HBO leads Emmy Award nominations with 86

By Bob Tourtellotte

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Packing the one-two punch of mob drama "The Sopranos" and TV movie "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee," cable television's HBO dominated Emmy nominations on Thursday with 86 nods total to lead all other networks.

Following HBO at No. 2 was broadcaster ABC with a total of 70 nominations from hit shows including comedy "Ugly Betty" and medical drama "Grey's Anatomy."

Close behind with 69 nods was NBC, led by freshman comedy "30 Rock" and sci-fi drama "Heroes."

The Emmys, given out by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, are the U.S. television industry's top awards. Nominations and wins often give little-seen shows much-needed recognition to boost their audience size.

"Emmy is a brand of excellence that can bode great things for the future of any show," said Dick Askin, president of the television academy.

In the past, HBO has promoted Emmy wins for shows like "Sex and the City" to burnish its image as a leading provider of quality TV which, in turn, can help increase its subscriber revenues.

HBO has for years led rivals during Emmy season, and this year "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee," an epic chronicle of the plight of American Indians as the U.S. expanded west, was the most-nominated of all Emmy contenders with 17.

The program took six years to get on the air because the topic was so expansive many TV executives believed it could not be made, said executive producer Dick Wolf.

The acclaimed gangster saga "The Sopranos," a long-time favorite at the Emmys, was the top drama series with 15 nominations. ABC's "Ugly Betty," about a young assistant at a high-profile fashion magazine, was the most nominated comedy with 11 nods overall.

Among other networks, broadcaster CBS had 44 nominations and Fox had 28. Within the cable group, AMC lagged well behind HBO with 18 nominations, and Showtime followed with 17.

HBO is a unit of Time Warner Inc. ABC is part of the Walt Disney Co. NBC is a division of the NBC Universal unit of General Electric Co and Fox is part of News Corp. Showtime is operated by Viacom Inc. and AMC is part of the Rainbow Media Holdings unit of Cablevision Systems Corp.