‘Shogun’ Gives Disney Top Emmy for First Time in 19 Years
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(Bloomberg) -- Walt Disney Co. claimed the top prize at the 2024 Emmy Awards, winning best drama for Shogun, an adaptation of James Clavell’s 1975 novel and the first series in a language other than English to claim that prize.
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Filmed primarily in Japanese, Shogun set a record for the most wins by a single show in one year, with 18 across the prime-time Emmys and the prior week’s Creative Arts awards. It won four awards at Sunday night’s ceremony, including for acting and directing. The show debuted on the FX cable network and streamed on Hulu, making it the first program from a Disney network to win best drama since Lost in 2005.
“You greenlit a very expensive, subtitled Japanese period piece,” co-creator Justin Marks said from the stage, addressing top Disney executives in the audience. “I have no idea why you did that, but thank you.”
Disney won nine awards on the night in all, including four for the dark comedy The Bear, outpacing Netflix Inc. and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. Netflix took home the Emmy for best limited series for Baby Reindeer, while Warner Bros.’ HBO landed best comedy series for Hacks.
Dominating the TV industry’s biggest night will boost Disney as it tries to grow its streaming services. While the company has the largest paid streaming video business after Netflix, it is still working to sustain a profit and increase its share of viewership. The company accounted for more than half of the nominees for best comedy with The Bear, What We Do in the Shadows, Only Murders in the Building, Abbott Elementary and Reservation Dogs.
Companies such as Disney, Netflix and Amazon.com Inc. spend millions of dollars on campaigns to win awards, which boost their networks in the eyes of Hollywood creative talent and viewers. While less popular than the Oscars, the Emmys still draw millions of viewers each year.
Read the full list of winners here
ABC, which aired the Emmys, said on Monday that the show attracted a US TV audience of 6.87 million viewers, the most since 2021. The previous show, held in January after crippling strikes by actors and writers in 2023, drew a record low audience of 4.46 million.
Comic actor Eugene Levy and his son Dan Levy hosted the 76th Prime-Time Emmy Awards. The event took place at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles.