Let’s Talk About HBO’s Lack of Award Nominations
Known as the king of television for the past few years, HBO has recently struggled to compete against both cable networks and online platforms. With the Emmy nominations recently in, one has to wonder if veteran shows like Veep and Game of Thrones will be able to pull in wins from the bigger categories this year as well as sustain a strong performance in the other award shows.
Scoring only seven nominations at the last Golden Globe appearance, HBO was officially in second place with Netflix finally pulling ahead with a total of eight. Not to far behind was Amazon as well as FX, both who have recently began to hit a stride with their scripted television. This change in nominations begs the question whether or not HBO has fallen in their performances or other networks have simply caught up to their level of quality. Shows like The Brink and Ballers appear to be an underwhelming attempt to capture the previous success of their politically engineered show or the ridiculous fun of Entourage.
LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 13: Writer Clay Tarver accepts the Episodic Comedy award for ‘Silicon Valley’ onstage during the 2016 Writers Guild Awards at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza on February 13, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Writers Guild of America, West)
Yet HBO doesn’t just have a lineup of struggling shows, instead they have current underdogs such as Silicon Valley ,The Leftovers, and recent addition, The Night Of. Despite receiving critical acclaim and near stellar seasons, fans seem uninterested in tuning in for shows that they had once written off. With HBO shows only consist of ten episodes every years, broadcast television manages to capture the public’s attention more with their longer seasons and shorter waiting time for new episodes.
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The final nail in HBO’s coffin is the cost discrepancy between streaming websites such as Netflix or Amazon as well as basic cable. Charging the highest of the online networks at $15.99, HBO Now could initially turn people off who are looking to get a larger variety of programming. While fan favorite Game of Thrones manages to break its viewing record each season, lesser known shows, like Girls, are suffering from a huge drop in viewership. Price isn’t the only reason that dissuades some customers, who prefer the ability to watch a season all at once rather than wait for new episodes to be updated every week.
LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 20: Actor Tony Hale, winner of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for ‘Veep’, poses in the press room at the 67th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on September 20, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Next: The 2016 Emmy nominations are here.
This upcoming Emmy Awards will be a big deal for the executives at HBO as they attempt to regain their number one spot for compelling television. With every network nipping at their heels in terms of nominations, it may be time for HBO to reinvent themselves so they can compete with the likes of the ever-growing Netflix lineup.