Programs from streaming services have secured the highest share of nominations at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards – marking the first time the streamers have overtaken the networks.
A total of 27 out of 41 shows nominated were from a streaming service, led by Succession with 27 nods, followed by The Last of Us with 24. Both shows are streamed on Binge in Australia.
While this is the first time the streaming services have secured the highest share, it marks the fifth year in a row that the Emmys have had more nominations from streamers than other distribution platforms.
It’s a trend that is also happening in Australia, where programs such as The Twelve, Colin from Accounts, and Heartbreak High, saw Binge, Netflix, and Stan scoop top awards at the 2023 Logies awards.
The Last of Us
As Mediaweek‘s report today revealed, the top 50 TV programs in 2023 were dominated by sports and reality TV – just two drama programs and one documentary made the list.
It points to the dearth of local – or international – drama content on the free-to-air networks despite the existing Australian content quotas.
Currently, free-to-air broadcasters are held to an annual quota of 55% of Australian content on primary channels and 1,460 hours of Australian content on non-primary channels. There are currently no local content guidelines for streaming services.
In January last year, the Labor government lifted the lid on its plan to ‘Revive’ National Cultural Policy, with a major point of the plan being to introduce Australian content quotas to platforms such as Netflix, Binge, Stan, and Amazon Prime. After spending the year consulting with the industry, the reforms are expected to be implemented by July 1st this year.
To round out 2023, Mediaweek spoke with outgoing Screen Australia chief executive Graeme Mason, who said the biggest spender on drama in the 22/23 report were the SVOD services – a bigger spend than the dollars invested in cinema releases in 2022/23. Yet they were down in hours produced by about 15%, and down in the number of titles by about 20%. They were also down in spend by about 11%.
“In an expanding market of more platforms with more subscribers, and more revenue, they are the biggest single player. But even they shrunk. We need to watch that to see if it is a trend,” he said.
See Also: Screen Australia Drama Report: Record 213 theatrical and TV titles produced in 2022-23