Emmy Analysis: Is Cinemax Losing Its Touch?

Boardwalk Empire Cinemax is constantly on the dominate the Emmys, beating other shops this season with 19 total wins. But may be the pay cable network's Emmy stranglehold around the wane? HBO's tally was lower from last year's 25 wins, and symbolized the channel's littlest Emmy haul since 2003 (if this won 18). And Cinemax won just four honours throughout the Primetime Emmys telecast on Sunday evening, in comparison to eight on last year's broadcast. (It has been a lot more than fifteen years since Cinemax won so couple of throughout the telecast.) Executives in the funnel say they are pleased with their results - and even, HBO's streak as Emmy's top dog shows no immediate signs and symptoms of abatement. However the TV Academy's decision this season to merge the outstanding TV movies and outstanding miniseries groups - cutting among the honours show's key honours -- ultimately hurt Cinemax probably the most. Associates say Cinemax wasn't consulted once the decision is made captured. Prior to the groups were combined, the television movie category would be a reliable Emmy win for Cinemax. The pay cable funnel had won that category basically two times since 1993, including this past year (Temple Grandin). This season, PBS' miniseries Downton Abbey (a Masterpiece co-production using the BBC) won most of the top movie and minis awards, such as the first-ever merged outstanding movies/miniseries Emmy. But which means Cinemax could not rely on individuals groups to boost its Emmy count. (Contributing to the sting: Because Downton Abbey is really a ongoing series, with another edition in route, its inclusion within the movies/minis category has elevated eye brows.) Associates in the funnel believe challengers like Too Large to Fail might have were built with a shot at winning a TV movie Emmy had the groups not been merged. The choice to mix the films and miniseries came after last year's outstanding miniseries competition ended up with only two nominees. The Television Academy has lengthy fought against "honours proliferation," using the organization making several tries to pare back the amount of statues it hands out. But gleam broadcast versus. cable competition at play. The 4 broadcast systems, which rotate the Emmys telecast with an annual basis, haven't been thrilled with featuring a lot of movies and miniseries groups. The Emmycast, they contended, had converted into a 3-hour commercial for Cinemax. This season, using the movies and minis category merging, they were given their revenge. But that brought to concerns the TV Academy had produced an unfair contest, pitting large-budget miniseries against more compact TV movies. "To associate a miniseries such as the Off-shore or John Adams -- where 100s of huge amount of money are allocated to multiple episodes utilizing numerous company directors, authors and editors -- having a single movie whose finances are frequently under the price of one episode of stated miniseries is very unbalanced," Temple Grandin editor Leo Trombetta told The Hollywood Reporter captured. Adds an Cinemax insider: "You will find only five slots, also it ultimately hurt movies. It's apples and oranges, and (the Academy) isn't acknowledging some physiques of labor.Inch Meanwhile, Cinemax can also be facing elevated competition for Emmy gold around the series side. The funnel first started getting top series awards from the broadcast systems within the late the nineteen nineties with shows like Ray Sanders. By 2004, Cinemax obtained its most-ever Emmys (with 32 wins) because of The Sopranos, Deadwood and Sex and also the City. Consider then, systems like Forex, AMC and Showtime took a number of HBO's playbook, acquiring their very own large Emmy wins in most of the key series groups. The proliferation of shops doing original fare implies that the television Academy is distributing the Emmy wealth: In 2001, 16 systems walked away with Emmys. This season, 28 shops (together with a couple of websites) obtained Emmys. This season, even DirecTV drawn off a couple of upsets, because of the ultimate season of Friday Evening Lights, which won two major honours (for the best drama actor Kyle Chandler and outstanding drama writing champion Jason Katims). And Reelzchannel, a formerly overlooked cable network, surprised the with four wins (because of The Kennedys). HBO's greatest heartbreaker on Sunday evening came at the fee for Boardwalk Empire. The Prohibition-era series, starring Steve Buscemi, had already won seven groups in the Creative Arts Emmy honours a few days before. Two more wins, and Boardwalk Empire might have tied Free Airline Wing which are more wins ever in one year (nine, which that demonstrate won in 2000). But Boardwalk Empire could only eke out yet another win on Sunday evening, for outstanding director Martin Scorsese. Boardwalk Empire was still being probably the most-honored program of the season, with eight Emmys, however it just skipped tying that best-ever record. Cinemax can at any rate take solace in the truth that, while its Emmy tally has rejected, it's still seen as an tremendous pressure and also the network to conquer. Masterpiece executive producer Rebecca Eaton, who had been behind the Downton Abbey broadcast on PBS, was surprised at her wins. "It's David and Goliath," she states. "Cinemax has tremendous advertising and marketing muscle behind it." Meanwhile, the broadcast systems aren't faring much better. Despite talk of the good year for that broadcast systems in the Emmys, it had been really mostly a great year for just one show particularly: ABC's Modern Family. Among all broadcast network programs, only five series received several Emmy this season: Modern Family (5), Saturday Evening Live (4), Which Means You Think You Are Able To Dance (3), The American Idol Show (2) and Glee (2). Sign up for TV Guide Magazine now!