That time of the year has come again when awards ceremonies begin to prepare to dole out trophies for what their organizers believe to be the best in television programming today. Now, however, there is a palpable change in the dynamics of what shows are being nominated for this year’s Emmys. It was first noticed at the Golden Globes earlier this year, but now it is plain for all viewers. Series shown on streaming platforms such as Netflix, which count as TV programming, have begun to prominently figure in the list of nominations. In fact, of the seven nominees announced for the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy, four are not from traditional or cable TV but on online streaming platforms instead.
Netflix and Hulu take on HBO
Nominees for the 69th Emmy awards were announced this Thursday, July 13. Some of the program names presented have been rather expected while some just came out of nowhere. Take for instance HBO’s bet for the Drama Series; while season 7 of “Game of Thrones” is yet to start off, they have a close substitute of sorts handy with the sci-fi western thriller “Westworld.” In a way, it is like a cousin of “GOT” with its overtones of violence both physical and sexual, except taking place in a future-era Wild West theme park.
But even HBO looks to be having a harder time asserting its TV dominance nowadays thanks to the streaming-only series finding their way into the Emmys.
The four of seven outstanding drama nominees comprise three from Netflix (“House of Cards,” “The Crown”, “Stranger Things") and one from Hulu with “The Handmaid’s Tale,” the first season of which had concluded last month. Accompanying “Westworld” to represent the broadcast programming camp are “Better Call Saul” from AMC and “This is Us” from NBC.
From broadcast to streaming
When streaming platforms started landing some of their original series in the Emmys since 2015, they only got 51 nominations. Come 2016 and there were 91 streaming programs that were nominated. This year there is a whopping 162 streaming programs that are Emmy nominees. This rising trend appears to illustrate a shift in the balance of power in TV viewing dominance from broadcast and cable networks to online on-demand platforms such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon.
Some notable nominations for other categories of the 2017 Emmy include “Atlanta” and “Silicon Valley” for Comedy Series; “Fargo” and “Feud: Bette and Joan” for Limited Series; Anthony Hopkins (“Westworld”) and Kevin Spacey (“House of Cards”) for Drama Lead Actor, Elisabeth Moss (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) and Viola Davis ("How to Get Away With Murder") for Drama Lead Actress; “Rupaul’s Drag Race” and “Project Runway” for Reality Show; and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and "The Late Late Show with James Corden" for Variety Talk.