As broadcasters and news nets pull out all the stops for their election night coverage of one of the most hotly contested presidential races in U.S. history, Amazon Prime Video will make some history of its own by streaming “Election Night Live With Brian Williams.”
While Prime Video hosts a plethora of free live streaming news channels from major U.S. and international broadcasters, the Brian Williams special marks a major step forward in creating original news content for Prime Video. It will stream from 5 p.m. (ET) on Nov. 5 to 2 a.m. (ET) on Nov. 6.
The stream will be accesible to non-Amazon Prime members.
“While sports have clearly found a home on streaming … news has struggled to develop a business model away from the legacy multichannel bundle,“ LightShed Partners analyst Richard Greenfield said. “News networks have launched FAST channels and added programming to streaming platforms like Max, Peacock, Fox Nation and Paramount+, but none have become major drivers of streaming engagement...It will be interesting to see how many viewers choose to watch on Amazon relative to broadcast and cable news networks."
For the special from White Cherry Entertainment, Brian Williams will be joined live by guests to share real-time poll results and commentary while also referencing third-party news sources.
“After 41 years in the business—from local news to network shows to cable news—this feels like the next big thing. And the global marketplace of Amazon is a natural home for this first-of-its-kind venture,” Williams said. “Together we will follow the storyline on election night wherever it leads us.”
The program will be produced by Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner with Jonathan Wald as executive producer and showrunner, and Weiss also serving as director.
"Prime Video is excited to host Brian Williams for a one-night-only Election Night special event. Prime Video provides customers access to programming that delights, informs, and engages, conveniently offered in one centralized app,” Amazon Vice President and Head of Prime Video Albert Cheng said. “This nonpartisan live special will draw from major news sources and complement the various partner news channels available on Prime Video. Our comprehensive offering is designed to give today’s viewer a direct and seamless way to keep up with election results.”
Other news services available on the Live TV Tab on Prime Video include ABC News Live, CBS News 24/7, CNN Headlines, LiveNOW from Fox, NBC News Now, Noticias Univision 24/7, Reuters and The Washington Post Television.
