Variety and CNN Expand Awards Season Partnership

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- Variety and CNN expanded their content partnership to jointly develop, produce, and distribute premium programming across awards season.
- Amy Entelis, EVP of talent, CNN Originals and creative development for CNN Worldwide, said the collaboration brings subscribers closer to "the conversations and the artists defining entertainment today."
- Ramin Setoodeh, co-president and co-editor-in-chief of Variety, framed the new collaboration as delivering coverage spanning the Emmys, Golden Globes, and Oscars.
- "Variety and CNN Actors on Actors" received a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Arts and Popular Culture Program, recognizing its first season that premiered exclusively for CNN streaming subscribers.
- The partnership builds on a prior slate including "CNN & Variety Red Carpet Live" at the 98th Academy Awards and a town hall featuring Timothée Chalamet and Matthew McConaughey.
- Programs from the partnership are available to stream via cnn.com/watch or the CNN app for CNN's streaming subscribers.
Why it matters: For CNN's streaming subscribers, the expanded deal locks in year-round exclusive entertainment content—from red-carpet live shows to star sit-downs—at a moment when streamers are competing fiercely for engagement. The Daytime Emmy nomination adds institutional credibility to the 'Actors on Actors' format just as the partners tee up its next season.




