The nominees for the 2025 Primetime Emmy Awards were unveiled on Tuesday, July 15, and cable and streamers reigned supreme (again) while broadcast television lost more ground. HBO Max landed its most-ever nominations at 142 (with The Penguin scoring 24 nominations, alongside The White Lotus, The Last of Us, and Hacks); Netflix earned 120 Emmy nominations (for Adolescence, Black Mirror, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, and Nobody Wants This); and Apple TV+ pulled in third at 79 (with Severance leading the entire TV pack with 27 Emmy nominations, while The Studio led comedy nominations with 23 nods). Meanwhile, ABC received just 37, and NBC (with 29), CBS (with 26), and Fox (with just seven) didn’t fare much better.

Call it The Sopranos effect. Ever since the groundbreaking HBO drama introduced audiences to its New Jersey crime boss with a penchant for ducks and violence (and became the first cable show to win Best Drama Series), it has reshaped how audiences consume television, paving the way for prestige storytelling on cable and streaming platforms and leaving traditional broadcast networks struggling to keep pace in the era of peak TV. A quarter century later, audiences are still looking toward cable, streaming, and other avenues for their prestige TV needs, despite the quality efforts put forth on broadcast television.

With this year’s Emmy noms, a lot of high-caliber dramas and A-list comedies were recognized, but many, many more were ghosted, particularly from the one-time big-league broadcasters that used to rule primetime with an iron fist. These are shows that still have massive audiences, online appeal, and critical acclaim but were shut out in favor of high-concept dramas, meta comedies, and other forms of television that now dominate watercooler talk and social media chatter.

Some network shows still came through with strength, like NBC’s Saturday Night Live, ABC’s Abbott Elementary, and CBS’s The Amazing Race. Others, such as CBS’s Matlock and ABC’s The Conners, received just a single nomination. Still, that was more than The Rookie, 9-1-1, Ghosts, and Blue Bloods, or anything from the Law & Order and One Chicago franchises, none of which received a single nomination, despite their continued popularity.

Big scores for the networks this year included the Oscar telecast for ABC, which got six nominations for the network. NBC also had a nice haul with Saturday Night Live and its SNL 50: The Anniversary Special, which got seven and 12 nominations each. CBS also got a moment to shine thanks to The Amazing Race, which nabbed six nominations. But one thing stands out with these Emmy-nominated series: not a lot of drama or comedy among the bunch. It seems those categories are getting left behind for their bigger, flashier counterparts on other nets.

Take ABC’s High Potential, for example. The show and lead actress Kaitlin Olson both campaigned for Emmy nominations, and the series was considered a massive hit for the network. Yet, the show was completely ignored by the Television Academy, despite the buzz and success. It’s just one of many broadcast series to get lost in the swell of cable and streaming series.

So which primetime shows do you believe deserve more Emmy recognition? Comment below and vote in our poll.

77th Emmy Awards, Sunday, September 14, 8/7c, CBS and Paramount+