Emmy Spotlight on ‘Orphan Black’ Pleases BBC America’s Sarah Barnett

BBC America is still basking in the glow of its big Emmy win for Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany, who won for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her multi-character role in the series about clones.

With the show’s fifth and final season teed up for next year, BBC America president Sarah Barnett hopes Maslany’s big Emmy win — after years of being snubbed for even a nomination — will help deliver a ratings and awareness lift. BBCA has run congratulatory spots on Amazon, where past seasons of Orphan Black are streamed.

“It’s great even beyond the show for a network to have this kind of positive glare of publicity, particularly at a time when there’s so much competition and everyone’s attention is so fragmented,” Barnett said. “To have this moment of a really positive spotlight shone on the network at a time when we’re actually doing some pretty exciting things is perfect timing for us.”

She stopped short of guaranteeing a ratings lift for Orphan Black or other BBC America series, such as the upcoming Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. But the buzz can’t hurt. “Ratings are such a difficult thing to predict for any executive in this linear environment, but having said that, there will be an excitement and sense of event and energy surrounding the network and this show that we will be highly pleased with,” she said

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.