Netflix has won the most Emmys of any single platform, with 44, including 11 for The Crown, more than doubling its closest competitor, HBO/HBO Max. The Emmys in 2021 were also a landmark moment for Apple TV+, which won ten prizes, including seven for its comedy series Ted Lasso. To be clear, Netflix’s Emmy haul was boosted by the 34 Creative Arts Emmys it won last week. However, another ten primetime Emmys were required, including acting prizes for Olivia Colman, Gillian Anderson, and Josh O’Connor in The Crown, as well as Ewan McGregor in Halston.
The Crown also took home awards for writing and directing, as well as the renowned award for outstanding drama series. The Queen’s Gambit, starring Anya Taylor-Joy and available on Netflix, took home the award for best limited series. Meanwhile, Apple TV+ won a total of ten Emmys, including seven in primetime. It won seven awards in the comedy series category, including three acting awards for Brett Goldstein and Hannah Waddingham (best supporting actors) and Jason Sudeikis (best actor) (best actor). Ted Lasso was also named best comedy series winner.
Apple TV+ fared far better than its competitors, thanks in large part to that series. Disney+ did outperform it with 14 total prizes, up from eight in 2020, but only one of those was for primetime programming (Hamilton for best pre-recorded variety special). After both winning Emmys in 2020, Amazon and Hulu were completely ruled out in 2021.
With 130 nominations, HBO and HBO Max outperformed all competitors, winning 19 Emmys, including nine in primetime. Jean Smart for Hacks (best actress in a comedy series) and Kate Winslet for Mare of Easstown were the big prizes last night (best actress in a limited series).
Michaela Coel won the award for best writing in a limited series for I May Destroy you after being controversially left out of the Golden Globes nominations.
In 2018, Netflix tied HBO (pre-HBO Max) for the most Emmy wins, making it the first cable network to do so. This year, it outperformed all competitors by a wide margin, with streaming platforms taking the top four slots overall. It needs to be seen whether this can be sustained as the pandemic fades and subscription growth slows.
