Tag Archives: Golden Globes

The CW Takes the Unusual Step of Renewing Its Entire Fall Lineup

CW TCA

Several hours before The CW won its first-ever Golden Globe, becoming the only broadcast network to do so this year, the network had an even bigger drop-the-mic moment: at winter press tour, it renewed eight series, including its entire fall lineup. As I wrote at Adweek,

No broadcaster in recent memory has ever renewed its entire fall lineup before. Pedowitz told reporters that this is part of the network’s transition to year-round scripted programming, with the renewed series returning over next fall, midseason and summer. “This enables us to finally get to the place of providing scripted summer programming,” he said, “and so the summer of ’16 should be a much bigger summer for us than ever before.”

Those hits have helped draw men back to the network. In the 2010-2011 season, the CW’s audience was only 30 percent male, and that percentage has grown to 40 percent this season. Also, “we grew a little older than we used to be,” said Pedowitz. “Our affiliates are happier [with] that.”

Pedowitz also talked about nurturing his low-rated but critically-acclaimed (and now Golden Globe-winning) Jane the Virgin, and why he’s exercising caution when it comes to crossovers and adding other superhero series to his stable.

The CW Takes the Unusual Step of Renewing Its Entire Fall Lineup

For One Night at Least, Amazon Reigns Supreme Over Netflix

transparent golden globe

Something happened at Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards that had never occurred on a televised awards show before: one of the winners started off her acceptance speech by thanking Amazon and Jeff Bezos.

That person was Jill Soloway, who picked up Amazon’s first-ever TV award for one of 2014’s best shows, Transparent. (Jeffrey Tambor added to the tally later in the evening, with his own trophy.) As I wrote at Quartz,

The victory was especially sweet for Amazon because it triumphed over co-nominee Orange is the New Black, from its streaming competitor, Netflix. While House of Cards’ Kevin Spacey later won a Globe for best actor in a drama, giving Netflix one trophy out of seven nominations, Netflix still hasn’t broken through with a best comedy or drama series win at the Golden Globes or Emmys.

Now Amazon has beaten them to the punch. It’s not quite David beating Goliath, but for one night at least, Amazon—which still lags far behind Netflix in total streaming video usage—is the top streaming network in Hollywood.

I also talk about why the Globes victory couldn’t have come at a better time for Amazon.

For one night at least, Amazon reigns supreme over Netflix

The Future of TV is Here: Netflix and Amazon Will Face Off for a Golden Globe

The marquee of United Artists theater is seen during Amazon's premiere screening of "Transparent" at the Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles

It was a very good morning for Amazon, which received 2 Golden Globe nominations for Transparent, its first great series. As I wrote at Quartz, it’s the first major award nominations ever for Amazon, and something that the company — and Amazon Studios director Roy Price — have been pursuing for a long while:

It represents an important step forward for the upstart content provider, in its quest to join the ranks of television’s most respected outlets.

While insisting that he wasn’t solely competing with Netflix, Amazon Studios director Roy Price told me last summer that receiving recognition from a major awards body (as Netflix had been doing since last year’s Emmys) was very important to the company. “It could be great for us, and it gives the part of the audience that hasn’t tried the shows yet an idea that people are responding well to these shows,” Price said. “So, we’d love to see some love from the Emmys or the [Golden] Globes.”

Even better, the streaming outlet will be facing off directly against Netflix, as both are nominated in the best musical/comedy series category, for Transparent and Orange is the New Black. In the story, I also explain why Transparent and/or Tambor have a very good chance to go home with a Golden Globe on Jan. 11.

The future of TV is here: Netflix and Amazon will face off for a Golden Globe