Amazon Prime confirmed Thursday that former NBC News and MSNBC anchor Brian Williams, whose career was upended by an embarrassing scandal in 2015, will host an election night special.
According to Variety, the show will be called “Election Night Live With Brian Williams” and will begin airing at 5 p.m. Eastern from a studio in Los Angeles. The live event will be available to all Amazon customers, including those who are not Amazon Prime subscribers.
“Prime Video is thrilled to welcome Brian Williams for a special one-night-only election night event. Prime Video offers customers access to programming that delights, informs and engages, conveniently delivered in one centralized app,” vice -president and head of Prime Video Albert Cheng said in a statement.
He continued: “This non-partisan live special will draw on leading news sources and complement the various partner news channels available on Prime Video. Our comprehensive offering is designed to provide today’s viewer with a direct and transparent way to follow election results.
Variety first reported on discussions surrounding the event in September. (Photo by Bobby Bank/WireImage | Photo illustration by Idrees Abbas/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
EX-NBC ANCHOR BRIAN WILLIAMS IN TALKS TO HOST AMAZON PRIME “NON-PISAN” ELECTION NIGHT
“After 41 years in business – from local news to network broadcasts to cable news – this seems like the next big thing. And Amazon’s Global Marketplace is a natural home for this one-of-a-kind company.” , added Williams. in his own statement. “Together we will follow the election night story, wherever it takes us.”
Variety first reported last month that Williams and Amazon were in “advanced discussions” to have Williams host the platform’s first live news program. The report says the purpose of the event “is to have a nonpartisan discussion about the events of this evening.”
“Amazon’s Election Night special would likely require Williams to rely heavily on the Associated Press to determine how the candidates were faring state by state,” Variety reported.
Amazon described it as a “non-partisan” event that will be streamed for all customers. (Photo by Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The report continues: “Williams would be willing to stay in the office for seven to eight hours – and potentially more. In the case of a close election whose results are too close to call, this person said, Williams would broadcast for as long as it can be sustainable. »
Williams hasn’t been on air since officially leaving NBC in 2021, although he previously hinted he would join other networks.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE MEDIA AND CULTURE COVERAGE
Williams anchored “NBC Nightly News” from 2004 to 2015, when his career was upended after he was suspended for six months for misrepresenting events he said occurred while he was covering the Iraq War.
Williams falsely claimed he was on a helicopter that was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade while in Iraq, but it turned out his plane was following the one that came under fire. Reports emerged in 2015 that an internal NBC News investigation uncovered several other instances where he fabricated or embellished his stories.
Brian Williams left NBC after a series of false reports tarnished his credibility. (Photo by: Heidi Gutman/MSNBC/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
The scandal tarnished his credibility and deeply embarrassed NBC News, which demoted him from the network’s prestigious anchor position.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Williams was reassigned to MSNBC, the liberal cable arm of NBC, as a breaking news anchor, and he began hosting the nightly show “The 11th Hour” in 2016 until his departure in 2021.
Fox News’ David Rutz contributed to this report.
