In a Matter of 10 Years

The year 2008 marked the first time that a basic cable program was nominated for an emmy in the best drama category.  (In fact, two cable programs were up for the award – Mad Men (AMC) and Damages (FX)).  Also, in 2008, the broadcast networks garnered 205 nominations between them and HBO, the premium cable channel, earned the most nominations at 85.  Notable in hindsight, streaming services, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu had no original content to be recognized.

Fast forward ten years to 2018 and Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu earned 161 nominations, two more than the 4 broadcasters combined.  One basic cable channel, FX, had 50 nominations, but 18 of them were for The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story produced by Ryan Murphy who is now with Netflix.

But, what really stood out to me (again) when I watched the award ceremony Monday night was how many shows I was unaware of like The Amazing Mrs. Maisel (Amazon), The Americans (FX), Westworld (HBO), and Killing Eve (BBC America).  And, these were the GOOD ones!  Not too long ago, I complained about the hundreds of channels in my cable bundle and the time it took for me to find a program worth watching.  Now, there are even more choices and the search for programs is even more complex and more frustrating than ever.  So, what can I do?  I guess I can check out (and possibly binge watch) the GOOD ones before HBO releases Season 8 of Game of Thrones next year.

	2018	2013	2008
STREAMING SERVICE
Netflix	112	14	0
Amazon Prime	22	0	0
Hulu	27	0	0
SUM	161	14	0
BROADCASTER
ABC	31	45	76
CBS	34	53	51
FOX	16	19	28
NBC	78	53	50
SUM	159	170	205
PREMIUM CABLE
HBO	108	111	85
Showtime	21	31	21
SUM	129	142	106
BASIC CABLE WITH 10 OR MORE NOMINATIONS
FX	50	26	11
Nat'l Geographic	17
VH1	12
CNN	10
AMC		26	20
TNT			10
Comedy Central		16
Lifetime		12
Bravo			11
History		10
Sundance		10