The Grammy Awards is an annual award ceremony that honors outstanding artists in the music industry with great prestige and a long career behind them. The broadcast license for the event was in the hands of the CBS television network, but the agreement is about to come to an end. Instead of renewing it, The Hollywood Reporter has announced that they have signed a contract with ABC, Hulu and Disney Plus+.
The Grammy broadcast will continue to be broadcast on the CBS channel and its streaming service Paramount+ in 2025 and 2026. However, that will change starting in 2027, when the ABC network and its streaming sites (Disney Plus+ and Hulu) will make the relay. The award is one of the highest valued in the industry, so it is an important achievement to obtain the broadcasting rights.
It should be noted that ABC also maintains an agreement with the Oscars until at least 2028. Therefore, the American network will have the two most watched awards ceremonies in the television industry. However, the Academy Awards cannot be viewed on Disney Plus+. On the other hand, it does seem that the Grammys will come to streaming.
Grammy Awards move from CBS to ABC
The most renowned music awards ceremony in the world had been broadcast on the CBS channel since 1973. That year, the award for best album went to The Concert for Bangladesh, by George Harrison. From then until today, the Grammy broadcast has continued to be broadcast on that network, becoming almost a tradition.
However, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States has decided to hand over the baton to ABC. After 51 years with CBS and several years on Paramount+, we will be able to watch the awards show live from Disney Plus+. According to the agreement, the new agreement gives broadcast rights to ABC and its streaming platforms for 10 years. That is, until 2036, although the license could be extended with contract renewals.
The Grammys: the most viewed music awards ceremony
The 66th Grammy Awards held in early 2024 had around 17.09 million viewers. This represents an increase of 36% compared to the 2023 broadcast. The importance of this event in which awards are given to artists in the music industry is more than clear and Dana Walden, co-president of Disney Entertainment, has recognized it in the statement of the recent collaboration.
She stressed that the joining of forces between The Walt Disney Company and The Recording Academy opens a “new and exciting chapter in the history of the Grammys.” “Live events have never been more important to our culture and industry, and we have just acquired one of the crown jewels, adding to our portfolio of world-class programming across all genres,” says Walden.
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For his part, Harvey Manson Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, stressed that they are “very excited to bring the Grammy Awards and other new music programs to the Disney ecosystem.” The CEO does not forget the past and they claim to be “grateful” for the long career at the CBS network, but this stage has already ended: “Now we feel honored to join Disney, an iconic company where the creators have always been at the forefront.” vanguard”.
Manson Jr. highlights that the partnership “represents another important milestone in the transformation and growth of the Academy.” As stated in the statement, the agreement is in line with its mission to “uplift and serve music people around the world.”