How Much HBO, Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu Spent for Each Emmy Nomination
It takes a $225 entry fee to be considered for the Primetime Emmy Awards, as we all found out when Game of Thrones stars Gwendoline Christie, Carice van Houten, and Alfie Allen put up the money and submitted themselves for Emmy consideration without HBO’s help (and all scored nominations). But if you consider the total spending for the networks per nomination, the cost is much higher.
HBO, for example, reclaimed its throne as the most-nominated network or platform this year, after being bested by Netflix in 2018. This year, HBO racked up 137 Emmy nominations, compared to Netflix’s 117. But HBO spent far less than Netflix per nomination, according to an (admittedly not foolproof) analysis by Kill the Cable Bill. HBO spent roughly $2.2 billion on content last year, and with the network’s 137 Emmy, nominations, that works out to just under $16 million for each nomination.
Amazon scored its best-ever Emmy nomination haul this year with 47 nominations for shows including The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Fleabag, more than double 2018’s haul of 22 nominations. Those nods came at a price of $106 million apiece, according to the analysis, which is far more than what HBO spent. Now, expectations are riding high for Amazon’s forthcoming Lord of the Rings series, which is costing the e-commerce giant a reported $1 billion.
Jharrel Jerome in When They See Us (Netflix)
Netflix paid even more per nomination, shelling out more than $120 million per nomination, which, KTCB notes, is 41 percent more than the streaming service spent for each nomination last year. Still, Netflix also scored more nominations than ever, with 117 nods this year going to shows such as When They See Us and Russian Doll.
Hulu, however, spent the most per nomination out of the four, ponying up $125 million for each nod, according to the analysis. The streaming service—which had a reported budget of $2.5 billion this past year—only scored 20 nominations, and 11 of those went to The Handmaid’s Tale. That haul is down from 2018, when Hulu landed 27 nominations.
The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)
Clearly, it’s good to be a streaming service with a big budget. But more streamers are entering the fray, with Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO Max, and NBCUniversal’s untitled service all coming soon. And there are only so many Emmy nominations to be divvied up, so content providers might be paying an even prettier penny for each nom next year.
71st Primetime Emmy Awards, Sunday, September 22, 8/7c, Fox
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