Netflix stunned when it passed HBO grabbing the most and more Emmy nominations on Thursday during the announcement out of North Hollywood of this year's nominees for the 70th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, although M-Net remained the winner as the African broadcaster having the rights to the bulk of the nominated shows.
Netflix snagged 112 nominations in total compared to HBO's 108.
With the latest season of HBO's Game of Thrones seen on M-Net (DStv 101) back in contention, HBO did at least manage to get the most nominations for a single show (22) - as well as also for the second-most nominated show, Westworld (21), also shown on M-Net.
It is the first time in 18 years that HBO hasn't received the most Emmy nominations - indicative of how Netflix is taking over in both volume and quality when it comes to creating and pushing TV content to viewers globally.
Netflix is spending billions of dollars on locking up top producers and on commissioning an ever-growing array of original programming.
The 70th Annual Primetime Emmys will be broadcast on Monday 17 September in the United States and will be shown on M-Net in South Africa and across the rest of Africa, from the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles with Saturday Night Live's Colin Jost and Michael Che as the hosts.
"This year's nominations continue to represent increased diversity and inclusion in front of the camera. There is a wealth of new and returning programs that reflect so many of today's critical issues," said Hayma Washington, the Television Academy chairperson and CEO in a statement.
As Netflix expanded its original content slate, it also dramatically started to up its number of Emmy nominees from 34 in 2015 to 54 in 2016 and 91 in 2017 when it came second to HBO. Now Netflix is in first place.
"We congratulate our creative partners on their unprecedented success today, garnering Netflix a leading 112 nominations," said Ted Sarandos, Netflix chief content officer in a statement.
"We are particularly enthused to see the breadth of our programming celebrated with nominations spread across 40 new and returning titles which showcase our varied and expansive slate – comedies, dramas, movies, limited series, documentary, variety, animation and reality."
HBO in a statement said "HBO is very pleased with its 108 nominations, especially the wide range over so many categories. We're grateful to all our nominees for making this the eighth year we've had 100 nominations or more. We look forward to 17 September".
Jennifer Salke, Amazon Studios boss in a statement said "We are extremely proud that the Television Academy honoured so many of our talented actors, creators and craftspeople across a number of Amazon series. This includes a record breaking number – 14 – for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel making it the studio's most nominated series ever. It's truly a Marvelous day!"
M-Net still collecting the most
Counted by individual shows, in terms of South Africa and African viewers, M-Net still remains tops in first place, having the most nominated Emmy shows.
M-Net, together with MultiChoice's satellite pay-TV platform DStv still manage to capture the bulk of the Emmy nominated content for DStv subscribers over its collection of other channels that scored Emmy nominations for shows.
These include channels like The Sony Channel (The Amazing Race), BBC Earth (Planet Earth II), ITV Choice (The Tracey Ullman Show), National Geographic (Jane, Genius: Picasso), CNN International (Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown) and Comedy Central (Drunk History and The Daily Show) that have shows that got nominated.
Put another way: While Netflix has the most single nominations, the combined nominations from shows on M-Net and across the rest of the channels carried on MultiChoice's DStv, are still - for now - more than Netflix.
Also notable is that The Daily Show shown on Viacom International Media Networks Africa's Comedy Central channel in Africa scored its first Emmy nomination since South Africa's Trevor Noah took over, this time in the variety talk series category.
The following shows each got more than 10 Emmy nominations:
Game of Thrones (22) on M-Net
Saturday Night Live (21) on Comedy Central (DStv 122)
Westworld (21) on M-Net
The Handmaid's Tale (20) on M-Net
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (18) on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131 / Cell C black 201)
Atlanta (16) on FOX
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime Video
Barry (13) on M-Net
The Crown (13) on Netflix South Africa
Jesus Christ Superstar Live (13)
Godless (13) on Netflix South Africa
Stranger Things (12) on Netflix South Africa
Glow (10) on Netflix South Africa
RuPaul's Drag Race (10) on Vuzu (DStv 116)
The Voice (10) on M-Net
Here's the list of nominees:
Outstanding Drama Series
The Americans
The Crown
Game of Thrones
The Handmaid's Tale
Stranger Things
This is Us
Westworld
Outstanding Comedy Series
Atlanta
Barry
black-ish
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Glow
The Marvelous Mrs Maisel
Silicon Valley
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Lead Actor, Drama
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This is Us
Ed Harris, Westworld
Matthew Rhys, The Americans
Milo Ventimiglia, This is Us
Jeffrey Wright, Westworld
Lead Actress, Drama
Claire Foy, The Crown
Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid's Tale
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Keri Russell, The Americans
Evan Rachel Wood, Westworld
Lead Actor, Comedy
Anthony Anderson, black-ish
Ted Danson, The Good Place
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Donald Glover, Atlanta
Bill Hader, Barry
William H. Macy, Shameless
Lead Actress, Comedy
Pamela Adlon, Better Things
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel
Allison Janney, Mom
Issa Rae, Insecure
Tracee Ellis Ross, black-ish
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie
Supporting Actor, Drama
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Game of Thrones
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Joseph Fiennes, The Handmaid's Tale
David Harbour, Stranger Things
Mandy Patinkin, Homeland
Matt Smith, The Crown
Supporting Actress, Drama
Alexis Bledel, The Handmaid's Tale
Millie Bobby Brown, Stranger Things
Ann Dowd, The Handmaid's Tale
Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
Vanessa Kirby, The Crown
Yvonne Strahovski, The Handmaid's Tale
Supporting Actor, Comedy
Louie Anderson, Baskets
Alec Baldwin, Saturday Night Live
Brian Tyree Henry, Atlanta
Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel
Kenan Thompson, Saturday Night Live
Henry Winkler, Barry
Supporting Actress, Comedy
Zazie Beetz, Atlanta
Aidy Bryant, Saturday Night Live
Betty Gilpin, Glow
Leslie Jones, Saturday Night Live
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Laurie Metcalf, Roseanne
Outstanding Limited Series
The Alienist
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Genius: Picasso
Godless
Patrick Melrose
Outstanding Television Movie
Fahrenheit 451
Flint
Paterno
The Tale
USS Callister (Black Mirror)
Lead Actor, Limited Series or Movie
Antonio Banderas, Genius: Picasso
Darren Criss, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Benedict Cumberbatch, Patrick Melrose
Jeff Daniels, The Looming Tower
John Legend, Jesus Christ Superstar Live
Jesse Plemons, USS Callister (Black Mirror)
Lead Actress, Limited Series or Movie
Jessica Biel, The Sinner
Laura Dern, The Tale
Michelle Dockery, Godless
Edie Falco, Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders
Regina King, Seven Seconds
Sarah Paulson, American Horror Story: Cult
Outstanding Reality Show Program
Amazing Race
American Ninja Warrior
Project Runway
Rupaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice
Outstanding Variety Sketch Series
At Home with Amy Sedaris
Drunk History
I Love You America with Sarah Silverman
Portlandia
Saturday Night Live
The Tracey Ullman Show
Outstanding Variety Talk Series
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The Late Late Show with James Croden
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
