Journalist Brian Williams will make his first debut since leaving MSNBC and NBC News in 2021 with an election night special on Amazon Prime Video.
“Prime Video said the special will feature Williams joined by news and traditional media contributors to share polling results and commentary. It will also feature third-party news sources across the political spectrum. I also plan to mention it. reported Deadline is Thursday.
The special, produced by Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner, will begin at 5 p.m. ET and continue throughout election night, although a winner may not be announced during that time due to mail-in voting. In 2020, there was no official announcement until the next day.
“After 41 years in this industry, from local news to network programming to cable news, this feels like the next big thing, and Amazon's global marketplace is the first of its kind. It's a natural home for our first venture, and we will follow the election night story together wherever it takes us,'' Williams said in a statement.
Amazon has previously sponsored live coverage of major sporting events and the Rose Parade, but this is the first step for the platform to cover major news events.
“This bipartisan live special leverages major news sources and complements the variety of partner news channels available on Prime Video. Our comprehensive offering delivers direct and seamless access to today's viewers. It's designed to help you understand election results in a way that makes sense,” said Albert Chen, Vice President and Head of Prime Video.
Williams apologized in 2015 for spreading a false story claiming he was on a military helicopter that was “forced down after being attacked by an RPG” while covering the Iraq War.
“This story actually begins with a terrifying moment during the invasion of Iraq more than ten years ago, when the helicopter we were on was hit by an RPG and crashed.” Williams said. “Our traveling NBC News team was rescued, surrounded, and kept alive by an armored mechanized platoon of the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Regiment.”
As PBS noted at the time, “Chinook members of the 159th Aviation Regiment came forward to dispute Anker's claims.”
“talk to stars and stripesThey said Williams arrived at the scene an hour later in another helicopter, but “due to an approaching sandstorm from the Iraqi desert, there was no fire and he subsequently landed next to the damaged helicopter.”
“It was a mistake to remember what happened 12 years ago,” Williams said during the broadcast. “It didn’t take long for us to hear from the brave men and women of our air crew who were also in the desert.”
“I hope they know that I have the utmost respect for them and now I apologize,” he added/
