You can see the numbers and detail on AMC's Emmy nominations here, but here's a little background from the LA Times.
For the second year in a row, AMC made television history, earning more Emmy nominations Thursday than any other basic cable network. AMC, known mostly as a repository of old Hollywood movies, broke its own record of 20 nominations with 23 this year.
But even more notable is that both of its original dramas, "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad," managed to secure nominations for outstanding drama, pushing the network past such competitors as USA, FX and TNT, which air some of the most popular series in basic cable.
"We've been saying for a few years that we wanted to be the place where stories matter more than anywhere else," said AMC's president and general manager, Charlie Collier. "It really starts with the creators of the show, and we have been able to create an environment where the best authors on TV are coming to AMC and thriving, and we feel great about that."
"Mad Men," which last year became the first basic cable show to win an Emmy for top series, received 16 nominations, including a second nod for actor Jon Hamm and supporting players John Slattery and Elisabeth Moss. "Breaking Bad," the sophomore series about a teacher who turns to dealing crystal meth to pay for his cancer treatments, earned five nominations. AMC also earned two nominations for its talk show "Storymakers."
via Los Angeles Times.
Ultimately, you'd think that AMC would want those nominations (and potential awards) to translate into ratings. On that front, AMC's recent year over year monthly trends are mixed.
| Month | 2009 Primetime Avg. Adults 18-49 (000) | 2008 Primetime Avg. Adults 18-49 (000) | Y/Y Change |
| June | 425 | 398 | 7% |
| May | 365 | 358 | 2% |
| April | 360 | 386 | -7% |
| February | 412 | 568 | -27% |
-
These monthly numbers are approximately an equal blend of Live+7 and Live+SD viewing.
Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2009 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
AMC has a disadvantage over USA and TNT due to the fact that they’re provided on a basic tier to fewer subscribers. They also have something of a disadvantage over the premiums because they can’t market their shows as a genuinely R-rated alternative.
It’s kinduva shame though that as much as Mad Men and Breaking Bad have Tonied up the AMC brand, that more viewers haven’t followed…after the Shield ended, they really have been the two best dramas (with the possible exception of Big Love) out there.
greennogo, there are lots of reasons why AMC ratings are what they are, but household coverage is a tiny factor.
AMC is in 94.3 million homes, TNT is in 97.7 million (3.6% more, woo hoo!) , USA is in 97.97 million (3.8% more, yowsa!).
We see lots of claims from fans of disadvantage by cable networks because of their coverage. Few are meaningful.
I’m of the opinion that most people just don’t see AMC as anything more than a channel that shows movies (edited, commercial-ridden movies at that).
1. People don’t flock to AMC or look to AMC for programing. USA, TNT and even FX have done original programing for a while now. I think Mad Men and Breaking Bad will pave the way for higher audiences 5 years from now though.
2.I very rarely see Mad Men or Breaking Bad promoted on any other channel either. I think most of it’s audience is word of mouth and whatever pub they get from these awards and TV critics who love the shows.
3. Most Americans would rather watch cookie cutter procedurals that allows them not to think too hard or invest in any characters or storylines. People just have a hard time investing in shows that you have to follow week after week. I hate it but I also understand why it’s so much easier to watch the 10th episode of The Mentalist than it is the 10th episode of Mad Men.
I am very happy for AMC and these two shows. They are two of the best dramas on TV. Next to Lost, Big Love and Damages IMO. I hope that shows like this will thrive in a market that goes for the cheap copy cats (see Dark Blue) rather than creating a new, bold and interesting show.
I watched all of season 1 of Mad Men when it was on HD On Demand…
I think that show is tremendously overrated. I don’t understand why people say it’s so good. It’s alright, I could watch it if I didn’t have anything else to watch… but I could easily name 50 shows that are better.
What qualifies a show to be ‘better’? Desire to see the next episode; enjoyment while watching the current episode; plot; topic; hottness of hotties on the show.
Mad Men is just … boring.
“Story matters here” seems like the vague sort of thing you say when you want to be a network known for its original programming but you’re mostly showing movies that people could’ve seen any number of other places. The president of FX may have been self-serving but he wasn’t incorrect when he recently said original programming doesn’t impact the ratings that much, particularly when you’re a network like AMC that only programs one original show at a time. It’s not as if critics extolling the virtues of Breaking Bad and Mad Men will somehow convince people to watch Constantine on AMC tonight!
AMC is also stuck at the gate with only 2 original series on its schedule. They are great, no doubt. But FX, HBO, and Showtime have all had to grow their brand and produce as many as 6 recurring programs. So, while AMC is golden now, I suspect they will introduce a dud or two in the seasons to come. That they have gone this long without a new series is crippling to their momentum. They have not blossomed as they should into a fully formed network for originals. They remain a prominent presence that merely dabbles.
Personally, I think both Big Love, Damages and True Blood are the best dramas out there right now.
Well, AMC Does have The Prisoner in development starring Jom Caviezel and Ian McKellen
AMC has some great shows with Mad Men and Breaking Bad with some interesting upcoming projects with The Prisoner and Rubicon but the films they show are older with the latest films they have are from 2005 whereas FX, TNT and USA have films from 2006/7 which act as promotional tools and as a lead in for their original shows. FX have been particularly aggressive with getting popular films which will rate well and can be repeated again and again.
I think AMC should try and develop a mix of series, miniseries and maybe a Television Movie especially in TV Movie and Miniseries where HBO have dominated over in the Golden Globes and Emmys. It would be interesting to see AMC develop a comedy series but it would have to fit the brand like HBO, Showtime and Starz do.
Skipping ahead after Bill G’s rejoinder to greenoge above: yes, but this is a case where AMC has no popular channel to go to bat for them. Nobody knows about these shows, number one, and number two the rest of their programming is still filler with movies not so much bad as overexposed. ( If I was being paid to give advice to AMC execs I’d suggest maybe springing for some promo ad time on CBS or TNT, and running Mad Men and Breaking Bad marathons til people got the point.)
Jay has a point. I saw that Mad Men was being replayed this spring, and I figured since it gets so many awards, it must be good. But the scheduler genius put them in a midnight slot on a weeknight. AMC isn’t attracting much attention by doing that. (And I only managed to stay up once, so I spent the hour figuring out the character names.)
Are the Emmys still relevant? I would think that the Emmy nods would go to the more popular shows in an effort to bring in more of an audience to the Emmy awards show. Why would people tune in to watch an award show, handing out awards for shows that most people haven’t seen?
The problem with AMC is they can’t decide what they want to be…. I quit watching them years ago when they started with editing movies and commercial interruptions…. I watched Mad Men a few times and was intrigued but it never became appointment television for me, like say The Soproanos or Dexter. “Stories matter here” is a really dumb marketing tool. AMC needs to totally makeover its image probably including a name change. Despite the Emmy nods for a couple of programs, viewers just do not flock to AMC for quality appointment television.