HBO Max Just Won the Real Emmy Nominations Battle, and the Streaming Wars Numbers Prove It
Emmy nomination morning always doubles as a scoreboard for the entire television industry, and this year’s results offered a clear look at where the balance of power currently sits. Beyond the individual show tallies, the platform-level breakdown tells its own story about how streaming has reshaped the race entirely.
That story became even clearer once the full network and platform totals rolled in following Wednesday’s announcement. With dozens of services competing for recognition across drama, comedy, and limited series categories, only a handful of names ended up dominating the conversation.
According to Variety’s own breakdown of this year’s nominations, HBO Max topped every other platform with a total of 122 nominations, powered heavily by ‘The Pitt’ and ‘Hacks.’ Those two shows alone reportedly accounted for roughly 40 percent of the network’s entire haul this year.
Netflix landed in second place with 111 nominations, a total lifted significantly by the second installment of the anthology series ‘Beef’ along with strong showings from ‘The Beast in Me,’ ‘Black Rabbit,’ and ‘The Diplomat.’ Both HBO Max and Netflix actually saw their totals dip slightly compared to last year, when HBO Max hit an all-time high of 142, and Netflix reached 120.
Apple TV posted the most notable jump of the year, climbing to 89 nominations for its best-ever showing at the Emmys. That surge was driven largely by two breakout freshman series, the horror comedy ‘Widow’s Bay’ and the post-apocalyptic drama ‘Pluribus,’ which together helped establish Apple as the only platform this year to land three nominees apiece in both the comedy and drama series categories.
Among traditional broadcast networks, ABC continued to lead the pack with 35 nominations, followed by CBS with 32 and NBC with 30. CBS notably picked up nine of its nominations from the now-canceled ‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert,’ while ABC’s total was anchored in part by the continued strength of ‘Abbott Elementary.’
Which streaming platform do you think dominated this year’s Emmy nominations?
Further down the list, Amazon’s Prime Video climbed to 28 nominations thanks largely to ‘Fallout’ and ‘The Boys,’ while FX and Hulu combined for 23. Peacock landed 18 nominations, Disney+ came in with 14, and National Geographic rounded out the list with 12.
Looking at the bigger corporate picture adds even more context to the numbers. Parent company Warner Bros Discovery topped every media conglomerate this year once its various cable networks and studio credits were factored in alongside HBO Max, while Netflix and NBCUniversal followed as the next largest overall players in the race.
The broader takeaway from this year’s breakdown is that streaming platforms continue to dominate the awards conversation almost entirely, with only ABC managing to crack the top tier among traditional broadcast networks. That trend shows little sign of reversing as the industry heads toward the 78th Emmy Awards ceremony later this year.
Which network or streaming platform do you think deserved a bigger Emmy nominations haul this year? Share your thoughts in the comments.
