In what may be its last hurrah as the network that defined quality television, HBO topped the 71st Emmy Awards on Sunday with nine wins in the major categories presented on the Fox telecast.
But streaming services continued their incursion on HBO’s Emmy dominance as Amazon had a strong night with a total of seven wins at the ceremony, including four for “Fleabag,” which won for best comedy.
From a dominant night for Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s “Fleabag” to historic wins by Billy Porter and Jharrel Jerome, daring television prevailed at the 2019 Emmys.
HBO, The WarnerMedia-owned premium cable channel, was propelled by Emmy victories for its fantasy drama “Game of Thrones,” which earned two trophies, and the limited series “Chernobyl,” which landed three wins on Sunday night.
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Combined with last week’s Emmy ceremony for creative arts categories, HBO held off Netflix with a total of 34 wins. The streaming behemoth walked away with a total of 27 statuettes. Amazon had a total of 15.
The cast of “Game of Thrones” comes onstage to accept the drama series award during the show at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Phoebe Waller-Bridge (speaking) and fellow cast and crew members of “Fleabag” accept the comedy series award during the 71st Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater. (Getty Images)
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Jodie Comer of “Killing Eve” reacts to winning the Emmy award for lead actress in a drama series during the show. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Jodie Comer, left, and Sandra Oh from “Killing Eve” react to Comer winning the Emmy award for lead actress in a drama series. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Lorne Michaels and the cast and crew of “Saturday Night Live” win the Emmy for variety sketch series. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Adam DeVine performs onstage during the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards show. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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People perform during the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards show. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Peter Dinklage of “Game of Thrones” accepts the award for supporting actor in a drama series during the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards show. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Jharrel Jerome of “When They See Us” wins for lead actor in a limited series or movie at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Peter Krause and Angela Bassett prepare to present the award for lead actor in a limited series or movie during the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theater. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Michelle Williams accepts her lead actress in a limited series or movie award for “Fosse/Verdon.” (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Bill Hader prepare to present the award for supporting actor in a limited series or movie. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Phoebe Waller-Bridge accepts the award for outstanding writing for a comedy series for “Fleabag.” (Chris Pizzello / Invision/Associated Press)
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Don Cheadle from “Black Monday” and Kristen Bell from “The Good Place” present the supporting actress in a drama series award during the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Cherry Jones presents the award for writing for a drama series during the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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The cast of “Chernobyl” accepts the Emmy for limited series. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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During the opening, Homer Simpson takes a brief stab at hosting. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Bryan Cranston, another of the momentary “hosts” early in the ceremony. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Tony Shalhoub accepts a statuette for supporting actor in a comedy series while presenters Bob Newhart, center, and Ben Stiller watch. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Bryan Cranston. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Patricia Arquette, from “Escape at Dannemora,” wins for supporting actress in a limited series or movie. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Ben Stiller stands between figures of George Burns and Lucille Ball; Bob Newhart waits in the shadows. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Thingamajig from “The Masked Singer” accompanies accountants from Emmy tabulators Ernst & Young. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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“Game of Thrones” actors, from left, Alfie Allen, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke, Gwendoline Christie, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Carice van Houten. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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RuPaul Charles accepts the statuette for competition program: “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Presenters Maya Rudolph and Ike Barinholtz enter, blindfolded, to present the award for lead actor in a comedy series. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Bill Hader from “Barry” accepts the award for lead actor in a comedy series. Presenters Maya Rudolph and Ike Barinholtz watch. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Nick Cannon and Ken Jeong present the award for writing for a comedy series. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Amy Poehler, left, and Catherine O’Hara present the award for supporting actress in a comedy series. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Alex Borstein from “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” wins the Emmy for supporting actress in a comedy series (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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John Oliver, from “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” accepts the award for variety talk series. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Lorne Michaels and the cast and crew of “Saturday Night Live” win for variety sketch series. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Adam DeVine performs at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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“Ozark’s” Julia Garner accepts her award for supporting actress in a drama series. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Billy Porter, on stage as a presenter, would later win for lead actor in a drama series for “Pose.” (AFP/Getty Images)
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Bill Hader accepts the award for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series for “Barry” at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards. (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
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For “Game of Thrones,” the fourth win for best drama ties it with the other four-time victors in the category — “Hill Street Blues,” “L.A. Law,” “The West Wing” and “Mad Men.”
While many hard-core “Game of Thrones” fans expressed unhappiness over the quality of the final season of the drama based on the George R.R. Martin novels, the Television Academy members who vote on the Emmys tend to reward series for their entire body of work.
Surprisingly, the longtime academy favorite “Veep,” which ended after seven seasons on HBO, was shut out for the night.
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While it was a celebratory night for HBO, the competition from streamers loomed larger than ever, underscoring the rapid transformation of the television industry as rising digital players compete for critical accolades.
Netflix came in second place overall without the benefit of its three most acclaimed hits, “Stranger Things,” “Orange Is the New Black” and “The Crown,” which did not run during the qualifying period for the awards.
At the Emmys, “Chernobyl” and “When They See Us” faced off in the limited-series categories.
