They made history earlier this year when they nabbed Emmy Award nominations for their original series like House of Cards, Hemlock Grove and Arrested Development and now Netflix are making waves on this side of the pond as The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) opens its doors to web series.
BAFTA released a statement earlier this morning announcing that they will now allow web-based broadcasters to enter the British Academy Television Awards and the British Academy Television Craft Awards. That means we're more than likely to see a little more history being made over the coming years in terms of on demand content stealing the show at the major awards ceremonies.
The news is a major boost for online streaming sites like Netflix, which has proven immensely popular of late. Netflix original series Orange Is The New Black was, and still is, a massive hit and you need only search Twitter to see how popular their decision to stream Breaking Bad less than 24 hours after its US debut was. You might want to hold off if you haven't seen 'Felina' yet though: Things could get a little spoileriffic
It's worth nothing that this isn't the only change BAFTA have made to the rules. They'll also be expanding the Comedy category to include panel shows, chat shows where comic content plays a major role, stand-up comedy shows and comedy clips shows. Seems as though they're quite happy to move with the times.
"We continually strive to ensure our Awards remain relevant to the industry, as well as reflecting the trends among the viewing public" BAFTA’s Chief Executive, Amanda Berry, said. "We’re in a golden era for storytelling and programme-making, with top-class shows being broadcast online as well as on digital and terrestrial television; the latest update to our rules ensures we celebrate and reward the very best."
