Brian Williams is hosting 'Election Night Live,' Prime Video's first crack at live coverage of a breaking-news event. Watch the cold open.

In the era of cable news, election coverage has metastasized into a subgenre of its own — one with narrative conventions that viewers depend on and dread in equal measure. These include projections, of course,

Brian Williams didn’t come to Election Night to break news, but rather to put it all together. The NBC News veteran kicked off an interesting American experiment Tuesday evening by taking to Amazon’s Prime Video to host a live hours-long Election Night special on the streaming giant’s massive platform.

The former NBC anchor noted the streamer did not have a decision desk and would be reporting when other news outlets made calls.

While Prime Video hosts a plethora of free live streaming news channels from major U.S. and international broadcasters, the Brian Williams special marks a major step forward in creating original news content for Prime Video. It will stream from 5 p.m. (ET) on Nov. 5 to 2 a.m. (ET) on Nov. 6.

Amazon’s foray into live news coverage began with a familiar voice and face. “Good evening. It’s been a while,” said Brian Williams, the longtime NBC News anchor, kicking off election night coverage Tuesday at 2 p.

Amazon is launching an election night special hosted by Brian Williams. BI interviewed the show's executive producer.

Former Fox News anchor Shepard Smith will join longtime NBC and MSNBC anchor Brian Williams on Amazon’s live streaming coverage as the election returns come in.

Election Night Live With Brian Williams has some budget tech. pic.twitter.com/mLrsDX7Q9c “Election Night Live With Brian Williams has some budget tech,” one user wrote on X, in a jab at the household-sized TV powering state-by-state analysis.