Is Amazon finally entering the news industry?

The next Amazon delivery to your home could be a 65-year-old journalist.

The e-commerce, cloud computing and media giant is in talks with TV news veteran Brian Williams to host an election night special, Variety reports. The move would give Amazon Prime Video primetime news, at least for one night.

Blues broadcast

After breaking into TV and movies, Amazon has made inroads into the world of live programming, acquiring the long-term – and expensive – rights to broadcast NFL and NBA games, the latter of which begins next season. However, like much of the streaming world, the e-commerce giant has shown little interest in live news.

For Williams, who has been out of a job since leaving his position at MSNBC in 2021 (his first tour with the network ended after a truth-telling controversy), Amazon could have found an industry veteran to help them break through. The one-off show would focus on Variety’s sources say they rely more on analysis from a group of commentators and newsmakers than on breaking news.

This would be a big first step towards live news, although it’s an audience that appears to be shrinking in real time:

• According to Nielsen ratings, in 2020, election nights on 21 stations were watched by approximately 56.9 million viewers (for comparison: this year, the Super Bowl on Fox was watched by 102 million people). That number was down from 71 million viewers across 13 networks in 2016, according to Nielsen, though Fox News’ 13.7 million viewers in 2020 was the highest ever recorded by a cable network on election night.
• Reducing the attractiveness of the space for broadcasters (and their advertisers): the audience. The average age of MSNBC, Fox News and CNN viewers is 70, 69 and 67, respectively. No wonder Amazon decides to – let’s say – acquaintance face to face for the first time on TV news.

Scripps Creek: Amazon’s first election night might just be another competitor’s last. On Friday, EW Scripps CEO Adam Symson told employees in a memo that Scripps News, the company’s 24/7 terrestrial national news station, would go out of business by Nov. 15. TV news is a tough industry.