The Emmy Awards telecast has traditionally alternated among ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox. Once seen as a major promotional vehicle for the broadcast networks (pre-2015 at least), the host network would win a bunch of awards and have commercials ready to immediately tout their wins. I’m old enough to remember when marginally rated series would become hits after winning multiple Emmys. It was a big deal.
This, of course, hasn’t been the case for several years. In the mid-2000s, premium and ad-supported cable started to overshadow the broadcast networks. The Emmy Awards is now primarily a showcase for HBO and streaming services – most notably Netflix, although other streamers are catching up.
Of the 99 major comedy and drama nominees in 2023 – best comedy, best drama, best limited series, and the lead and supporting acting nominees in each category (the major awards viewers care most about), 28% are on HBO (28). Fifty-eight (59%) are on streaming platforms. Netflix and Hulu, with 16 apiece, account for a combined 55% of the streaming total. Apple has 13 nominations, Prime Video has seven, and Max, Peacock, Disney+, and Roku have one each. Freevee has two.
These numbers, of course, can be misleading. When HBO’s Succession and White Lotus each get 10 nominations, it skews the results. Individual shows performing so well does not really mean that network or platform is head-and-shoulders above everyone else. You get a better picture by looking at how many shows each network or platform has nominated. Netflix and Hulu each had six series nominated for these major Emmy Awards, while HBO and Apple TV+ each had five. Prime Video had three shows nominated, Showtime and Freevee each had two, and Peacock, Disney+, Max, Roku, AMC, and FX had one apiece.
It's worth noting that based on The Sternberg Report’s rankings of the best 20 TV shows of 2023, Apple TV+ has six, HBO/Max has four, FX/Hulu has three, Prime Video has two, and Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock, Freevee, and Showtime have one apiece.
Nomination Trends: Shifting Platforms
Looking at the number of series nominated for 15 major awards – best comedy, drama and limited series, and the lead and supporting actors in each, since 2000, shows how broadcast gradually gave way to ad-supported and premium cable, and then both the broadcast networks and ad-supported cable were supplanted by streaming series. Between 2005 and 2015, the percentage of nominations for the broadcast networks dropped from 64% to 24%, falling to just 11% in 2020 and 5% in 2023. Premium cable’s percentage gradually declined since 2015, before rebounding in 2022 and 2023. In 2020, for the first time, half of all these major awards went to streaming series (compared to just 18% five years earlier). This rose to 59% in 2023.
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Emmy Nominations (15 major awards) |
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Year |
Broadcast |
Ad-Supported Cable |
Premium Cable |
Streaming |
|
2000 |
48 (65%) |
4 (5%) |
22 (30%) |
---- |
|
Best Comedy |
4 |
---- |
1 |
---- |
|
Best Drama |
4 |
---- |
1 |
---- |
|
Best Miniseries |
3 |
1 |
1 |
---- |
|
2005 |
47 (64%) |
6 (8%) |
21 (28%) |
---- |
|
Best Comedy |
5 |
---- |
---- |
---- |
|
Best Drama |
3 |
---- |
2 |
---- |
|
Best Miniseries |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
2010 |
38 (49%) |
19 (24%) |
21 (27%) |
---- |
|
Best Comedy |
4 |
---- |
2 |
---- |
|
Best Drama |
2 |
2 |
2 |
---- |
|
Best Miniseries |
1 |
---- |
1 |
|
|
2015 |
21 (24%) |
23 (26%) |
28 (32%) |
16 (18%) |
|
Best Comedy |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
|
Best Drama |
---- |
3 |
2 |
2 |
|
Best Limited Series |
2 |
2 |
1 |
---- |
|
2020 |
11 (11%) |
13 (13%) |
25 (26%) |
49 (50%) |
|
Best Comedy |
1 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
|
Best Drama |
---- |
2 |
1 |
5 |
|
Best Limited Series |
---- |
---- |
1 |
4 |
|
2021 |
13 (14%) |
4 (4%) |
20 (21%) |
59 (61%) |
|
Best Comedy |
1 |
---- |
---- |
7 |
|
Best Drama |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
|
Best Limited Series |
---- |
---- |
2 |
3 |
|
2022 |
7 (7%) |
8 (8%) |
30 (29%) |
58 (56%) |
|
Best Comedy |
1 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
|
Best Drama |
---- |
1 |
3 |
4 |
|
Best Limited Series |
---- |
---- |
1 |
4 |
|
2023 |
5 (5%) |
4 (4%) |
32 (32%) |
58 (59%) |
|
Best Comedy |
1 |
---- |
1 |
6 |
|
Best Drama |
---- |
1 |
5 |
2 |
|
Best Limited Series |
---- |
---- |
---- |
5 |
Streamers Dominate but HBO Still Stronger (kind of)
The continued impact of the streaming wars is evident as 59% of the nominations for these awards in 2023 were for series on streaming services (compared to 50% in 2020, and just 18% in 2015).
