Streaming services battled both TV networks and each other at the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards Sunday night. Predictably HBO was the darling of the show, but when it came down to competition between rival streamers Netflix and Amazon, the underdog brought home more of the coveted trophies.
Scoring its first ever nominations this year, Amazon tallied 12 compared to Netflix’s 34. But, in spite of having fewer chances to win, the retail giant-turned-streamer snagged more awards than its competitor. With each streaming service winning three Creative Arts Emmys awarded prior to Sunday’s show, Amazon edged out Netflix with its primetime performance, coming away from the Emmys with five statues to its rival’s four.
Amazon’s big wins for the big night included Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series. The awardees were Jeffrey Tambor and Jill Soloway, each for their work on the progressive comedy-drama Transparent.
Meanwhile, Netflix’s big victory of the night came thanks to Uzo Aduba’s portrayal of Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren on Orange Is the New Black. It was a repeat for Aduba in that she won an award for the same character as Outstanding Supporting Actress last year, but the show hopped from the comedy category to drama. Surprisingly, House of Cards, which accounted for 11 of the streamer’s nods, came away from the primetime show empty-handed.
While both streaming services are moving in the right direction, Amazon is no doubt boasting today after upending Big Red, and making a statement all of its own by winning almost half of the awards for which it was in the running. Not bad at all. Yet, even with their combined efforts, the streaming services — which had no help from the third point in the streaming triangle, Hulu — couldn’t even come close to competing with HBO. The network/streaming service blew them (and every other network) out of the water by racking up 43 wins. Game of Thrones collected 12 awards alone, a new record for a series in a single year, according to Deadline.
As Netflix digs deeper into content creation, and HBO pushes its standalone streaming service, HBO Now, each is hellbent on besting its rival on the other side of the entertainment highway. But from an awards standpoint, HBO is clearly still the real powerhouse.
