It’s a make-or-break year for the Primetime Emmys. After NBC broadcasts the 78th Emmy Awards on Sept. 14, the current four-network “wheel deal” — in which ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox take turns airing the annual event — expires. As of now, no renewal is in place, meaning we still don’t know what the future holds for the show.
I’ve used this column over the past few years to pitch my idea: a “roadblock,” in which every streamer and broadcaster simulcasts the Emmys. That would expose the show (and the nominated programs that it spotlights) to a much wider audience, as opposed to the limitations that come with airing on just one outlet at a time.
The concept of everyone coming together for one evening — and pausing their competition for the good of the overall TV business — had some legs. Then the Motion Picture Academy went and struck a megadeal with YouTube to move the Oscars to the platform in 2029 — in a pact said to be in the nine-figure range.
Now I fear the Television Academy might have YouTube envy, and want to make its own deal with a social media platform (Emmys on TikTok? Or Instagram?) or even a global streamer. But I’d advise it to think long and hard about that.
First off, unlike the Oscars, the Emmys are not a global event. The Primetime Emmys focus on shows broadcast by U.S. outlets for U.S. viewers. Sure, some international series and plenty of British dramas make their way to the Emmys, because they’re U.S. co-productions. (Apologies to Canada’s Emmy ineligible “Heated Rivalry,” which was not.) But this is a domestic award, so there’s not much selling point to the idea that viewers in Spain or India could tune in on Netflix.
