There may be a new kid on the news media block. Variety reports that Amazon is exploring investments in more original news programming on its Prime Video platform. Those discussions follow the streaming giant’s first-ever newscast Election Night Live with Brian Williams, which streamed globally on Nov. 5, 2024.
An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment on Variety’s reporting when reached by TVNewser.
The election special marked the first time Williams had appeared behind an anchor desk since 2021, when the former face of the NBC Nightly News signed off from his post-broadcast perch at MSNBC. And he brought a number of other former legacy media correspondents along with him into the streaming realm, including ex-CNN talent like Jessica Yellin and Candy Crowley and former Fox News anchor Shepard Smith.
According to Variety, Election Night Live reached an estimated four million viewers as the evening unfolded. That’s well behind Fox News’ audience of 10 million and even NBC’s 5.5 million viewer threshold during the 8-11 p.m. viewing window. But it notably puts Prime Video ahead of broadcast outlets like CBS News and the Fox network, both of which finished below the four million mark.
Speaking with TVNewser in November, the producing team behind the election special—Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner—said they hoped to prove that there was a place for news on Prime Video.
“I hope the special illustrates that any company that is broadcasting into homes via any means is capable of doing something like this,” Weiss remarked. “As the people building the actual structure here… hopefully this will prove that.”
The duo also made a point of visually differentiating Election Night Live from standard network news coverage, shooting the special on a Volume Wall-enabled soundstage in Los Angeles and leaning into Americana in the set design and graphics.
“We walked onto an empty soundstage without the support of a news department or a newsroom or an anchor’s desk,” Weiss said. “We wanted [to create] an environment that represents this country.”
Variety also reports that Amazon is specifically looking to follow the Election Night Live model of one-off news specials as opposed to a regular nightly newscast, and intends to avoid the hint of any partisan leanings in its coverage. That suggests the streamer would likely avoid signing news talent to extensive (and expensive) contracts; Williams, for example, was only enlisted for Election Night.