TV critics have confirmed what the Emmy Awards suggested – the year of COVID was also the year of streamers.
Last week, the Emmy nominations came out, dominated by streaming networks and pay-extra cable. Now the Television Critics Association nominations echo that.
Streamers piled up 46 TCA nominations, led by five for “Ted Lasso” (shown here), which starts its second season July 23 on Apple TV+. That compares to only 10 for all of over-the-air TV – four for NBC, four for PBS (mostly its kid shows), three for CBS, zero for ABC, Fox or CW.
Cable drew 29 nominations, mostly for pay-extra channels HBO (14) and Showtime (five).
HBO did manage two shows in the top category, program of the year – “Mare of Easttown” and “I May Destroy You.” They face one on sister channel HBO Max (“Hacks”), plus “Ted Lasso,” Netflix’s “Bridgerton” and “The Queen’s Gambit,” Amazon’s “The Underground Railroad” and the Disney+ “WandaVision.”
All deuted during the pandemic – a bountiful time for streamers.