Is this the end of awards shows on television? What about other valuable live television events.

After CBS reportedly balked at paying the Academy of Country Music $22 million for the privilege of airing the 57th ACM Awards show, Amazon stepped in to offer to carry the program on its Prime service. This marks the first time a streaming service will be sole carrier of a major awards show.

The ACM Awards have hopped from network to network before, but they have always aired on a broadcast television network. Launched in 1966, the Academy of Country Music Awards has aired on ABC (1972-78), NBC (1979-97) and, most recently on CBS (1998-2021), before Amazon picked the show up.

“We’re excited to continue to expand our content offerings for Prime Video customers by being the exclusive home for the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2022 and honoring the best in country music,” said Vernon Sanders, co-head of television at Amazon Studios. “Reaching this milestone with our partners at the Academy of Country Music and MRC as the first major awards show to be livestreamed speaks to our dedication and commitment to continue to both entertain and innovate for our audience.”

Amazon also stole another high-value product from network television this year. Amazon will take over exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football one year earlier than announced, buying out the games that had been set to air on Fox. Amazon had been set to get exclusive rights beginning in 2023, now their 15 pro games will air starting in 2022.

Awards shows have been on a steep ratings slide in the past few years. In 2021, shows like the Oscars, Grammys and Golden Globes all fell by more than 50 percent in total viewers after the COVID-19 pandemic forced major changes to the traditional in-person presentation of the awards.

The ACM Awards also hit an all-time low: the program averaged 6.28 million viewers which was down from the previous all-time low. Even with those declines, however, awards shows still managed to notch the kind of ratings that put them among the better non-sports draws on their respective networks — ABC, CBS and NBC — last season.

According to sources, another reason CBS opted not to renew its deal for the ACM Awards is because the network is focusing on growing the CMT Music Awards from their sister station following the Viacom/CBS merger. CBS will air the that show approximately when they would have aired the ACM awards, on April 3rd.

Amazon has not yet announced the date for the ACM Awards Show.