With 112 nominations, Netflix is dominating this year's Emmy Awards and breaking HBO's 17-year streak as the most-nominated network.
This shouldn't come as a surprise for Netflix fans, but compared to other entertainment platforms, the streaming company's fast rise as a critically acclaimed distributor makes it a pretty big award show threat.
In 2013, Netflix nabbed its first Emmy nominations — 14 to be exact. In 2014 and 2015, the company more than doubled that number, and then continued skyrocketing the following years.
Let's put that rise in context.
HBO, Netflix's biggest Emmy competition, was the only platform to consistently receive around 90 to 100 nominations each year. Persistently trailing behind HBO was NBC, which received 78 nominations this year, but averaged around 50 in years prior.
That disparity in nominations is even more clear when you factor in the other top platforms — most of which haven't been able to score more than 40 nominations a year.
Last year, The Verge attributed Netflix's rise to "strategically playing the odds." By the end of 2018, the streaming company plans to have around 700 original projects on its platform.
That hustle to create original content started years ago. Back in 2013, the company's chief content officer told GQ Magazine: "The goal is to become HBO faster than HBO can become us."
Considering Netflix's latest milestone, it looks like that goal is well within reach.
But beyond the fact that Netflix has literally hundreds of original series, the critical success of the platform also relies on streaming companies' abilities to track viewer habits. In other words, companies like Netflix and Hulu know exactly what you want to watch right now — and they're gonna use that knowledge to create more successful series.
Last year, Hulu became the first streaming company to win the Emmy award for outstanding drama series. Its reigning champ, "The Handmaid's Tale," is now competing against six other heavy-hitting series, and two of them are from Netflix.
No streaming company has ever taken home the Emmy award for outstanding comedy series, and it's too early to tell if one could this year. The ceremony is scheduled for Sept. 17.
Additional reporting by Newsy affiliate CNN.