But HBO’s “Chernobyl,” the limited series about the 1986 nuclear power plant disaster in the Ukraine, staved off a strong challenge from the Netflix limited series “When They See Us,” writer-director Ava DuVernay’s take on the wrongful 1990 conviction of five teenage boys from Harlem in the rape and near-deadly assault of a 28-year-old female jogger in Central Park. “Chernobyl,” which in the pre-streaming era was the type of prestige project that would clean up at the awards, earned three Emmy wins — including best limited series or drama — while “When They See Us” scored one.
Neflix also had wins for the drama series “Ozark,” which captured a supporting actress trophy for Julia Garner and a drama direction award for Jason Bateman. “Bandersnatch,” an episode in the Netflix series “Black Mirror,” won for television movie.
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Phoebe Waller-Bridge from “Fleabag” with her collection of Emmy Awards (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Billy Porter of “Pose.” (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Alex Borstein won the Emmy for supporting actress in a comedy series for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Peter Dinklage won his fourth supporting actor in a drama series Emmy for “Game of Thrones.” (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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RuPaul celebrates his “Drag Race” win in the competition program category. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Jodie Comer, winner for lead actress in a drama series for “Killing Eve.” (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Jharrel Jerome won an Emmy as lead actor in a limited series or movie for “When They See Us.” (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Bill Hader took the Emmy for lead actor in a comedy series for “Barry.” (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Sophie Turner, left, with “Game of Thrones” author George R. R. Martin, center (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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The cast of “Game of Thrones,” which was named best drama series in its final season. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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“RuPaul’s Drag Race” was named best competition program. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Drama series “Ozark” won two Emmys, for supporting actress Julia Garner and director Jason Bateman. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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John Oliver took home two Emmys for his HBO series “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.” (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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The cast of “Saturday Night Live” (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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The cast of “Chernobyl,” which won 10 Emmys Sunday including limited series. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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The cast of “Fleabag,” which scored half a dozen Emmys on Sunday night including comedy series. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Patricia Arquette won an Emmy for supporting actress in a limited series or movie for “The Act.” (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Michelle Williams won as lead actress in a limited series or movie for FX’s “Fosse/Verdon,” in which she played Gwen Verdon. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Amazon scored the second most wins on the night, including two awards for Alex Borstein and Tony Shalhoub for the series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”; and comedy writing for Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the creator and star of “Fleabag.” The service also won with “A Very English Scandal,” which landed a best supporting actor in a limited series win for Ben Whishaw.
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Notably, both Netflix and Amazon made gains as HBO’s long-running powerhouse entries “Game of Thrones” and “Veep” are exiting the stage, which raises questions about the premium cable’s future dominance of the Emmys.
HBO built its reputation by racking up Emmy awards over the years, which enhanced the network’s value in the minds of consumers. Netflix and Amazon have tried to follow that model by investing in distinctive content that gets elevated and promoted through awards recognition.
Netflix is expected to continue to mount pressure on HBO as it increases its investment in original programming. The Los Gatos-based company will spend $15 billion on programming in 2019, up from $12 billion last year.
“Succession,” the series about a family-owned media empire, scored a win in the writing for a drama series category. The series has been gaining buzz and critical kudos for its second season and is likely to be a favorite for next year’s awards. There was even chatter leading into Sunday that the show might upset “Game of Thrones” and take the drama series trophy.
But whether HBO can retain its creative potency under its new corporate owner, AT&T, remains a question. The network is no longer the insulated boutique that had free rein under previous management.
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AT&T is using HBO, a sterling brand name that signified innovation and distinction, to attract subscribers to a new direct-to-consumer streaming service called HBO Max, which will have a broader array of TV shows and movies.
HBO Max will have the services of uber-producer J.J. Abrams, who recently signed a massive overall deal with WarnerMedia. But the service is also the home of “The Big Bang Theory,” which ran for 12 seasons on the broadcast network CBS and not does not really exemplify the mystique of the HBO brand.
While HBO faces its challenges, ad-supported broadcast and cable networks continue to see their share of Emmy glory diminishing.
The 2019 Creative Arts Emmys have been awarded, and winners are notated on our Emmy nominations list.
Only one broadcast show received honors on the night, with NBC’s late-night sketch comedy warhorse “Saturday Night Live” earning trophies for variety sketch series and directing.
On the ad-supported cable side, AMC picked up a win thanks to Jodie Comer’s honor for actress in the drama series”Killing Eve.” FX saw a wins for “Fosse/Verdon” as Michelle Williams was honored actress in a limited series or movie, and Billy Porter for actor in a drama for “Pose.”
ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, and their affiliated production studios, do not invest heavily in the kind of expensive Emmy campaigns and star-studded “for your consideration” events that have become the standard among the streaming services. Their lack of any major promotional push showed up in their virtual absence from the telecast.
Stephen Battaglio writes about television and the media business for the Los Angeles Times out of New York. His coverage of the television industry has appeared in TV Guide, the New York Daily News, the New York Times, Fortune, the Hollywood Reporter, Inside.com and Adweek. He is also the author of three books about television, including a biography of pioneer talk show host and producer David Susskind.
