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Emmy Awards 2015: Broadcast TV vs. streaming, who's winning?

ABC's 'Modern Family' lost the best comedy series prize to HBO's 'Veep,' while some actors who have won often for broadcast shows missed the prize this year, losing out to cable or streaming competitors. 

You know we鈥檙e in a new age of television when cable network HBO is seen as the old guard.

At last night鈥檚 Emmy Awards, HBO came out as the major winner, with programs produced by the network taking the top Emmys prizes of Best Drama Series (鈥淕ame of Thrones鈥�) and Best Comedy Series (鈥淰eep鈥�).聽

Pop culture鈥檚 buzziest shows are increasingly coming from cable networks like HBO (also the home of 鈥淪ilicon Valley,鈥� 鈥淕irls,鈥� and 鈥淭rue Detective鈥�), Showtime (鈥淗omeland鈥� and 鈥淧enny Dreadful鈥�), or Starz (鈥淥utlander鈥�) or streaming services like Netflix (鈥淗ouse of Cards,鈥� 鈥淥range Is the New Black,鈥� 鈥淯nbreakable Kimmy Schmidt鈥�) and Hulu (鈥淭he Mindy Project鈥�). The main networks like NBC or CBS can seem lost in the conversation.聽

Last year, broadcast shows had taken some of the Emmy Awards major categories, but that wasn鈥檛 always the case this year. ABC鈥檚 鈥淢odern Family鈥� had been the king of the Best Comedy Series prize in the last several years, with 鈥淢odern鈥� taking the award five times. This year, 鈥淢odern鈥� was unseated by HBO鈥檚 鈥淰eep.鈥� In addition, 鈥淢odern鈥� actor Ty Burrell won the Emmy for best supporting actor in a comedy series last year, a prize he鈥檇 won once before. This year, actor Tony Hale of 鈥淰eep鈥� took the award.聽

Jim Parsons, frequent winner of the Emmy for best actor in a comedy series for his work on CBS's "The Big Bang Theory," missed out on the prize this year and it went to an actor in a streaming show. Jeffrey Tambor took the prize for his Amazon show 鈥淭ransparent.鈥�

Broadcast networks were still present at the Emmys, albeit in only a couple of major categories. Actress Viola Davis won the Emmy for best actress in a drama series, taking the award for her work on the ABC show 鈥淗ow to Get Away With Murder鈥� (Julianna Margulies of CBS鈥檚 鈥淭he Good Wife鈥� won last year, so the prize was kept among the broadcast networks). And Allison Janney won the Emmy again for best supporting actress in a comedy series for her work on the CBS show 鈥淢om.鈥�

Otherwise, the major prizes were spread out among cable and streaming services. Jon Hamm won the award for best actor in a drama series for his appearances on the AMC show 鈥淢ad Men,鈥� while Uzo Aduba won the Emmy for best supporting actress in a drama series for Netflix鈥檚 鈥淥range Is the New Black.鈥� Peter Dinklage won the best supporting actor in a drama series Emmy for 鈥淭hrones鈥� and Julia Louis-Dreyfus took the Emmy for best actress in a comedy series for 鈥淰eep.鈥澛�

Who鈥檚 winning when it comes to broadcast, cable, or streaming? Audiences are certainly benefiting. We鈥檙e living in a time of an almost unprecedented amount of quality TV is being produced. An opening joke by Emmys host Andy Samberg had him going into a bunker in an attempt to watch all the worthwhile TV shows. In past years, the best drama series has had TV shows facing off that weren鈥檛 just the best of the year 鈥� they were shows that often lead critics鈥� lists of the best programs of all time, like 鈥淢ad Men,鈥� 鈥淏reaking Bad,鈥� 鈥淭hrones,鈥� and 鈥淗omeland.鈥澛�

Streaming services may be dominating the conversation when it comes to their talent rosters. The little-known Yahoo Screen gained showrunner Dan Harmon when it picked up the critically acclaimed canceled NBC comedy 鈥淐ommunity.鈥� After NBC decided against Tina Fey鈥檚 show 鈥淯nbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,鈥� she went over to Netflix, while Hulu gained Mindy Kaling after Fox canceled her show 鈥淭he Mindy Project.鈥� Big names like Brad Pitt and Idris Elba are working on films with Netflix.聽

But ABC has a valuable asset: a relationship with Disney. Because the company is behind classic animated films and is the home of Marvel Comics characters, ABC can air the hit series 鈥淥nce Upon a Time,鈥� which follows fairy tale characters, and the Marvel shows 鈥淢arvel鈥檚 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D鈥� and 鈥淎gent Carter.鈥�

ABC also has a powerful strength in showrunner Shonda Rhimes. She鈥檚 the creator of and/or executive producer on ABC鈥檚 hit shows 鈥淕rey鈥檚 Anatomy,鈥� 鈥淪candal,鈥� and 鈥淗ow to Get Away With Murder.鈥� Her lineup of shows makes up the top-rated ABC Thursday lineup.聽

NBC has a big talent with Michael Schur as well. Schur created NBC鈥檚 鈥淧arks and Recreation,鈥� which was nominated this year for best comedy series, and the network recently ordered a new show from Schur, who also served as a writer on NBC鈥檚 beloved sitcom 鈥淭he Office.鈥� NBC also ordered a pilot from Fey and 鈥淜immy鈥� co-creator Robert Carlock, so that could be an asset down the road, too.聽

Fox is also doing well with their comedy 鈥淭he Last Man on Earth鈥� and the music drama 鈥淓mpire.鈥� Both were new shows last year that quickly became hits and earned Emmy nominations. It鈥檚 early in the shows鈥� runs to see whether the programs can maintain their momentum, but they鈥檙e both doing well so far. Fox鈥檚 comedy 鈥淏rooklyn Nine-Nine鈥� is also popular.聽

And CBS is still hitting a home run with its show 鈥淭he Good Wife.鈥� Actors Alan Cumming and Christine Baranski earned Emmy nods this year for their work on the show and the program has a strong fan base.