In a stunning piece of news for the entertainment and streaming world, behemoth Netflix has grabbed the exclusive rights to live-stream the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards 2024, one of the most prestigious, popular and credible awards event in Hollywood.
Yes, the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will stream live on Netflix on 24th February, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT from the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall. In India, the streaming time works out to be early 25th February, 2024 at 5:30 am IST.
By streaming the Screen Actors Guild Awards 2024 live, Netflix will effectively make its first foray into the live-streaming of awards shows. In other words, the SAG Awards 2024 will be the first awards show to be live-streamed on Netflix. Netflix has signed a multi-year deal to live-stream the awards on its platform.
Interestingly, Netflix had also streamed the SAG Awards in 2023, but only on its YouTube channel, not on its streaming platform.
Earlier this year, Netflix stunned the entertainment and sports world by signing an exclusive deal to live-stream WWE’s flagship program Raw, and other WWE events on Netflix for Netflix subscribers in US, Canada, UK and Latin America from January 2025 onwards. Netflix has reportedly paid an eye-popping amount to grab the rights.
Streaming giant Netflix has decidedly been slow on the uptake in the fast-rising field of live-streaming popular events – whether sports, entertainment and more. While all of its rivals – Prime Video, Apple TV Plus, Peacock, Disney Plus Hotstar (in India), Jio Cinema (in India), SonyLIV (in India), among others, have made live-streaming a significant part of their bread and butter, Netflix has been acting blissfully ignorant of the trend.
That is until last year.
Starting from March of 2023, Netflix has been fast catching up with its rivals in the world of live-streaming events. In March 2023, Netflix hosted comedian Chris Rock for his live-streamed show Chris Rock: Selective Outrage. Then came the TUDUM 2023 live event from Brazil, and the The Netflix Cup in November 2023, which saw Formula 1 drivers teaming up with PGA Tour pros, to face-off against opposite teams on the green.
Next up are the SAG Awards 2024, produced by SAG-AFTRA, in February 2024, followed by ‘The Netflix Slam’ on 3rd March, 2024. The Netflix Slam will be an exhibition match between two Tennis greats – 22-time Grand Slam men’s singles title champion Rafael Nadal facing off against world No. 2, Carlos Alcaraz. The match will be live-streamed on Netflix worldwide.