By Ron Wynn
Amazon Prime Video is continuing to make its presence known in streaming circles and has now landed one of country music’s two biggest award shows. They announced Monday that Prime Video will stream the Academy of Country Music Awards (ACM) live in 2022. The awards, produced by MRC’s Dick Clark Productions, are moving from their longtime home at CBS, which has aired the ACM Awards every year since 1998.
“We’re excited to continue to expand our content offerings for Prime Video customers by being the exclusive home for the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2022 and honoring the best in country music,” Vernon Sanders, co-head of television at Amazon Studios, said in an announcement Monday. “Reaching this milestone with our partners at the Academy of Country Music and MRC as the first major awards show to be livestreamed speaks to our dedication and commitment to continue to both entertain and innovate for our audience.”
ACM CEO Damon Whiteside added,, “We are thrilled that the Academy of Country Music Awards are first to take this giant step toward the future of awards shows with Amazon Prime Video. This partnership, which reinforces our position as an innovative, progressive awards show, will deliver the broadest possible audience and, simultaneously, deliver massive value to our artists whose music lives inside this ecosystem, enabling fans to discover and stream music as they watch.”
A date for the 2022 ACM Awards will be announced later. CBS will now air the CMT Music Awards on April 3, which has previously been the time it ran the ACM ceremonies, as part of a week of country-themed programming across ViacomCBS outlets.
“We congratulate our partners at the Academy and Amazon for blazing a path for the future of live awards shows,” MRC co-CEO Modi Wiczyk said.. “Our team is excited to be part of the creative and entrepreneurial innovations that streaming technology will unleash.”
Dick Clark Productions is a division of MRC.