HBO, 'Schitt's Creek' dominate Emmy Awards as ratings tank

Yahoo Finance's Alexandra Canal joins Zack Guzman to recap the top moments from the 2020 Primetime Emmys, as ratings for the award show tank.

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ZACK GUZMAN: And it's not just Apple, some other big tech players here. I also want to highlight Netflix in the green, perhaps tied to what we saw play out last night when we look at the Emmys. And one of the shows on its platform uncharacteristically came back from a period of not catching any attention when it comes to Emmys to sweeping.

And here for more on that is Yahoo Finance's Alexandra Canal. And Ali, I mean, when we look at it, Netflix shares up by about 2% today, probably tied to all the attention that "Schitt's Creek" got last night.

ALEXANDRA CANAL: Oh, yeah, I'm going to get to "Schitt's Creek" in a minute. But first, let's talk about the fact that this was the first virtual award show that we've had yet. It was very interesting to watch-- the Pandemmys, as Jimmy Kimmel labeled it. And they really did lean into the fact that, listen, we're in the middle of a pandemic. There were hazmat suits, even a live COVID test on air with Jason Sudeikis. Of course, one of the statuettes was turned into a hand sanitizer dispenser.

So you know, there was its fair share of jokes and gags, like we're used to in all of these different award shows, but it was very interesting. The Television Academy had sent DIY studio kits to all of the nominees. And then, from there, it was pretty much up to the Wi-Fi gods. Luckily, there didn't really seem to be any connectivity issues last night. And I think that was probably the biggest concern.

But when we're talking the big winners, we have to talk about "Schitt's Creek." They absolutely crushed it. They totally dominated the comedy category. They won seven awards directly in a row. It was incredibly fun to watch. And you know, this is a very interesting story, because the show is a cable television show. It airs on Pop TV. It's a very small network owned by ViacomCBS.

But I do want to caveat that by saying the shows really surged in popularity after they began airing some of its past seasons on Netflix. And we've seen that happen quite a few times with these cable television shows. Normally, there's not a ton of buys. Then, they go to a streamer like Netflix, and all of a sudden, they have so much popularity. So really great win for "Schitt's Creek" there.

Now, while we're talking about Netflix, they did win two Primetime Emmy awards last night. One went to Julia Garner for her work in "Ozark." She won best supporting actress. And then another went to "Unorthodox." That won best directing for a miniseries.

But when we talk about Netflix, we usually compare it to HBO. And those are normally the top two networks that we're really are wondering, OK, who's going to win here? And although Netflix had more nominations than HBO, it was really HBO. They completely blow the competition out of the water. Last night, they want 11 Primetime awards, bringing their total Emmy haul to 30.

And I want to break down some of those wins here. We saw four coming from the comic book maxiseries "Watchman," including outstanding limited series. Four coming from "Succession." People absolutely love that show, and it also snagged the top honor for best drama. And then, "Euphoria" also a winner last night. It was a huge win for Zendaya, who won outstanding lead actress in a drama series, the youngest person to ever win that award.

And then, rounding it out, we have "Last Week with John Oliver," which won best variety talk series. And "I Know This Much Is True," that went to Mark Ruffalo. He took home the statuette for outstanding lead actor in a limited series.

Now, when it comes to some of these other streamers, I do want to give a shout out to Apple TV+ and Hulu. Apple TV's "The Morning Show" and Hulu's "Mrs. America" each one won a Primetime Emmy award. But last night, there was no love for Disney+ and "The Mandalorian," and no love for Amazon Prime Video, which has really done very well at these Primetime Awards shows in the past, especially when it comes to "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." But like I said, it was all about "Schitt's Creek" and all about HBO.

ZACK GUZMAN: Yeah, and again, one of those shows that has a massive category now on Netflix, as well for people to watch. But a big night for them. And again, Netflix shares in the green, bucking the overall sell-off we're seeing today. But Alexandra Canal, appreciate that update.