• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, July 14, 2022

Each year in September, one of the four broadcast networks gladly and without reservation devotes three hours of precious prime time to embellishing the reputations of shows seen elsewhere, whose renown and popularity contribute to the erosion of network audiences.

This incredible opportunity for priceless prime-time promotion is the annual Emmy Awards, in which the networks’ competitors, pay cable and streaming services, get to strut their stuff for free.

As they have in past years recently, these competitors and their best-known shows received the lion’s share of top Emmy Award nominations when they were announced in Hollywood on Tuesday.

By contrast, the four networks were practically shut out of the top categories -- Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and others.

The notable network exceptions were “Saturday Night Live” (NBC) with nine nominations, the most nominations of any network show this year (but none in the above categories), and the ABC sitcom “Abbott Elementary” with seven.

These included Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actress, Quinton Brunson; Outstanding Supporting Actor, Tyler James Williams; and Outstanding Supporting Actress (two of them), Sheryl Lee Ralph and Janelle James.

But that’s it. The vast majority of all of the other nominations for dramas, comedies and their lead actors and actresses -- plus Outstanding Limited Series, Outstanding Supporting Actors and Actresses and other categories -- went overwhelmingly to name-brand streaming services and pay-cable networks.

An HBO/HBO Max show, “Succession” (starring Brian Cox, pictured above), was this year’s most-nominated show with 25, including Outstanding Drama Series -- a category in which the broadcast networks were completely shut out.

Neither were any network dramas nominated in the categories of Outstanding Actors and Actresses either.

Indeed, the top 14 most-nominated shows this year all belonged to streaming services. They all had nomination tallies in the double digits.

After “Succession,” the shows were: “Ted Lasso,” Apple TV+, 20 nominations; “The White Lotus,” HBO/HBO Max, 20; “Hacks,” HBO/HBO Max, 17; “Only Murders In The Building,” Hulu, 17; “Euphoria,” HBO/HBO Max, 16; “Barry,” HBO/HBO Max, 14; and “Dopesick,” Hulu, 14.

Other streaming shows in the top 14 were “Severance,” “Squid Game,” “Ozark,” “Stranger Things,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “Pam and Tommy.”

While the four broadcast networks barely penetrated the top categories that will comprise the most-visible and most-watched segments during “The 74th Emmy Awards” airing live on NBC on September 12, they did accrue nominations in the double digits for various other categories.

For the record, CBS had a total of 29 nominations, NBC had 28, ABC had 23 and Fox had 6.

By contrast, HBO/HBO Max had 140 nominations this year and Netflix had 105.  A number of the broadcast network nominations are in categories that will not be included in the three-hour prime-time Emmy show. But all of those major categories crammed with streaming nominees sure will.

Thus, you have this continuing situation in which the broadcast TV industry annually provides a glittering, glamorous showcase for the best of pay-cable and streaming in an awards competition in which the networks are also-rans and after-thoughts.

Here’s an out-of-the-box idea: Maybe the networks should simply relinquish the Emmy broadcast rights and let the streaming services fight over them.

Why should network TV air this award show every year if it exists to honor and promote everybody but them?