Will ACM Awards’ Move From TV to Streaming-Only Spur a Gold Rush? Maybe, but Amazon Plans to Be Selective
variety.comChris Willman Music WriterIt wasn’t just country fans tuning in — or rather streaming in — to watch the Academy of Country Music Awards on Prime Video Monday night.
It’s a safe bet that among the viewers were a lot of producers and execs connected with other awards shows, wondering if they, too, might someday land an exclusive deal with a well-heeled streaming service, as the broadcast networks are less inclined to spend big money on these shows with diminishing ratings for nearly all of them.Kudocasts being exclusively webcast instead of broadcast could be the wave of the future.
Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, says that she believes “you’ll see more of it from our competitors as well,.” But she adds that Amazon particularly, “given all the cross-verticals that are within our company, make it a great fit for this kind of thing.” But don’t expect Amazon to be a sugar daddy for all awards shows that might come knocking: The company isn’t likely to pick up shows that can’t put the company’s synergy to use in encouraging further in-house streaming or purchasing.“We’ve gotten calls over the years for various shows,” says Salke, but “I don’t think it’s a one-size-fits-all, like ‘We’re doing this show, so we would do these five others.’ You’d evaluate them on a case-by-case basis.
This one felt like the perfect fit because of the country music audience that Amazon already is entertaining globally” — via Amazon Music — “and just because of the nature of the kinds of live entertainment we’re starting to lean into.
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