Following Amazon Prime Video’s recent livestream of the 60th annual Academy of Country Music Awards, the streamer has announced a multi-year deal to continue hosting the awards through 2028.
Produced by Dick Clark Productions, the ACM Awards first moved to Amazon in 2022, becoming the first-ever major awards ceremony to run exclusively on a streamer after having previously aired on CBS for 23 years. News of the extended deal, which will take the show through its 63rd edition, came out of Amazon’s 2026 upfront presentation in New York on Monday.
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The 60th ACM Awards streamed live from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas on May 8. Reba McEntire hosted the show, which featured performances from Backstreet Boys, Blake Shelton, Chris Stapleton, Jelly Roll, Kelsea Ballerini, Lionel Richie, Miranda Lambert, Rascal Flatts and Shaboozey among others. Lainey Wilson was named entertainer of the year for the second year in a row and took home three other awards, making her the second-most winning artist of the night. Ella Langley won the most awards with five total, while Alan Jackson received the inaugural ACM Lifetime Achievement Award and Keith Urban received the ACM Triple Crown Award.
Raj Kapoor served as showrunner of the 60th ACM Awards. Executive producers included Kapoor, ACM’s Damon Whiteside and Dick Clark’s Jay Penske and Barry Adelman. Patrick Menton served as co-executive producer and John Saade served as consulting producer for Amazon MGM Studios.
“Our ongoing partnership with the Academy of Country Music and Dick Clark Productions has been an amazing experience for everyone involved,” said Vernon Sanders, global head of television at Amazon MGM Studios. “With the tremendous success of this year’s 60th anniversary show hosted by the legendary Reba McEntire, we are overjoyed to continue our relationship with the Academy and DCP for the next three years. We look forward to maintaining this success and bringing even more star-studded and captivating shows to our global Prime Video customers.”
“Our powerful partnership with Amazon MGM Studios and Prime Video has expanded the reach and accessibility of our show and the Country Music genre to viewers anytime, anywhere around the world and has redefined what an awards show experience can and should be in today’s environment,” said Damon Whiteside, CEO of the Academy of Country Music. “The synergies between Prime Video, Amazon Music, Twitch and the other divisions of Amazon bring exponential value to our artists, our genre and our fans through an immersive 360 music experience they can’t get from any other platform. I am so proud of our pioneering first four years in the streaming space, and we are excited to continue to deliver the future of Country Music and the ACM Awards to fans everywhere over the next three years.”
“We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with Prime Video through 2028,” said Jay Penske, CEO of Dick Clark Productions. “The Academy of Country Music Awards made history in 2022 as the first major awards show to exclusively livestream and continues to break new ground, creating a world-class music event and providing dynamic, unparalleled reach through Prime Video, connecting country music with a global audience.”
“I feel like it’s just another way for us to get Country Music out there to the world,” said Miranda Lambert, the artist who has won the highest number of ACM Awards throughout the show’s history. “Country music is really popular right now, and I’m so glad more people are understanding what we’re about, and I’m so happy to be part of the ACM history, and that it’s gonna continue for three more years is really exciting.”
Variety parent company PMC owns Dick Clark Prods. in a joint venture with Eldridge.
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