How the Emmys Made Netflix’s Very Good Week Even Better
When the Emmy nominations were announced on Thursday, there were any number of people who were hoping Netflix’s already excellent week would end with a fizzle.
The old school broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox), HBO, Amazon, Hulu, AMC, BBC America and FX all had shows that were widely admired and due for recognition at the annual awards extravaganza.
Netflix, on the other hand, was coming off the widely panned season of “House of Cards,” the critically admired but little-seen “Bloodline” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” and the domestic flop of its $90 million historical epic, “Marco Pollo.” Additionally, “Orange Is the New Black,” which had a strong third season both in terms of reviews and ratings, was forced by a change in the Emmy rules to submit as a drama rather than a comedy, putting it up against more hard-hitting dramatic programs.
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As it turns out, Netflix’s very good week would keep going with a record setting 34 nominations. This is dwarfed by HBO’s 127 nominations, but this is a remarkable number for the streaming service nevertheless.
The shower of nominations came on the end of a week in which Netflix stock price continued to climb at a rapid pace, making it the single best performing stock in the S&P 500 this year. Netflix continues to grow rapidly, adding 900,000 domestic users in Q2 and a staggering 2.4 million users internationally, widely exceeding expectations of 6000,000 and 1.9 million, respectively.
If there is a downside, it is that Netflix is unlikely to actually WIN in any of the major Emmy categories. The beloved series “Mad Men” and “Parks and Recreation” should have a lock on the comedy and drama awards (and if Jonathan Banks of “Better Call Saul” doesn’t win besting supporting actor in a drama, there will be riots!). But for Netflix, it is still an honor just to be nominated.
The streaming giant will not be resting on its laurels. Coming on the back of its critically-acclaimed and bone-crunching adaptation of “Daredevil,” the company will be teaming up with Marvel again for three more shows. Netflix will also be amping up its feature film division with debuts from “True Detective” director Cary Fukunaga and an action movie starring Brad Pitt.
The company may walk away empty handed when they hand out the golden statues on September 20th, but for the time being, everything is coming up Netflix.
Stat of the Day: 0.2%
The New York Times’ Jim Tankersley tweets: “In order to raise enough revenue to start paying down the debt, Trump would need tariffs to be ~4% of GDP. They're currently 0.2%.”
Read Tankersley’s full breakdown of why tariffs won’t come close to eliminating the deficit or paying down the national debt here.
Number of the Day: 44%
The “short-term” health plans the Trump administration is promoting as low-cost alternatives to Obamacare aren’t bound by the Affordable Care Act’s requirement to spend a substantial majority of their premium revenues on medical care. UnitedHealth is the largest seller of short-term plans, according to Axios, which provided this interesting detail on just how profitable this type of insurance can be: “United’s short-term plans paid out 44% of their premium revenues last year for medical care. ACA plans have to pay out at least 80%.”
Number of the Day: 4,229
The Washington Post’s Fact Checkers on Wednesday updated their database of false and misleading claims made by President Trump: “As of day 558, he’s made 4,229 Trumpian claims — an increase of 978 in just two months.”
The tally, which works out to an average of almost 7.6 false or misleading claims a day, includes 432 problematics statements on trade and 336 claims on taxes. “Eighty-eight times, he has made the false assertion that he passed the biggest tax cut in U.S. history,” the Post says.
Number of the Day: $3 Billion
A new analysis by the Department of Health and Human Services finds that Medicare’s prescription drug program could have saved almost $3 billion in 2016 if pharmacies dispensed generic drugs instead of their brand-name counterparts, Axios reports. “But the savings total is inflated a bit, which HHS admits, because it doesn’t include rebates that brand-name drug makers give to [pharmacy benefit managers] and health plans — and PBMs are known to play games with generic drugs to juice their profits.”
Chart of the Day: Public Spending on Job Programs
President Trump announced on Thursday the creation of a National Council for the American Worker, charged with developing “a national strategy for training and retraining workers for high-demand industries,” his daughter Ivanka wrote in The Wall Street Journal. A report from the president’s National Council on Economic Advisers earlier this week made it clear that the U.S. currently spends less public money on job programs than many other developed countries.
