The nominations for the The 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were announced on Thursday 16 July and if it's Emmy-nominated fare you're looking for in South Africa, look no further than M-Net and its spin-off channels on DStv.
We went through the complete list of Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy nominations, looking for nominated shows that have aired/will air in South Africa, and no less than 40 nominated shows have either been aired or purchased by M-Net.
The channel with the next most nominated shows is M-Net Series (25 nominations), boosted greatly by M-Net's decision to palm off some of its top properties to the DStv chick-channel and its bad-ass brother, the all-male M-Net Action (11 nominations).
The only free-to-air channel to be even vaguely in the vicinity of the ballpark is SABC3, whose 11 nominated shows is streets ahead of e.tv and SABC2, the next highest on two nominated shows apiece.
SABC1 brings up the rear with only one nominated show - Everybody Hates Chris.
In the SABC's defence - ICASA forces them to concentrate on local rather than international content.
The results of our analysis force us to conclude the obvious: if you want award-winning international content to watch, it's gonna cost ya.
Pay Channel Noms: 104
Free Channel Noms: 16
Perhaps a number of problems could be solved if ICASA simply behaved rationally - instead of forcing the SABC to spend vast amounts on local production to fill impossibly high quotas, they could lower the quotas (even if just temporarily), allow the pubcaster to buy some "Emmy Shows" (which costs far less than making homegrown shows) and save some much-needed bucks while giving the majority of the population a chance to be globally connected to the top international fare.
Everyone wins, except those who feel threatened by foreign entertainment, of course.
But no ja, nê?
Below is a listing of the channels with the most nominated shows (in descending order), followed by a listing of which shows are on which channels.
| M-Net |
40 |
| M-Net Series |
25 |
| M-Net Action |
11 |
| SABC3 |
11 |
| Vuzu |
8 |
| Discovery Channel |
3 |
| Disney Channel |
3 |
| Sony Entertainment Television |
3 |
| BBC Entertainment |
2 |
| e.tv |
2 |
| SABC2 |
2 |
| Animal Planet |
1 |
| CNBC |
1 |
| CNN |
1 |
| Hallmark Channel |
1 |
| M-Net Movies |
1 |
| MTV |
1 |
| MTV Base |
1 |
| Nickleodeon |
1 |
| SABC1 |
1 |
| Zone Reality |
1 |
Shows by Channel
SABC1
Everybody Hates Chris
SABC2
Smallville
SpongeBob SquarePants
SABC3
30 Rock
According To Jim
The Amazing Race
Desperate Housewives
Hannah Montana
Heroes
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
The New Adventures Of Old Christine
Nip/Tuck
Survivor
Two And A Half Men
e.tv
How I Met Your Mother
My Name Is Earl
M-Net
30 Rock
51st Annual Grammy Awards
81st Annual Academy Awards
The Big Bang Theory
Brothers & Sisters
Burn Notice
Californication
Chris Rock - Kill The Messenger
Chuck
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: NY
Damages
Desperate Housewives
Dexter
Friday Night Lights
Fringe
Generation Kill
Grey's Anatomy
Legend Of The Seeker
Lie to Me
Little Britain USA
Mad Men
The Mentalist
My Name is Earl
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
The Office
Pushing Daisies
Samantha Who?
Saving Grace
Scrubs
The Simpsons
Sons of Anarchy
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Tracey Ullman's State Of The Union
True Blood
The Tudors
Two And A Half Men
Ugly Betty
United States Of Tara
Weeds
Animal Planet
Whale Wars
BBC Entertainment
Dancing With The Stars
Wallander
CNBC
Late Night With Conan O'Brien
CNN
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Discovery Channel
Deadliest Catch
Dirty Jobs
MythBusters
Disney Channel
Hannah Montana
Phineas And Ferb
Wizards Of Waverly Place
Hallmark Channel
House
M-Net Action
24
24: Redemption
Battlestar Galactica
Breaking Bad
Burn Notice
The Closer
Criminal Minds
Dexter
Rescue Me
Sanctuary
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
M-Net Movies 1
81st Annual Academy Awards
M-Net Series
30 Rock
American Idol
Big Love
Boston Legal
Brothers & Sisters
Californication
Damages
Desperate Housewives
ER
Grey's Anatomy
House
Lost
Mad Men
The Mentalist
My Name Is Earl
Nip/Tuck
The Office
Project Runway
Pushing Daisies
Samantha Who?
Saturday Night Live
Saving Grace
So You Think You Can Dance
Top Chef
The Tudors
MTV
2008 MTV Video Music Awards
MTV Base
2008 MTV Video Music Awards
Nickleodeon
SpongeBob SquarePants
Sony Entertainment Television
The Amazing Race
Late Show With David Letterman
Rescue Me
Vuzu
The Big Bang Theory
Chuck
Entourage
Ghost Whisperer
Robot Chicken
The Simpsons
Smallville
South Park
Zone Reality
Intervention