Emmys: 'Widow's Bay' Chases Record, HBO Max Leads Projections — SkimNews
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- HBO Max is projected to top all networks with 28 predicted Emmy wins, anchored by 'The Pitt' growing from 5 to 7 wins in drama, plus 'Hacks' and 'DTF St. Louis' in other categories
- 'Widow's Bay' (Apple TV) is projected to win 15 Emmys including Outstanding Comedy Series — which would break 'The Studio's' single-season comedy record of 13 set just last year
- 'Hacks' shattered the all-time comedy nomination record with 24 nods but is projected for just one win — Jean Smart's record eighth acting Emmy — and could set a brutal opposite record for most Emmy losses in a single season (21, previously held by 'The Handmaid's Tale')
- Netflix's 'Beef' second season is projected to win limited series with 6 Emmys, including projected acting wins for Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan, edging HBO's 'DTF St. Louis'
- A new 'area award' format in the variety series category — voters judge each nominee against an approval threshold rather than picking one winner — could crown Stephen Colbert's farewell 'Late Show' and Jimmy Kimmel's long-denied first win simultaneously, with neither needing to beat the other
- Bad Bunny's Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show is projected to become the most-awarded Super Bowl halftime show in Emmy history (surpassing the 2022 Dr. Dre/Snoop Dogg/Eminem show's three) and the first Spanish-language program to win variety special (live)
- Taylor Swift is projected to win her first competitive Emmy as producer of her Disney+ 'Eras Tour' special, removing the asterisk from her EGOT-aspiring résumé (she won a juried interactive prize in 2015)
Why it matters: The procedural shake-up — the new 'area award' format in variety series — is the most structurally significant change, letting the Academy honor Colbert's farewell and Kimmel's first win in the same cycle without a zero-sum contest. For the networks, HBO Max's projected 28 wins keep it ahead, but Apple TV's 'Widow's Bay' ceiling (15-17) puts it within striking distance of HBO Max's high end (47), reshaping the platform-power rankings. The 'Hacks' scenario — 24 nominations, potentially zero-to-one wins — also exposes how nomination hauls and trophy hauls can diverge in a single season.
Ask SkimNews
