\n<\/p>\n
It was only a matter of time. The Screen Actors Guild Awards will become the first major film and television awards show to air on a streaming network beginning in 2024.<\/p>\n
On the day of its 2023 nominations, the SAG Awards\u00a0 \u2014 which honor the work of TV and film actors \u2014\u00a0 and Netflix announced a new multi-year partnership that will begin next year with the 30th annual ceremony. In the meantime, this year\u2019s February 26 ceremony will stream on Netflix\u2019s YouTube channel.<\/p>\n
The SAG Awards have been considered a pivotal stop of awards season for years, with the results often closely aligning with the eventual Academy Awards winners. (Last year, the SAG-AFTRA voters\u00a0picked the exact same acting winners<\/a> as the Oscars, and also gave the ensemble prize to eventual best picture winner\u00a0CODA<\/em>).\u00a0 But after years of plummeting ratings \u2014 an issue that plagues all awards shows \u2014 the SAG Awards announced in May of 2022 that it would no longer air on TNT and TBS, the network it has called home since 1998. The 2022 show averaged 1.8 million viewers, an uptick from the COVID-19 pre-taped ceremony of 2021, but much lower than pre-pandemic numbers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Netflix is still building its live streaming technology so the service won\u2019t be set up to stream the 2023 show, which is slated for Sunday, February 26. Streaming on Netflix\u2019s YouTube channel may be a humbling downgrade from a broadcast network, but the potential to tap into Netflix\u2019s global audience\u2014it has 223 million users around the world\u2014in 2024 could result in a new fresh start for the awards show.<\/p>\n \u201cThe SAG Awards are beloved by the creative community and viewers alike, and now even more fans around the world will be able to celebrate these talented actors,\u201d said Netflix Head of Global TV\u00a0Bela Bajaria.<\/strong> \u201cAs we begin to explore live streaming on Netflix, we look forward to partnering with SAG-AFTRA to elevate and expand this special ceremony as a global live event in 2024 and the years to come.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Netflix executives have never acted all that interested in offering live programming, which during the streaming pioneer’s early years might have felt out of place on a platform known for popularizing the binge release model. But last year, after losing subscribers and projecting declining revenue growth, the company revealed plans to introduce advertising onto its platform for the first time, opening the door for it to introduce live broadcasts<\/a> to its offering.\u00a0<\/p>\n The streamer announced in November that it planned to experiment with live programming for the first time with a Chris Rock standup special. The program, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage<\/em>, is set to air on March 4. Both the standup special and the SAG Awards will be valuable testing opportunities as Netflix looks to built out its live streaming capabilities. They could pave the way for more ambitious live streams, including sports broadcasts. (The streamer was reportedly among the bidders<\/a> for the U.S. rights to Formula 1, already popular on its service thanks to docuseries Drive to Survive<\/em>, but ultimately lost out to current rights holder ESPN.)<\/p>\n For the past few years, the awards show economy has been having an identity crisis as ratings continue to plummet and the shows have been met with criticism for their inability to reach new audiences. And as they continue to expand, streamers have slowly added awards shows to their line-ups. In 2021, Amazon landed the rights to the Academy of Country Music Awards after CBS passed on renewing its contract.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n