HBO won the 71st Emmy Award on Sunday with nine victories in key categories featured on Fox television.
However, the streaming services continued to infiltrate HBO’s Emmy dominance as Amazon had a strong night with a total of seven wins at the ceremony, including four for “Fleabag”, which was awarded for Best Comedy.
HBO, WarnerMedia’s own premium cable channel, was powered by Emmy’s Siegen for its fantasy drama “Game of Thrones,” which won two trophies, and for the limited-edition “Chernobyl,” which received three wins on Sunday night.
In combination with the Emmy creative arts ceremony last week, HBO prevailed with a total of 34 wins over Netflix. The streaming giant went away with a total of 27 statuettes. Amazon had a total of 15.
Last year, HBO netted Netflix with 23 wins, making it impossible for most Emmys to win for the first time in 17 years.
For “Game of Thrones” it combines the fourth victory for the best drama with the other four-time winners in the category – Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, The West Wing and Mad Men.
While many diehard “Game of Thrones” fans found the quality of the last season of the drama, based on George RR Martin’s novels, to be unfortunate, the members of the television academy who vote on the Emmys tend to produce series for their entire audience Reward work.
Surprisingly, longtime academy lover “Veep”, who ended up at HBO after seven seasons, was suspended for the night.
While it was a solemn night for HBO, streamer competition was more pronounced than ever, underscoring the rapid transformation of the television industry as emerging digital players vied for critical accolades.
Netflix finished second overall without the three most popular hits “Stranger Things”, “Orange Is the New Black” and “The Crown“, which did not run during the qualifying period for the awards.
But HBO’s “Chernobyl”, the limited series on the nuclear power plant disaster in Ukraine in 1986, was a major challenge for the limited-edition Netflix series “When They See Us”, in which author and director Ava DuVernay recorded the illegal sentencing of the Five of 1990 Harlem teens in the rape and near-fatal attack of a 28-year-old jogger in Central Park. “Chernobyl,” the pre-streaming era that was the sort of prestige project cleaned up at the awards, brought in three Emmy victories, including the best limited-edition or the best drama, while “When They See Us” hit achieved.
Neflix also had wins for drama series Ozark, which won a supporting actor trophy for Julia Garner and an award for directing Jason Bateman. “Bandersnatch,” an episode of the Netflix series “Black Mirror,” won for the TV movie.
Amazon scored the second-best wins that night, including two awards for Alex Borstein and Tony Shalhoub for the series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and a screenplay for Phoebe Waller Bridge, the inventor and star of “Fleabag” also won with “A Very English Scandal “, which landed a best actor in a limited series for Ben Whishaw.
In particular, both Netflix and Amazon have grown as the long-standing HBO powerhouses “Game of Thrones” and “Veep” leave the stage, raising questions about the future dominance of the premium cable at the Emmys.
HBO has made a name for itself over the years with Emmy awards, which have increased the value of the network to consumers. Netflix and Amazon have tried to follow this model by investing in distinctive content that is accentuated and promoted.
Netflix is expected to continue to put pressure on HBO as it increases its investment in original programming. The Los Gatos-based company will spend $ 15 billion on programming in 2019, compared to $ 12 billion a year ago.
HBO saw recognition for its newer series.
Bill Hader, star of the comedy “Barry”, won in the category drama for the second time in a row.
“Succession,” the series about a family-owned media empire, achieved a win in the drama category. The series has caused a sensation in its second season and is likely to be a favorite for next year’s awards. On Sunday there was even talk that the show “Game of Thrones” could annoy and get the title of drama series.
However, whether HBO can retain its creative power under its new owner AT & T remains a question. The network is no longer the isolated boutique that had a free hand under the previous management.
AT & T is using HBO, a UK brand name that stands for innovation and differentiation, to attract subscribers to a new direct-to-consumer streaming service called HBO Max, which will provide a wider range of TV shows and films.
HBO Max will use the services of producer J.J. Abrams, who recently signed a major agreement with WarnerMedia. The service is also the home of “The Big Bang Theory,” which ran for twelve seasons on the CBS broadcast network and does not really illustrate the mystique of the HBO brand.
As HBO faces its challenges, Emmy’s share of ad-supported broadcasting and cable networks is shrinking.
Only one show was honored at night, and NBC’s late-night sketch comedy draft horse “Saturday Night Live” won trophies for several sketch series and directorial productions.
On the ad-supported cable side, AMC won “Killing Eve” thanks to Jodie Comer’s award for actress in the drama series. FX won for “Fosse / Verdon” when Michelle Williams was awarded in a limited series or as an actress film, and Billy Porter as an actor in a drama for “Pose”.
ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox and their affiliated production studios are not investing heavily in expensive Emmy campaigns and high profile “for your consider” events that have become the standard streaming service. Her lack of major advertising was evident in her absence on television.