN and ABC as usual, called by Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters, and Laura Rutledge, plus a Spanish-language broadcast on ESPN Deportes. Disney+ is simply adding a third way to watch that same broadcast, at no additional cost to subscribers, rather than taking the game away from traditional TV. The deal also brings two Monday Night Football games to Disney+ ahead of the Super Bowl, starting with Cowboys-Eagles on October 26, with both games continuing to air as scheduled on ESPN, ABC, and ESPN Deportes alongside the streaming option. Outside the U.S., Disney+ will stream the game in more than 55 international markets, while ESPN’s linear platforms will broadcast it in more than 130 countries and territories overall. Disney has already sold out its Super Bowl ad inventory, the earliest sellout announcement in the event’s history, with 58 brands across 34 categories securing spots.
Both moves reflect the same broader shift reshaping how major live events reach audiences, as streaming platforms increasingly compete for and win rights once considered exclusive to broadcast networks. The trend isn’t limited to these two deals: YouTube and YouTube TV took over Oscars media rights from ABC starting in 2029, and Netflix has exclusively aired the SAG Awards since 2024. The key distinction between these two particular deals is worth noting: the Emmys are making a clean break from broadcast entirely, while the Super Bowl is simply adding a streaming option on top of its existing ESPN and ABC broadcast.
With the Emmys now locked into a single streaming home and the Super Bowl testing a simulcast model for the first time, the next major test will be viewership numbers, whether these moves actually grow audiences the way both companies are projecting, or whether longtime viewers accustomed to flipping to a channel resist the shift to another login screen.