Thank the Academy: Awards Season for Webshows?

By Molly Daly

Awards season is coming to a close, but there’s big news on the horizon for webshows. Here’s a quick history: back in the 90’s, cable TV shows finally became eligible for Emmy awards. In 2008, a rule change from the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences allowed shows like Netflix’s successful original series House of Cards to be nominated for Emmys and treated as equals among cable and network shows.

It looks like this could be the year for some serious competition. In a strategic move, Netflix is launching the new season of revived comedy Arrested Development in its entirety to secure its status as a contender. As it should be – 40% of Netflix users stream through their HDTVs.

Starting in September 2013, Nielsen will include streaming statistics in their ratings. This seems to be where the future is headed: 2.65 million cable subscribers cancelled service between 2008 and 2011, and roughly 1.5 million of those cancellations occurred in 2011 alone.

Who knows, maybe you could take home one of those little golden statues: YouTube uploads are eligible nominees for a fee of $600 - $700. “We leave it to our voting members to determine quality…the criterion for nominations and wins,” according to John Leverence, the senior vice president in charge of awards at the TV Academy, via TV Guide.

Netflix is already on top of it – in celebration of America’s new viewing habits, they’ve implemented their own awards, The Flixies. Users vote for Netflix content nominees in categories such as “Best Guilty Pleasure” and “Best Hangover Cure.”

As for Everywhere, we’re following the trend of emergin’ and convergin’ Internet and TV, and we like what we see!