Over on the Home Theater Forum, there's a message thread about this topic.

One poster there said the following (and one person in RinkChat said similar statements):

"HBO shows are able to use the adult language/nudity/violence needed to make their programs more "biting" and provides more leeway to provide adult programming which may bias the Emmy nominations."

I disagree. I think that the writing and the acting on The Sopranos is as good as The West Wing (my own bias is for The West Wing, writing-wise). If anything, the sex, drugs, and violence shown on The Sopranos would be detractions for the show's chances of picking up an Emmy.

However, that got me thinking. Why can't a network put a show like The Sopranos on broadcast television? Can't they just throw a TV-MA-LSV label on it?

The Mature Audiences label means that the "program may contain mature themes, profane language, graphic violence and explicit sexual content." They're absolutely free to create such a show. LSV indicates Language, Sex, and Violence.

The reason they won't is the way the network's revenue structure is set up. NBC, ABC, and the others wouldn't be able to get anyone to buy advertising slots for The Sopranos no matter how many Emmy nominations that show would garner. It's like how some newspapers won't carry advertising for NC-17 rated movies.

So they don't create television shows that would be labeled TV-MA. It's not that they can't. It's that they choose not to. They'd rather air a TV-14 one-hour series based on Battlefield: Earth than air a show that was nominated for 22 Emmy Awards simply because Johnson & Johnson would advertise on Battlefield Earth: The Series.

Thoughts?

-Faux Pas