Emmy Nominations 2013: AKA: The Times They Are A Changin'

Today marked a very interesting day in the world of television and entertainment. This morning, the nominations for the 2013 Emmys were announced. 

Yes, that glorious time of anticipation and excitement, that tv junkies live for, all of which took place while I was on my commute. So, I did what what any responsible person who needs to keep their job would do, I turned to social media. Once the complaints against morning television subsided, I began to notice a very interesting trend. No, I am not talking about the insanely talented Andrew Lincoln's lack of nomination, I'm talking about the increasingly dwindling number of noms for the networks. 

It's no secret that the way the average person consumes their entertainment has changed greatly over the last decade. Long gone are the days of having to wait to consume episodes of your favorite shows, well unless your a fan of Sherlock on BBC, and in which case, I deeply sorry and I share your pain. With the emergence of more and more channels, as well as DVRs, on demand, services such as Netflix, iTunes, YouTube and Hulu viewers can pretty much watch whatever they want, whenever they want.   

With the increase in original programming showing up on cable channels there was bound be a some changes to who was receiving the nods. But now in addition to channels like HBO, Showtime and AMC a whole new media has offered up new original programming. This year, Netfix, which made it's money on allowing their subscribers to view other people's movies and television shows has launched a slew of new and original programming, including House of Cards which is now nominated for nine Emmy's, including Best Drama Series.

In fact none of the shows nominated for Best Drama Series appear on the major networks.  It is interesting to note, however, that the major networks dominated in the reality show categories.  So the real question is, what does this mean for the future of the entertainment world? 

Will this be the wake up call to the networks to step it up with their original programming? Maybe challenge them to push the envelope a bit more, or will this push them further into the land of reality programming, which is cheaper to produce and where they are seemingly thriving? One things for sure, there are some serious changes ahead for the television industry.