Grammy Awards Set 2027 Move to ABC and Hulu After 50 Years on CBS

The Grammy Awards are turning the page on a half-century of broadcasting history. The Recording Academy has confirmed that the 69th annual ceremony will air live on ABC and stream on Hulu on February 7, 2027, ending its long-standing partnership with CBS. The move marks one of the most significant shifts in music award show history and signals Disney’s aggressive push to dominate live event television.

A New Network Home After 50 Years

For more than 50 years, the Grammys were synonymous with CBS. From the iconic 1971 broadcast featuring the debut of “American Pie” to Beyoncé’s record-breaking wins in 2023, the network served as the ceremony’s stage for generations of music fans. But the Recording Academy and Disney have quietly negotiated a deal that reshapes the entire landscape of award show broadcasting.

Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, framed the transition as a natural evolution. “The Grammys are all about celebrating the music that moves the world, and this moment is built on exactly that,” he said. “This is an exciting time for us as an organization—a new home and a bold new chapter for the Grammy Awards. We're just getting started and the best is yet to come.”

Nominations for the 69th annual kudos will be revealed on November 16, 2026, with the ceremony originating live from Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles—the same venue that has hosted the event in recent years. While a producer has not yet been officially named, industry insiders expect Ben Winston to continue at the helm, having steered the telecast since 2021 with a fresh, star-driven vision.

Disney’s Live Event Power Play

The move to ABC is more than a simple network swap—it’s a strategic linchpin in Disney’s broader live event portfolio. Rita Ferro, Disney’s president of global advertising, laid out the company’s ambitious vision during an appearance on the “Daily Variety” podcast. “Come January, we have four of the biggest live events across entertainment and sports,” Ferro explained. “We have the college football championship. Then we go to the first time ever the Grammys will be on ABC and across our portfolio of streaming platforms. A week later, we'll have the Super Bowl for the first time in over 20 years on ESPN and ABC. And a couple weeks later, we're going to have the Oscars. Four events that would normally sit across four different companies are all sitting here. So that is a big driver of engagement, excitement and fandom in a way that no one has really brought to market before.”

That cluster of mega-events—the College Football Playoff National Championship, the Grammys, the Super Bowl, and the Oscars—gives Disney unprecedented leverage with advertisers and a captive audience spanning sports, music, and film. The Grammys specifically will benefit from cross-promotion across ABC, Hulu, ESPN, and Disney+, potentially drawing younger viewers who have migrated away from linear television.

Key Dates and Voting Windows

The eligibility period for the 69th Grammy Awards runs from August 31, 2025, through August 31, 2026—ensuring that the next two years of releases will compete for the industry’s top honors. First-round nominations voting will be held October 12–22, 2026, allowing Recording Academy members to weigh in on early contenders. Final-round voting is set for December 10, 2026, through January 7, 2027, with winners announced live on February 7.

• Eligibility Period: Aug. 31, 2025 – Aug. 31, 2026
• Nominations Reveal: Nov. 16, 2026
• First-Round Voting: Oct. 12–22, 2026
• Final-Round Voting: Dec. 10, 2026 – Jan. 7, 2027
• Ceremony Date: Feb. 7, 2027 (Live on ABC and Hulu)

What This Means for the Music Industry

The Grammys have long been the music industry’s biggest night, but ratings have fluctuated in the streaming era. The 2024 telecast drew roughly 16.9 million viewers, a modest rebound from pandemic lows but still far from the 30-million-plus audiences of the early 2010s. By moving to ABC and Hulu, the Recording Academy is betting on Disney’s multiplatform muscle to reverse that trend.

Streaming integration could also change how fans experience the ceremony. Hulu will carry the live broadcast, and Disney+ may offer exclusive behind-the-scenes content, red-carpet coverage, or interactive voting features. For artists, the shift introduces new promotional opportunities—and new pressure to deliver show-stopping performances that resonate across both linear and digital audiences.

Industry observers note that the move also aligns with a broader trend of award shows seeking younger, more diverse audiences. The Oscars recently tapped Conan O’Brien as host for the 2027 ceremony, and the Grammys have leaned into genre-fluid categories and emerging talent. Combining those efforts with Disney’s marketing prowess could revitalize the awards landscape.

A Bold New Chapter

While CBS has not publicly commented on the loss of the Grammys, the network’s live-event slate now lacks a major music awards property. For Disney, the acquisition cements its position as the home of Hollywood’s biggest nights—and raises the bar for cross-company collaboration.

As the music community counts down to February 7, 2027, one thing is clear: the Grammys are entering uncharted territory. The decision to uproot a five-decade tradition and plant it in a multiplatform ecosystem speaks to the Recording Academy’s confidence in Disney’s vision—and its own ability to evolve. The best may indeed be yet to come.

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