British television productions garnered a leading nine International Emmy nominations Monday, including acting nods for Bob Hoskins and Helena Bonham Carter.
Hoskins was nominated for best actor for his role in “The Street,” on BBC1, as a reformed alcoholic who runs a pub and stands up to the neighborhood mobster. “The Street,” which focuses on the lives of different residents on a road in northwest England, was among the nominees for best drama series.
Bonham Carter is in contention for best actress for the biopic “Enid,” on BCC4, in which she portrayed the popular British children’s writer Enid Blyton, whose troubled personal life stood in sharp contrast with her jolly escapist works.
The Argentine crime mini-series “Epitafios,” produced by HBO Latin America, also received two nominations — for best drama series and best actor, with Leonardo Sbaraglia cited for his role as an assassin who copies famous gruesome murders.
A total of 39 nominees from 15 countries will compete for International Emmys, which honor excellence in TV programming outside the U.S., in 10 categories.
The winners will be announced Nov. 22 at the 38th International Emmy Awards ceremony in New York, hosted by former “Beverly Hills, 90210” star Jason Priestley. Two honorary awards will also be presented.
Brazil received five nominations, all for TV Globo productions, including a best actress nod to Lilia Cabral for her role as a former model coping with a painful divorce in “Seize the Day.”
Japan and Argentina each had four nominations, followed by Germany and the Netherlands with three apiece and the Philippines and South Africa with two each. Denmark, Israel, Mexico, Portugal, Romania, South Korea and Thailand each had one nominee.
Other contenders for best drama series include “Clouds Over the Hill” (Japan) and “The Killing II” (Denmark). The comedy nominees are “Los Simuladores” (Mexico), “Peep Show” (Britain), “Talok Hok Chak” (Thailand) and “Traffic Light” (Israel).
Hoskins and Sbaraglia will be competing in the best actor category with Germany’s Sebastian Koch for “Sea Wolf” and the Philippines’ Sid Lucero for “Dahil May Isang Ikaw” (“Because There Is Only You”), which was also nominated for best telenovela. The other actress nominees included Germany’s Iris Berben for “The Krupps — A Family Between War and Peace” and South Africa’s Lerato Moloisane for “Home Affairs.”
The other British nominees are “Imagine … David Hockney: A Bigger Picture” (arts programming), “Shaun the Sheep” (children & young people), “9/11: Phone Calls from the Towers” (documentary), “Heston’s Feasts” (non-scripted entertainment) and “Small Island” (TV movie/mini-series).
Simon Cowell, the British recording executive and TV personality, will receive the honorary International Emmy Founders Award recognizing his role in building an international empire and changing the face of television around the world through his work on the “Idol,” ”Got Talent” and “X Factor” reality show franchises.
“Saturday Night Live” creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels will be recognized with the honorary International Emmy Directorate Award for creating a new brand of comedy on TV and launching the careers of film and TV stars.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More