HBO Scores Over Streaming Platforms at Emmy Awards | TechTree.com

HBO Scores Over Streaming Platforms at Emmy Awards

HBO proves that developing content every week doesn’t help, they need Game of thrones to be on throne

 

Move aside video streaming companies, the big guns of satellite television will continue to boom. And this was proved quite emphatically at the 71st Emmy Awards where HBO ruled the roost with as many as nine wins – albeit all of them for their marquee Game of Thrones franchise.

Given the major shift in viewership from satellite television to video streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, there were those who expected that content developed by them would take the cake at these awards. However, while Amazon Prime (with seven wins) and Netflix (with four) did get on the honors list, it was HBO that cleaned them up.

Elaine Low and Audrey Yap of Variety Magazine put things in perspective while discussing the highs and lows of the Awards and the winners and losers.

However, what was interesting beyond all these is the fact that HBO set a record this year with the total number of nominations at the Emmy Awards. It won the Best Drama Series for Game of Thrones which also got Peter Dinklage his fourth Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

Of course, it was not as though Netflix and Amazon Prime got blanked. Shows like Fleabag and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel helped Amazon to rule the comedy category. Similarly, Netflix show Ozark got Jason Bateman an award for Best Direction in a drama series and Julia Garner the award for Best Supporting Actress with Bandersnatch, the interactive episode of “Black Mirror” winning for best Television Movie.

Ever since the video streaming platforms have come to fore, there has been heated debate over the quality of content on the two platform and which makes better sense to spend money over. Of course, there is no specific direction that this debate is taking though Netflix (203) could lay claim to having its shows rated higher on IMDB, followed by Amazon Prime (142) and then HBO (43).

In terms of cost to consumer, HBO takes the cake with its subscription burning the biggest hole in one’s pocket followed by Netflix and then Amazon Prime, which obviously uses its large e-commerce subscriber base to cross-sell the video platform business through discounts.

When it comes to movies on offer, Amazon Prime takes top slot with 14,210 listed titles followed by Netflix with 3,803 and HBO faring rather poorly with just 926 titles. One of the reasons could be the fact that Amazon Prime has ventured deep into the regional language titles in India – an area that Netflix is just entering and HBO would never get into.

Of course, one may argue that going forward, there is every possibility that Warner Media Entertainment, which owns HBO, may move into the digital platform with a vengeance. Of course, the HBO app already provides users with a customized viewing option just as others like HotStar, Sony LIV and Zee5 does, thus making it into the paid digital subscription space.

The world appears headed for subscription-based viewing with an increasing number of millennials preferring the personalized viewing available on smartphones and tablets as against the age-old practice of gathering around a television set during dinner time. So, in the end, what matters would be good quality content, which is where the streaming platforms are scoring.

Even a mass production house like Balaji Telefilms has ALT Balaji that offers better quality content than the regular Saas-Bahu series that they have known to dish out for close to two decades now.

Of course, this raises the moot question about users spending more time with their personal screens and its impact on both mental and physiological health. But, that’s the topic for another story at some other point in time.

For now, let’s just applaud the Game of Thrones that helped HBO stay put on the throne at the Emmy Awards.


TAGS: Amazon Prime, HBO, Game of Thrones, Netflix

 
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