By Michael Schneider
Ricky Gervais wins back his Emmy
General editor of the variety
There are still two years left in the Television Academy's "wheel deal" with the four major broadcast networks, which locks the broadcast home into 2026. But it's not too early to start thinking about the show's long-term future, especially as we've seen a rapid decline in how much the conglomerates are investing in their linear properties.
In 2018, when ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox signed an eight-year deal for the Emmys — and rotated them annually (the so-called Wheel) — the clouds were gathering. But back then, Netflix was the only real streaming player, and the likes of Disney+, Max, Apple TV+ and the rest were still a year or two away.
