Viola Davis’ historic win is Emmys’ most-talked about moment online

It was Viola Davis’ night to shine.

Sunday’s Emmy Awards on Fox were, per usual, a star-studded affair honoring the television industry’s best. Hosted by Saturday Night Live alumnus Andy Samberg, the three-hour telecast garnered roughly 1.4 million tweets, according to Amobee Brand Intelligence.

Compared to the record-breaking MTV Video Music Awards, the awards show was a slightly more demure affair, capped off with fewer buzzy moments generating a more-modest amount of tweets.

Despite the noise that streaming services are upending the industry, traditional television networks are still the ones to beat during awards season. HBO collected more Emmy Awards than every other television network and streaming service combined, with Amazon taking home two and Netflix only getting one statue.

Samberg’s hosting was praised by critics and the audience seemed to agree, with an overwhelming 87 percent of the sentiment being positive according to data from Brandwatch. His opening musical number mocking the “peak TV” cliché and giving away free access to HBO Now earned him praise from viewers.

Besides the marketing stunt between Samberg and HBO Now, which increased awareness of the streaming service 568 percent compared to the day before, Amobee Brand Intelligence says Apple Music also garnered positive praise for its commercial with Empire’s Taraji P. Henson, Scandal’s Kerry Washington and singer Mary J. Blige.

Directed by Selma director Ava DuVernay, the ad excelled in showing off the music site’s new playlist-making feature since people talked about Apple Music 142 percent more than they did compared to the day prior.

Enough of brands, here were the five most talked about people, per Amobee Brand Intelligence: 

Viola Davis. 
The most-talked about moment with 94,000 tweets was Davis’ becoming the first African-American woman to win an Emmy for best lead actress in a drama series on ABC’s “How to Get Away with Murder.”

Jon Hamm.
He finally brought home gold. Hamm, who has been nominated seven times prior without a single win, finally won for his portrayal as an ad exec on “Mad Men.” His moment of vindication raked in 41,000 tweets.

Amy Poehler.
It was a sad evening for “Parks and Recreation” fans who were eager to see Amy Poehler take home an Emmy for her hilarious role as Leslie Knope. Instead, equally deserving Julia Louis-Dreyfus for her role on “Veep” took him gold, triggering 27,000 tweets.

Peter Dinklage.
The moment the “Game of Thrones” actor won for best supporting actor in a drama series totaled nearly 19,000 tweets, perhaps because of his subtle man bun.

Taraji P. Henson. 
Despite losing to Davis, the “Empire” star garnered nearly 17,000 tweets.

Photo via YouTube/screenshot.

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