3 Big Questions Ahead of the 2024 Emmys | Charts

The 2024 Emmy Nominations were announced in July ahead of the awards ceremony scheduled for Sept. 15. After last year’s awards were delayed until this January because of the strikes, here are a few things to watch for this year to see how much things have returned to normal after last year’s disruptions.

Will fewer franchise nominees narrow the awards’ appeal?

There has been a years-long trend of increasing audience demand for nominated shows. The inclusion of broadly popular franchise shows like “Obi-Wan Kenobi” and “House of the Dragon” last year helped continue this pattern, which is a positive sign for the future viability of awards shows like the Emmys. Recognizing content that audiences actually care about is an important step for these events to stay relevant to the general public outside of the Hollywood bubble.

The most in-demand show from the three main scripted categories over the eligibility period (June 1, 2023 – May 31, 2024) was “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” with a bit over 30 times the average series demand. The long-running show benefitted from a sustained boost in demand for the duration of its final season. However, the average demand for shows across the three main categories was lower this year compared to last.

The absence of any nominees this year from major franchises like Star Wars, Marvel, or Game of Thrones may dampen broad enthusiasm for the awards.  Amazon Prime Video’s “Fallout,” based on the popular video game franchise , might come the closest to this, although the audience for the show unsurprisingly skews in the direction of those most likely to play the game: younger men.

Can shows with younger audiences break through the Academy firewall?

We’ve previously noted how films with younger audiences are underrepresented at the Oscars. At last year’s Emmys, “Succession” won in the Outstanding Drama category and had the oldest audience demographics of any of the nominees.  Other category winners at last year’s awards, “Beef” and “The Bear” had more balanced audiences. Still, half of the nominees in the three major scripted categories last year were shows that had younger-skewing audiences. This year, only three nominated shows had a majority of their audience below the age of 32: “Fallout,” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” and “Abbott Elementary.” Younger audiences have fewer of their favorite shows to root for this year.

Will anthologies have an edge over limited series?

Looking at demand for the shows nominated for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, there is a clear leader. Demand for the “True Detective: Night Country” remained higher than any of the other nominees for the first six weeks after premiering. “Fargo,” with two more episodes than “True Detective” was able to not only hold onto audience attention for longer but reach its peak demand after its finale episode. The two nominated anthology series (“True Detective” and “Fargo”) have a clear advantage in terms of audience demand compared to the new limited series nominees. Despite being anthologies that swap out storylines each season, these shows have the benefit of multiple seasons to build up a fanbase that enthusiastically comes back for returning seasons. What remains to be seen is whether years of experience translate to an edge with Academy voters.

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