Summary

• The Emmy Awards, held on Sunday, September 20, saw a change of style as the awards were distributed virtually amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Canadian TV show Schitt’s Creek swept the awards ceremony with seven wins.
  
  
• Here, we analyze the impact of Emmy Awards on the stock market, especially with reference to winning companies such as Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), Amazon (NAZDAQ: AMZN), Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS), Apple (NAZDAQ: AAPL) and HBO, (AT&T Inc stock / NYSE: T).

Like everything else, the coronavirus pandemic altered the way the Emmys were held this year. The 72nd Primetime Emmy awards function was a virtual fete, with winners scattered across cities and no live audience. CBC TV sitcom Schitt’s Creek, currently airing on Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), stole the show with a record of bagging all seven trophies in the comedy category. The HBO network, owned by AT&T Inc (NYSE:T), asserted its dominance at the Emmy Awards with big wins like Best Drama Award for Succession and Best Limited Series for Watchmen.

HBO sidelined online streaming platforms with as many as 30 winning shows in its kitty. Netflix, which had come with a promising record of 160 nominations, went home with just 21 awards, while Prime Video by Amazon (NAZDAQ: AMZN) bagged only four. Newer streaming platforms by Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) and Apple (NAZDAQ: AAPL) also made their presence felt at the Emmys this year.

Before we delve into analyzing these stock price performances, it needs to be understood that a lot of factors contribute to the fluctuation of share prices. While pin-pointing the influence of an Emmy win on these stocks would not be possible, we study the overall changes in their value over a period of time in the light of an Emmy win.

Impact of Emmy Awards on Online Streaming Platforms

Winning an Emmy Award is a big deal, but one might wonder how this could impact the stock market. The simplest explanation could be the advertisement factor. In times when the audience is spoilt for choice, when it comes to networks and content producers to select from, an Emmy winner’s badge sets them apart. When applied in marketing strategy, a reputable award can draw in more audience, especially to the winning shows, and result in increasing viewership and revenue. This increase in popularity plus income, in turn, could impact the network’s stock market performance as well.

Netflix debuted at the Emmy in 2013 and went on to bag three awards for House of Cards that year. This was the year the traditional mold was broken. A show on an online streaming platform won television’s biggest award. That year, Netflix stock price climbed nearly 300 per cent.

Netflix went on to collect more and more nominations each year, giving HBO a tough competition. At the same time, Netflix was also seeing a rise in its paid subscriber base and its stock price. By 2019, Netflix had 118 nominations at the Emmy awards, and went on to win 27 of them. Fast-forward to July 2020, Netflix’s global paid subscriber base grew to nearly 193 million people, registering a 27 per cent YoY growth. Between 22 September 2019 (a day before the Emmy awards were held last year) and 19 September 2020, Netflix stock price climbed nearly 74 per cent. The streaming giant forecasts its paid subscriber base will touch 195.45 million by the end of third quarter 2020.

Granted, the coronavirus pandemic-led lockdown has given the streaming platform a leg-up, but its Emmy-winning shows like Seven Seconds, The Crown, Orange is The New Black, etc have been popular among the audience since before that.

Traditionally, Netflix is known to butt heads with HBO for top billing at the Emmys, but that fight ran a little cold this year. Although the clean sweep of Schitt's Creek is also a win for Netflix, as the show has been available on the streaming platform since 2017, it not being a Netflix original does steal some brownie points away.

However, the performance of streaming platforms cannot be completely disregarded. Apple TV+ bagged its first Emmy this year with Billy Crudup winning the award for the supporting role in The Morning Show. Disney+ also debuted at the Emmys this year with its show The Mandalorian winning eight awards. As for Amazon, this year may not have been big for its Prime Video at the Emmys. In 2018, Prime Video show The Marvelous Mrs Maisel won five Emmys, setting a record, which was broken by Schitt’s Creek this year. However, its impact on the stock price is hard to measure as Amazon Inc encompasses a wider business than just the streaming platform.

Emmy’s Impact on TV Networks’ Stock Price Performance

With award-winning shows like Succession, Veep and Game Of Thrones, AT&T’s HBO has been Netflix’s biggest competition when it comes to the Emmy Awards. But the truth is, HBO had been a heavyweight at the Emmy awards long before Netflix came into the picture, with hits such as The Sopranos, Sex and the City, etc. In fact, until Netflix tied with it for the top spot for most wins, HBO was the most honored network at the Emmys.

However, HBO’s Emmy stardom hasn’t translated to AT&T’s stock price performance. AT&T has seen a nearly 26 per cent year-to-date decline in its stock price. In 2019, AT&T scrips climbed 29 per cent in value.

American TV channel Pop TV won big this year with its sleeper hit Schitt’s Creek. Owned by ViacomCBS (NASDAQ:VIACA), Pop TV had earlier made its presence felt at the Emmy Awards with comedy show One Day at a Time.

ViacomCBS recorded a 28 per cent year-to-date decline in its stock price amid the coronavirus pandemic. But in the last six months, its scrips have recovered by 147 per cent. Whether Pop TV latest breakthrough at the Emmy Awards will add to its stock recovery or not is yet to be seen.

Pandemic Binge Watching

The need to stay indoors amid the pandemic has pumped up the demand for new content on television and digital. Apps like Netflix and Amazon were already popular among millennials, and the widespread lockdown has only added to its boost. Even in a post-pandemic world, the popularity of shows that can be watched on people’s smartphones is not going anywhere.