The 65th annual Emmy awards aired last night, honoring the best in television during the last 12 months. There were lots of surprises. But there was one moment that 10 years ago would have been impossible.
The drama House of Cards won an Emmy last night. It’s director, David Fincher, took home best directing for a drama series. What makes this unique is House of Cards can only be seen online on Netflix. This is the first time in history an exclusively online show won an Emmy. They also won for cinematography and creative arts. Those two were given in a private ceremony, but Fincher’s award was given during the show, putting this tremendous feat on a public national forum. Keep in mind House of Cards was nominated for 9 Emmys, and that Nelflix has over 30 million streamers, a trend that shows no signs of slowing down.
This is a great sign for online entertainment. And Netflix isn’t the only one. I saw a report on CBS This Morning talked about the rise of You Tube shows. I heard one You Tube producer say he wouldn’t put his program on mainstream TV unless they made him a huge offer, due to the creative freedoms You Tube gives him. You can get Netflix for a little as eight dollars a month. That beats what a lot of cable companies right now. I heard some families are hooking up their computers to their big screen TVs not to watch prime time TV, but You Tube channels! And now an exclusive Netflix show is getting Emmy awards and this kind of recognition? Is streaming online entertainment the future of visual TV?