Disney New Home of Grammy Telecast Under 10-Year Global Deal

Disney Entertainment co-chairman Dana Walden and The Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. announced today a new 10-year global deal for The Grammys to be exclusively simulcast on ABC, Hulu and Disney+ beginning in 2027 — making The Walt Disney Company the first new home for Music’s Biggest Night in 50 years.

The Grammys aired on ABC in 1971 and 1972, its first two years as a live telecast. The show shifted to CBS in 1973, where it will end a long run with the 2026 show. In a sense, the Grammys and the American Music Awards are swapping networks. The AMAs aired on ABC every year from 1974 to 2022 and began its association with its new network, CBS, with a two-hour anniversary show earlier this month. The next regular yearly AMA show will air on CBS in May.

The Recording Academy and Disney entered into an agreement that solidifies the company as the destination for The Grammys through 2036. As part of this deal, The Recording Academy will also produce multiple Grammy-branded music specials and additional new programming for audiences around the world across Disney’s platforms.

“The Grammys is a marquee addition to The Walt Disney Company’s slate of some of the best and most prestigious live event programming across entertainment and sports — from The Oscars, The CMA Awards and Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest to the leading multiplatform sports entertainment brand, ESPN,” Walden said in a statement. “In fact, in the first year of this agreement, 2027, ABC will present The Grammys, The Oscars and Super Bowl LXI. As The Walt Disney Company combines forces with The Recording Academy to open this exciting new chapter in the history of ‘The Grammys,’ we do so with pride and gratitude. Live events have never been more important to our culture and industry, and we just acquired one of the crown jewels, adding to our portfolio of world-class programming across all genres.”

“We are completely thrilled to be bringing The Grammys and other new music programming to the Disney ecosystem,” Mason said in a statement. “We are grateful to our long-standing partners at CBS and now honored to be joining with Disney, an iconic company where creators have always been at the forefront. This partnership represents another important milestone in the Academy’s transformation and growth, and strengthens our ability to fulfill our mission of uplifting and serving music people around the world.”

Starting in 2027, ABC will be the only network to regularly air more than one EGOT-level awards show. ABC has aired the Oscars every year since 1976. CBS will then only have the Tony Awards, which it has aired every year since 1978. The fourth EGOT-level show, the Primetime Emmy Awards, has since 1996 alternated among ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.

As president/CEO of the Recording Academy in 2016, Neil Portnow negotiated a 10-year contract with CBS that was worth a reported $600 million. Portnow held the top job at the academy from 2002 to 2019.