Netflix and HBO Max were the big 2025 Emmys winners, but Apple TV+ was the real victor for me

The buzz from the 2025 Emmys has by no means dissipated yet, with Netflix, HBO Max, and Apple TV+ all still basking in the afterglow. All three – coincidentally all on our best streaming services list – had critically-acclaimed shows win big, but there’s more to this story than just numbers.

Sure, Netflix and HBO Max were the standout winners: HBO Max bounced back from last year’s 14 wins to take home 30 awards, while Netflix also jumped from 24 wins in 2024 to 30 this year. Meanwhile, Apple TV+ wasn’t far behind, rising from just 11 wins last year to an impressive 22.

But what’s particularly striking to me is that the majority of Apple TV+’s awards – 13 in total – were for a single show, which set a new record for the most Emmy wins for a new comedy series. It may not have had the same cultural splash as other winners like Adolescence and The Penguin, but it was undeniably a gravitas moment in TV, especially for the way it critiqued the industry itself.

I’m, of course, talking about The Studio. The bold 10-part series about a studio head trying to balance the movie industry's artistic merit with box office ticket sales skewered Hollywood’s biggest stumbles, from its obsession with franchises and reboots to clumsy casting aimed at ticking diversity boxes. To give you an idea, episode 8, titled 'The Golden Globes', even includes a gag where every actor is contractually obliged to thank Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos in their acceptance speeches.

Unfortunately, that joke or others related to it (an injustice to Sal Saperstein – you'll have to watch the series to get the reference here) didn’t make it onto the stage last night, which seems like a missed opportunity, given that it was an ideal callback to the show’s rapid-fire satire. Its witty, incisive script made it the clear standout of the night, and was also the reason why it deserved so much praise over the usual shoo-in winners.

Emmys winners Netflix, HBO Max and Apple TV+ compared – why prestige dramas won, but a comedy stole the spotlight

Typically, prestige dramas have all the makings of a winning formula at the Emmys, which has meant that some categories have become muddied by shows that borrow dramatic elements to boost their awards potential.

Take last year's The Bear, which previously broke the record for most comedy wins. On paper it’s been labeled as a comedy, but in practice the series – about a fine dining chef running his family’s sandwich shop – features more shouting than laugh-out-loud moments, making it one of the most stressful Hulu show on TV. What it lacks in jokes, it compensates for with themes that resonate deeply with audiences, like grief, family dysfunction and the tension between preserving tradition and embracing change.

It's this same depth that propelled The Penguin to nine Emmy wins for HBO Max (on top of the eight it picked up at the Creative Arts Emmys the weekend earlier). A sequel to The Batman, the series blends comic book lore with a gritty crime drama, and follows Oz Cobb’s rise through Gotham’s underworld. With complex characters and scene-stealing performances, it embodies exactly what awards voters love.

Netflix found similar success with Adolescence, the jewel of its 2025 lineup, which shone a light on youth violence and the perils of social media. Winning eight awards, it reaffirmed Netflix’s stronghold on the Limited Series category. Weighty themes, morally ambiguous characters and a cinematic production made it one of the year’s most predictable (and deserving) frontrunners among many 2025 Emmys predictions.

Both Netflix and HBO Max lean heavily on prestige drama for the star power and attention the genre tends to attract, which is unsurprising when you consider what typically tends to qualify as awards bait. That makes The Studio's wins even more noteworthy because it has nowhere near the same depth as Adolescence or The Penguin, yet it swept the Emmys thanks to a different kind of boldness.

For instance, I bet you heard a lot about the one-take shot in Adolescence. But did you know that The Studio used the same technique to a completely different effect? Instead of just offering a new perspective, the result brought kinetic energy and a sense of uncontrollable chaos.

That’s what makes The Studio such a standout. It proved that innovation can sometimes outshine emotional heft. Alongside Severance season 2, Apple TV+ has positioned itself as the home of risk-taking TV that proves challenging expectations of what makes a show award worthy can help a series outshine even the most celebrated prestige dramas.

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