
Why This Matters: Emmy wins have become a vital marketing tool for top networks in the jam-packed TV environment.
Without massive hits like Game of Thrones or critical darlings like Veep on its slate, premium cable network HBO the first to smartly turn Emmy Awards wins into marketing gold might be out of the Emmy race in future years.
HBOs Game of Thrones
But not today.
In 2019, HBO is highly likely to score Emmys in the show's two biggest categories: outstanding drama and outstanding comedy, as well as have a fighting chance for outstanding limited series.
That dynamic begs a key question. Are the Emmys going to reward shows in their final season or embrace new shows? asks an awards strategist who declined to be named. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which backs the Golden Globes, loves to reward breakout shows, but the Emmys tend to be more about legacy.
GoT' Leads Drama Pack
The final season of Game of Thrones was controversial but however the fans felt about it, it was also the most jaw-dropping season of television ever produced. From cities being burned to the ground to dragons flying overhead, Game of Thrones' dominance at this year's Emmys is assured. Should Game of Thrones win this year, that would mark its fourth series win, including last year's. The epic fantasy series has been nominated every year it has been on the air.
Besides a wagon load of Creative Arts nominations especially in the technical and VFX categories look for Kit Harington to be nominated for lead actor, while Peter Dinklage and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau should be nominated in the supporting actor category. Harington's performance as the brooding Jon Snow is often criticized, but he was arguably the hero at the center of TV's biggest show.
Harington is expected to be joined in this category by Better Call Saul's Bob Odenkirk, who might win this year after being nominated three previous times for this role; as well as fellow Thrones veteran Richard Madden, the Golden Globes winner for Netflix's Bodyguard and Sterling K. Brown of NBC's This Is Us, who won in this category in 2017.
Meanwhile, Dinklage who should be competing in the lead actor category, considering his screen time in season eight is expected to take home his fourth supporting actor Emmy for this role come September. Dinklage has been nominated in this category every year that the show has aired. Among Thrones' women, Emilia Clarke, who played the ultimately doomed Daenerys Targaryen, should expect a nomination among the lead actresses, while Maisie Williams, whose Arya Stark evolved from tomboy to assassin over the show's run, is a good bet in the supporting actress category. And if there is justice for Arya, the hero of Winterfell should win. She is expected to face strong competition from her co-stars, Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister) and Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), as well as from Ozark's Julia Garner.
Clarke, who really had to sell Daenerys' final turn to the dark side, will likely see competition from two other fierce women: Killing Eve's Sandra Oh and chameleon Jodie Comer.
BBC Americas Killing Eve
Speaking of BBC America's little-show-that-could, Killing Eve, that's another likely lock in the drama category, along with AMC's Better Call Saul, NBC's This Is Us, Netflix's Ozark, HBO's Succession and CBS All Access's The Good Fight (see chart). But even though peak TV is ever-peaking and there have never been more scripted series on the air, Game of Thrones remains the dominant favorite among dramas.
HBO is similarly positioned in comedy with two power players: Veep, which concluded its series run this season, and Bill Hader's auteur-driven Barry. Veep is no stranger to Emmys, having been named outstanding comedy for three out of six seasons with nominations for season seven still to be revealed. Star Julia Louis-Dreyfus has won for lead actress all six seasons, tying her with Cloris Leachman as the actor with the most Emmy wins with eight total.
Louis-Dreyfus' strongest competition this year is likely Rachel Brosnahan of Amazon Prime Video's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, last year's winner in this category. But Brosnahan and Maisel won last year when Veep was not in the race.
Other possibilities for lead comedic actress include Russian Doll's very-deserving Natasha Lyonne, Better Things' Pamela Adlon and Mom's Allison Janney, who already has seven Emmys for The West Wing, Masters of Sex and Mom and won the best-supporting actress Oscar in 2017 for I, Tonya.
On the men's side, Hader who writes, directs, executive produces and stars in Barry seems like a lock to repeat last year's win. That also holds true for co-star and emotional heart of the show Henry Winkler.
Hader's strongest competition will likely come from two-time Oscar winner Michael Douglas, who stars, along with Oscar winner Alan Arkin, in Netflix's The Kominsky Method. Douglas won the Golden Globe for this role in January. Ironically, both Barry and Kominsky feature acting schools in Los Angeles.
Don Cheadle in Showtimes Black Monday
Don Cheadle of Showtime's Black Monday and Ted Danson of NBC's The Good Place also are expected to grab nominations in the lead actor in a comedy category.
No Netflix Binge in '19
In general, Netflix's presence is likely to be less felt this go-round than it has been in recent years without entries such as The Crown, House of Cards or Stranger Things in the mix. Last year, Netflix beat HBO with 112 total nominations to HBO's 108, and the two tied for total wins with 23 each.
Netflix shows that should be in the mix, though, include dramas Ozark and Bodyguard and comedies The Kominsky Method and Russian Doll. Also possible are GLOW and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
13/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/08/2026
IBC today announced that its most prestigious honour, the International Honour for Excellence (IHFE), will be presented to Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), ...
13/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced its participation in the IBC2026 Accelerator Media Innovation Pro...
13/08/2026
dzjinius, the all-in-one production management platform for the media and entertainment industry, will showcase its new application, dzjinius on-set , at IBC20...
