Yahoo Finance Emmy Awards: It's 'Queen's Gambit' vs 'Mare', 'WandaVision' in streaming showdown
The 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards will see top streamers compete head to head — and this time the ceremony won't be virtual.
The in-person event will be held under an an air-conditioned tent in Los Angeles, and will require that all attendees show a negative COVID-19 test, in addition to proof of vaccination.
That makes the Emmys the first major awards show to require vaccinations for all attendees, which will be limited to just four guests per nomination. Comedian Cedric the Entertainer is set to serve as this year's host.
Streamers dominate nominations — but will it translate to wins?
This year, Emmy nominations have largely favored streaming giants. HBO (T), along with its fledging streaming service HBO Max, led the way with 130 nominations, followed by Netflix (NFLX) with 129 nods.
Two-year old Disney+ (DIS) came in third with 71 nominations, whereas traditional cable network NBC (CMCSA) finished fourth with a mere 46 nominations. Apple TV+ (AAPL) rounded out the top five with 37 total nods — largely thanks to breakout comedy series "Ted Lasso" which secured 20 nominations.
Additionally, the top three most-nominated shows came from streaming. Netflix's "The Crown," along with Disney's "The Mandalorian," each nabbed 24 nominations, followed by Disney's "WandaVision" with 23 nods. It was the first time in Emmys history that the top three most-nominated shows came from streaming platforms.
Meanwhile, nods for traditional cable or broadcast networks experienced all-time lows. In the comedy category, ABC's "Black-ish" was the only non-streamer to be nominated.
"Streaming platforms have made a real commitment to funneling huge resources into the creative side of their business, both in front of and behind the camera," Comscore Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian told Yahoo Finance recently.
"Resources and creative freedom equals some great content, so that's why you're seeing this streaming dominance right now," the analyst continued.
Still, despite the plethora of Emmy nods, streaming giants have struggled to convert nominations into actual wins. Netflix, for example, has yet to win the top award in the drama, comedy or best limited series categories — despite pouring billions of dollars into content every year.
The last streaming series to win best drama was Hulu's "The Handmaid's Tale" — four years ago.
"The win is the prize," Dergarabedian noted, although "in some ways, just getting nominated can be a prize. The perception of quality is one of the most important motivating factors for consumers."
He added: "That's why all of these platforms covet these nominations, but before that happens they have to chase the creators who can create the content that will get the nominations, get the awards and build on that brand equity and recognition."
Emmy ratings in focus
CBS will be feeling the pressure for a ratings boost, especially after last year's telecast saw ratings plummet to a record low of just 6.1 million viewers on ABC.
That represented the lowest amount of viewers in the show’s history, and off substantially from the roughly 6.9 million people who watched the show in 2019, the network revealed at the time.
Awards shows that debuted throughout the course of the pandemic saw rapid swings to the downside. In addition to last year's Emmys, viewership for the Oscars, Grammys, and Golden Globes were all significantly lower compared to the previous year — plummeting 58.3%, 53%, 63%, respectively.
However, this year's ratings breakdown will be a bit different as the show is set to simultaneously broadcast on both a major cable network (CBS) and streaming service Paramount+.
The addition of Paramount+ — where signups and streaming viewership will be critical when it comes to analyzing the show's overall performance — should help offset some of the importance of those linear broadcast figures.
The 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards will air Sunday, September 19 on CBS and stream live on Paramount+ at 8PM ET/5PM PT.
Alexandra is a producer & entertainment Correspondent at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alliecanal8193
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