HBO and Amazon Dominate the Emmys, Netflix Falls Behind: How the Streaming Services Fared

Amazon saw a record number of wins at the 2019 Primetime Emmy Awards last night—but it wasn’t quite enough to beat out HBO, which once again dominated the Emmys. The premium cable channel took home nine total wins for the night, while Amazon Prime Video took home seven. It wasn’t just Game of Thrones that made HBO the victor this year, either, though that certainly contributed—Chernobyl, Last Week with John Oliver, and Succession all added to pile. (Though Veep, surprisingly, took home none.) The network went into the evening with the most nominations (137), so it’s no surprise it came out with the most wins, too.

Amazon, on the other hand, performed much stronger than expected thanks largely to Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag, which took us all by surprise and stole the spotlight with four wins, including Outstanding Comedy Series. Waller-Bridge personally took home two of those Emmys, for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series. It was a win for misbehaving funny ladies everywhere, and if you’re interested, you should absolutely stream the first two seasons ASAP.

As for Netflix, the streaming pioneer didn’t make as strong of showing as it has in previous years, taking home four wins at the telecast, about half as many as the streaming service took home last year. The big wins were for Jharrel Jerome as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for When They See Us and Julia Garner as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Ozark. Hulu, meanwhile, came in last place with just one Emmy, thanks to Patricia Arquette’s Outstanding Supporting Actress win for The Act.

Here’s how the night played out for the streaming services:

• HBO: 9 Telecast Emmys
• Prime Video: 7 Telecast Emmys
• Netflix: 4 Telecast Emmys
• Hulu: 1 Telecast Emmys

Of course, when you add in the Creative Arts Emmys—the class of Emmy Awards that honor technical achievements such as production design, costume design, sound editing, and more, which were awarded earlier this month—the numbers play out slightly differently, and more in Netflix’s favor:

• HBO: 34 Total Emmys
• Prime Video: 15 Total Emmys
• Netflix: 27 Total Emmys
• Hulu: 4 Total Emmys

If you break it down by show, Game of Thrones once again came out on top for its eighth and final season, followed closely by HBO’s surprise critical hit this year, Chernobyl, a limited series based on the 1986 nuclear accident in the Soviet Union. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel once again had a strong showing at the number three slot, while Fleabag came in fifth, behind the National Geographic documentary film, Free Solo, which swept the Creative Arts Emmys last week.

• Game Of Thrones (HBO): 12 Total Emmys
• Chernobyl (HBO): 10 Total Emmys
• The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon Prime Video): 8 Total Emmys
• Free Solo (National Geographic): 7 Total Emmys
• Fleabag (Amazon Prime Video): 6 Total Emmys
• Love, Death & Robots (Netflix): 5 Total Emmys
• Saturday Night Live (NBC): 5 Total Emmys

So HBO and Game of Thrones still reign king for one last time, but Amazon still came out strong. Netflix didn’t quite perform as well as it did last year—in 2018, the streaming service took home nearly twice as many telecast Emmys—but still beat out the traditional networks handsomely. The real question is whether next year HBO will still be on top once Game of Thrones is out of the picture. Chernobyl is a limited series, after all, and showrunner Craig Mazin has said definitively he won’t be doing another season. We’ll see about that.

Watch Fleabag on Amazon Prime Video