13/08/2026
Broadcasting Center Europe (BCE), a leading European provider of media services, system integration and product development, will demonstrate an end-to-end sove...
13/08/2026
Clear-Com is returning to IBC 2026, taking place September 11-14 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. At Stand 10.D29, Clear-Com will spotlight the award-winning FreeSpe...
13/08/2026
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics of Europe, will showcase its comprehensive portfolio of Leader, PHABRIX and LeaderPhabrix test and measurement ...
13/08/2026
KRK Brings Advanced Wireless Control to Professional Monitoring With New V Serie...
13/08/2026
Anthony Noack Captures Artist's Journey in Estonia with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton August 12, 2026
0 Comments
Solo filmmaker documents concept...
13/08/2026
ARRI Image Science makes its mobile debut in the HONOR Robot Phone
Brie Clayton August 12, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image displays the HONOR Robot Phone, ...
13/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/08/2026
Suitest's Test Automation Platform Simplifies Video Quality Assurance, Monitoring, and Device Certification Across the OTT Ecosystem
At IBC2026, Suitest, a...
13/08/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, will have its key software solutions ready to demonstrate at SET Expo 2026 (18 20...
13/08/2026
Scripps Research has established the Peter K. Vogt Endowed Chair, a new faculty ...
13/08/2026
LA JOLLA, CA-A vaccine's molecular structure plays a key role in determining how the immune system responds and prepares to protect the body from future exp...
13/08/2026
RT 's Miriam O'Callaghan welcomed a range of specially invited guests to the National Concert Hall last week for a unique event to mark a new season wit...
13/08/2026
August 13 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Seattle Seahawks Become First Team to Bring Dolby O...
13/08/2026
GeForce NOW is giving cloud gaming an extra-credit upgrade just in time for back-to-school season.
The native Linux app for GeForce NOW is officially out of be...
12/08/2026
Traditional live sports production has focused on creating the best possible pro...
12/08/2026
FOR-A will showcase a range of broadcast and production products at IBC2026 (Stand 2.B53, Amsterdam RAI, September 11-14), including software-based switching, A...
12/08/2026
The Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and EBU will host live demonstrations of NMOS BCP-008 Minimum Status Reporting at IBC2026 (September 11-14) on th...
12/08/2026
Dalet has announced Dalet Solution Suites, a portfolio of cloud-native solutions...
12/08/2026
Net Insight has announced that DMC Production Norway has selected its Open Live ...
12/08/2026
Zixi has appointed Alyson Stewart as Senior Director of Sales. Stewart will be responsible for direct sales and partnerships, with a focus on broadcasters, medi...
12/08/2026
LiveU's LU900Q intelligent production unit was deployed as part of the host broadcast operation for the Games in Glasgow (July 23-August 2, 2026). Host broa...
12/08/2026
Disney , ESPN, and Formula E have announced a multi-year deal bringing all Formula E races to Disney and ESPN in the U.S. and to Disney in most international...
12/08/2026
PSSI has launched X-LIVE, a managed service offering dedicated engineering resources and Appear encoding infrastructure for live event signal processing and tra...
12/08/2026
The inaugural MoonPay X Games League Summer Season reached 18.3 million unique live viewers across three stops on ABC and ESPN, a 78.5% increase compared to the...
12/08/2026
BBright will showcase an expanded IP-Gateway at IBC2026, adding support for all RIST profiles to its existing support for MPEG Transport Stream over IP with SMP...
12/08/2026
BBright will demonstrate EBU OGraf animated graphics support in its software-bas...
12/08/2026
Interra Systems will demonstrate its ORION, BATON, BATON Captions, and VEGA solutions at SET Expo 2026 (August 17-20, Distrito Anhembi, S o Paulo) at partner Li...
12/08/2026
DPA Microphones has appointed Raul Contreras as West Coast Regional Sales Manager. In the role, Contreras will oversee sales and customer relationships througho...
12/08/2026
Live spectacles ranging from the Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup to the Oscars and...
12/08/2026
Writer-Director Andrius Bla evi ius and crew attend the premiere of How to Divorce During the War at The Ray Theatre on January 26, 2026, in Park City, UT. (P...
12/08/2026
Enhanced DAW & plug-in control for the UC1, UF8 and UF1
The software that powers SSL's range of control surfaces has just received a major update that d...
12/08/2026
In-line preamp features one-knob EQ
In addition to their range of in-line preamps, Triton Audio recently managed to squeeze a compressor into an enclosure t...
12/08/2026
Captures system audio with or without a DAW
Depending on your setup, capturing system audio in a DAW can be a tedious process, so much so that Arvital Audio...
12/08/2026
2026 NATIONAL NAIDOC AWARDS TO BROADCAST ON NITV LIVE AND DIRECT FROM MPARNTWE
12 August, 2026
Media releases
First Nations excellence will be celebrated l...
12/08/2026
More than six million sports fans stay with SBS for Tour de France and Tour de F...
12/08/2026
Nielsen is cementing Digital Ad Intel as the new go-to currency for digital ad intelligence in Brazil-now with streaming monitoring in the mix.
S o Paulo, Augu...
12/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...