The nomination process for the 70th annual Primetime Emmy Awards kicked off on June 11 when the TV academy posted ballots online. Voters have two weeks to submit their ballots to Ernst & Young, the accounting firm that oversees the process. They face an overwhelmingly number of programs to consider across the 14 categories. In all, there are 728 shows in the running at the Emmys; that is up from 710 last year.
All 22,000 plus voting members of the TV academy cast nomination ballots for program nominations (save for animated documentary/nonfiction which are restricted to their peer groups.) This marks the second year that voters can select as many programs as they wish per category; previously, it was restricted to 10 per race. Unlike the Oscars, Emmy voters do not rank their choices and nominees are determined by a simple tally. There will be seven nominees in each of Comedy Series and Drama Series races and six in the rest.
Below, we breakdown the number of contenders that are entered this year in each program category (by way of comparison, the 2017, 2016 and 2015 counts are in brackets).
Comedy Series: 117 entries (2017: 104 entries; 2016: 96 entries; 2015: 81 entries)
Drama Series: 160 entries (2017: 180 entries; 2016: 151 entries; 2015: 143 entries)
Limited Series: 33 entries (2017: 25 entries; 2016: 26 entries; 2015: 25 entries)
TV Movie: 34 entries (2017: 40 entries; 2016: 29 entries; 2015: 38 entries)
Children’s Program: 20 entries (2017: 27 entries; 2016: 28 entries; 2015: 23 entries)
Informational Program or Series: 45 entries (2017: 31 entries; 2016: 40 entries; 2015: 37 entries)
Reality Competition Series: 53 entries (2017: 43 entries; 2016: 45 entries; 2015: 53 entries)
SEE 2018 Emmy Awards nominations: Complicated process made simple
Variety Talk Series: 21 entries (2017: 20 entries; 2016: 17 entries; 2015: 28 entries)
Variety Sketch Series: 19 entries (2017: 18 entries; 2016: 20 entries; 2015: 17 entries)
Variety Special (Live): 29 entries (new category)
Variety Special (Pre-Recorded): 89 entries (new category)
Structured Reality Series: 46 entries (2017: 32 entries; 2016: 29 entries; 2015: 30 entries)
Unstructured Reality Series: 62 entries (2017: 58 entries; 2016: 62 entries; 2015: 57 entries)
PREDICT the Emmy nominees and winners now; change them until July 12
Be sure to make your Emmy predictions today so that Hollywood insiders can see how their TV shows and performers are faring in our odds. You can keep changing your predictions as often as you like until just before nominees are announced on July 12. And join in the fun debate over the 2018 Emmy taking place right now with Hollywood insiders in our television forums. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.
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