The broadcast networks accounted for just 5 nominations in 2022 (5%), all of which went to just one series (ABC’s Abbott Elementary). This was the culmination of more than 15 years of decline – in 2005, the broadcast networks drew 64% of these nominations, which fell to 49% in 2010, 24% in 2015, and 11% in 2020.
HBO had by far the most nominations in these 15 major categories with 28 (spread out among five series), although more than 70% went to just two shows, The White Lotus and Succession, each with 10. Two other HBO series nabbed multiple nominations – Barry (4) and The Last of Us (3). House of the Dragon got one.
The only other premium cable network nominated was Showtime, which garnered two apiece for Yellowjackets and George & Tammy.
While HBO had the most overall nominations, both Netflix and Hulu actually had more different series nominated, with six each. More than half of Netflix’s 16 nominations went to two limited series – Beef (6), and Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (4). The others went to perennial nominee, The Crown (2), Dead to Me (1), and new series, Wednesday (2) and The Diplomat (1). Hulu also grabbed 16 nominations. The Bear got three, while Only Murders in the Building got two, and The Handmaid’s Tale managed one. Among the streamer’s limited series, Welcome to Chippendale’s got four nominations, Fleishman is in Trouble got three, and Tiny Beautiful Things got two.
Apple TV+ continues to expand the number of series receiving nominations, going from just one (Ted Lasso) two years ago, to three last season, to four this year. Ted Lasso got five nominations in its final season, Black Bird, three, Shrinking, two, and Bad Sisters got one.
Prime Video’s seven nominations were split among The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (3), in its final season, Daisy Jones & The Six (3), and Swarm (1).
Peacock got one nomination for its new show, Poker Face. Disney+ got one each for its Star Wars franchise shows, Andor and limited series Obi-Wan Kenobi. Max, which got seven nominations each of the past two years (when it was called HBO Max), only managed one this season (for the Love & Death limited series). Amazon Freevee got two nominations for Jury Duty. Roku got one for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.
On the ad-supported cable front, AMC’s Better Call Saul snagged three nominations (the same as last year) for its final season, while FX got one for The Old Man. This tied the post-2000 low registered in 2021.
Among the broadcast networks, ABC got five nominations for Abbott Elementary (the same as last year). This was the lowest number of nominations ever for the broadcast networks, and the first time only one broadcast network was nominated in these major award categories.
Of course, with FX on Hulu coming and going, it’s not always easy to designate a show as being on one or the other. FX promoted The Bear, Fleishman is in Trouble, Reservation Dogs, and Atlanta as being FX series that air on Hulu. So even though FX produced The Bear and Fleishman, they aired exclusively on Hulu, so I’m including then under Hulu. The Old Man, on the other hand, aired on FX before going to Hulu, so I’m including it under FX.
Here's how they can improve the broadcast and attract more viewers.
Stop Including Shows in the Wrong Categories (or Create New Ones)
Barry and The Bear in same category as Abbott Elementary? Why steal nominations from real comedies like The Great and Ghosts? Just because they’re afraid to compete with Succession or Better Call Saul, they shouldn’t be allowed to pick their category. Anyone who watched Barry's final season and thought "comedy" has their own issues. As for shows like The Bear, just because a drama is infused with some humor or satire, does not make it a comedy.
How to Attract More Viewers and Help Ad-Supported Series
Once the exclusive domain of the broadcast networks, and a vehicle for broadcasters to promote themselves, the Emmy telecast has clearly shifted to being something that not only showcases their major competitors, but also rewards series that the majority of viewers haven’t seen – which has probably contributed to the show’s declining ratings.
