• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, July 15, 2022

This from TV Watch’s redundancy department: Streaming TV is taking over linear TV.

But maybe we can say this: At least in terms of award-worthy hardware and critical positive reviews, the pace and depth are now quicker and deeper. Certifying some of this is the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (also known as the Television Academy), with "The Emmys."

Only one of 16 TV series going for top honors -- eight each for comedy and drama categories -- went to a TV series with its primary showing on broadcast network -- ABC’s "Abbott Elementary."

Eight of the nominated dramas broke down this way: three for Netflix, two for HBO, and one each for Showtime, AMC, and Apple TV+.

Eight nominations for best comedy shows showed up this way: Three for HBO/HBO Max and one each for ABC, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV+, and FX.

Hulu also took up a strong position for top “limited” TV series with three nominations ("Dopesick," "The Dropout" and “The White Lotus”).

In terms of the most individual nomination per shows, we have HBO Max/HBO “Succession” at 25 nominations, Apple TV+'s “Ted Lasso” (20), HBO/HBO Max's “The White Lotus” (20), Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” (17), and HBO/HBO Max's "Hacks" (17).

Farther down the list we have Apple TV+ "Severance" and Netflix's "Squid Game," each with 14.

HBO/HBO Max had the most overall at 140, while Netflix came in at 105, Hulu, 58; and Apple TV+, 52.

The significant shift to streaming was accelerated over the past several years -- and highlighted in 2018 when Amazon Prime Video’s "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," in its first year, which won for best comedy. “Maisel” was nominated for this year as well.

Perhaps the best indication is that many press reports hardly even mention the differences in platforms -- cable, streaming, broadcast, or otherwise.

The "Maisel" win was achieved four years ago. But even before then Netflix's subscription video-on-demand service had been a strong competitor to  long-time Emmy award nominations and winner HBO -- now referred to HBO/HBO Max.

Consumer awareness of these buzzworthy shows is big, as are many different platforms -- which is key in driving even more overall TV-streaming usage.

In that regard, the Emmy nominations remind us, at least on this level, the obvious: Increasingly, do we even need to mention what technology is used for TV shows to be delivered to consumers on their favorite screens?