Emmy nominations 2025: DStv Premium audiences the real winners

HBO Max dominated the 2025 Emmy nominations on Tuesday with a record 142 nods, and half of the top 10 nominees.

But the real winners were DStv Premium customers, who’ve already had the chance to watch content with 161 Emmy nominations, across DStv and Showmax. Showmax comes free with a DStv Premium subscription, and at a discount with a DStv Compact subscription.

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HBO Max’s nominations were led by superhero spinoff The Penguin (24), anthology series The White Lotus (23), post-apocalyptic series The Last of Us (16) and last year’s Best Comedy winner Hacks (14), as well as the likes of epic fantasy House of the Dragon, satirical talk show Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, and mega-church comedy The Righteous Gemstones S4 (6 each).

Additional HBO Max nominees included 100 Foot Wave, Dune: Prophecy, and The Rehearsal (4 each), and Chimp Crazy and Somebody Somewhere (2 each), as well as quirky comedy Fantasmas and Outstanding TV Movie nominee Mountainhead.

In addition to their ongoing partnership with HBO Max, DStv and Showmax also brought Emmy nominees to Africa from:

• ABC (American Idol, The Oscars, The Rookie)
• BBC America (Planet Earth: Asia)
• CBS (Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, Matlock, Survivor, The Grammy Awards)
• Hulu (The Handmaid’s Tale)
• National Geographic (Erased: WW2's Heroes Of Color, Life Below Zero, Tucci in Italy)
• NBC (The Americas, The Voice)
• Paramount+ (1923, Lioness, Tulsa King)
• Peacock (Based On A True Story, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, Poker Face, SNL: Beyond Saturday Night, The Day of the Jackal)

Content with another 20 Emmy nominations is on the way, including: 

• HBO Max documentary Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary, which premieres on Showmax on Friday, 18 July
• HBO Max documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (4 nominations), which premieres on Showmax on Friday, 25 July
• CBS action series FBI: Most Wanted (2 nominations), which premieres on M-Net on Wednesdays from 30 July
• The breakout HBO Max medical drama The Pitt (13 nominations), which starts on M-Net and Showmax in August

The nominees cover all the key categories, including:

• Outstanding Drama Series (The Last of Us, The Pitt, The White Lotus)
• Outstanding Comedy Series (Hacks)
• Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series (The Penguin)
• Outstanding TV Movie (Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, Mountainhead)

Acting nominees included:

• Outstanding Lead Actress: Comedy (Jean Smart - Hacks)
• Outstanding Lead Actress: Drama (Kathy Bates - Matlock, Bella Ramsey - The Last of Us)
• Outstanding Lead Actor: Drama (Pedro Pascal - The Last of Us, Noah Wyle - The Pitt)
• Outstanding Lead Actress: Limited or Anthology Series (Cristin Milioti in The Penguin)
• Outstanding Lead Actor: Limited or Anthology Series (Colin Farrell in The Penguin)

Bates became the oldest Emmy nominee for Lead Actress: Drama at age 77. She plays the title role in legal drama Matlock, which premiered on M-Net and comes to Showmax from Wednesday, 23 July 2025.

Of course, there are always snubs, and DStv had these too, most notably Guy Ritchie’s MobLand and Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone and Landman, the most streamed series in America in the first quarter of 2025.

DStv Stream Premium gives customers access to everything available on DStv Premium, including the full range of live channels, on-demand content and Showmax Entertainment at no extra cost.

The streaming-only option is available from R699 per month, while the full DStv Premium package with satellite and streaming is priced at R979 per month. Visit dstv.com to sign up.

Showmax has 110 of the nominations available to binge now and another 23 on the way by the end of August 2025. Showmax Entertainment starts from R50 a month. Click here to sign up.

The Creative Arts Emmys take place on 6 and 7 September 2025, with the Emmy Awards on Sunday, 14 September 2025 in the US, so the early hours of Monday morning in South Africa.