Despite press accounts that often predict the demise of broadcast television, the highest rated shows on the air are still primetime broadcast network series (Yellowstone notwithstanding), few of which get nominated for major awards these days. You’ll never see any of the most popular series with broad fan bases, such as the Chicagos, NCISs, or 911s
, nominated for any awards.
None of the major acting or outstanding series awards for comedy or drama went to a broadcast network show in 2018, 2019, 2020, or 2021 (Sterling K. Brown won Best Actor in a drama for This is Us in 2017). Sheryl Lee Ralph was the lone broadcast series representative in 2022, as she nabbed best supporting actress in a comedy for ABC’s Abbott Elementary.
No broadcast series has won for best drama since 24 got the honor in 2006. In 2017, This is Us was the first broadcast drama even nominated in six years (it was also nominated in 2018 and 2019). There were no broadcast series nominated for best drama in 2020. This is Us was nominated once again in 2021, no doubt benefitting by Better Call Saul, Killing Eve, Ozark, Stranger Things, and Succession not being eligible. In 2022 and 2023, no broadcast dramas were nominated.
The last broadcast show to win for best comedy was Modern Family eight years ago, in 2014. In 2018, Black-ish was the only broadcast network comedy nominated, while in 2019 and 2020, NBC’s The Good Place was the only broadcast comedy to make the nomination cut (although Black-ish did get a best actress nomination and both Black-ish and The Good Place got best actor nominations). Black-ish made the cut again in 2021 – most likely because Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Good Place, and Schitt’s Creek ended their runs. In 2022 and 2023, Abbot Elementary was the sole broadcast series nominated for Best Comedy (and received four acting nominations both years).
TV series that air on different video outlets have different creative limitations based on levels of language, sex, and violence, and whether they must answer to advertisers. Having them all compete with one another is inherently unfair, and works against the broadcast networks – particularly since streaming series generally have between 6 and 13 episodes per season while the broadcast networks typically have between 17 and 24 (and require more “filler”).
The obvious solution is to divide the awards into three categories – ad-supported, premium cable, and streaming.
This might have given viewers an ad-supported drama category this season that included, This is Us, Yellowstone, Better Call Saul, Bosch: Legacy, and Killing Eve. The premium cable drama group might include, Euphoria, Succession, Billions, The Gilded Age, and Yellowjackets competing against one another. The streaming drama category could have had Evil, Ozark, Stranger Things, Severance, and Squid Games.
We’d get a similarly diverse group of shows in the comedy categories. Ad-Supported – Abbott Elementary, Ghosts, Atlanta, Reservation Dogs, and What We Do in the Shadows; premium cable – Barry, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Insecure, Somebody Somewhere, and The Righteous Gemstones; streaming – Hacks, The Flight Attendant, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Only Murders in the Building, and Ted Lasso.
Then you could have online/phone voting where viewers can select the overall winners for comedy and drama, and have something like an hour-long follow-up Emmy Viewers’ Choice show on Monday (where they could show extended trailers of the major nominees, which would serve as great promotional vehicles for those unfamiliar with the shows).
This would also pave the way for ending category gender divisions, so performers such as Billions star, Asia Kate Dillon, the first gender-nonbinary performer to play a nonbinary character on a major television series, won’t have to choose between “male” or “female,” neither of which identifies them. With more nonbinary roles being cast, now is the time to do this. With the additional categories, not having enough nomination spots available would no longer be a concern in ending gender distinctions (you could still have five to eight nominees per category).
This way, more television series that people have actually seen would be up for major awards without negatively impacting the high-quality shows that are only available to subscribers in 25-75% of the country. There’s little doubt that ratings would improve as well. Otherwise, let Netflix or HBO have the Emmys. In its current form it has become a vehicle to promote the broadcast networks’ competitors, so why not let one of them air it. Given that the broadcast networks recently extended their rights to alternate the award show, however, now would be a good time to implement the above suggested changes.
If changes are not implemented to ensure that some of the most popular series are included, perhaps the broadcast networks should go back to the future and institute their own version of the long defunct Cable ACE Awards. These were given by the National Cable Television Association to recognize excellence in American cable television between 1978 and 1997 – when the Emmys refused to recognize cable shows (ACE stood for Award for Cable Excellence). In the final year of the Cable ACE Awards, HBO’s OZ won for best drama and The Larry Sanders Show won for best comedy.
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