FX Emmy Wins for ‘People v OJ’ Soothes Rupert Murdoch’s Tough Year

Murdoch’s network snags a record 18 Emmy wins this year

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Sunday night brought some vindication, after a very tough year, for the House of Murdoch.

FX cleaned up at the Emmys with its critically acclaimed miniseries, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.” The docudrama won major prizes for Courtney B. Vance, who played real-life Simpson defender Johnnie Cochran, as well as Sarah Paulson, who played put-upon prosecutor Marcia Clark.

FX is of course part of 21st Century Fox, the media empire built by 85-year-old Rupert Murdoch, who spent the summer dealing with the sexual harassment allegations against former Fox News chief Roger Ailes.

“People v. O.J.,” all told, won five Emmys on Sunday. FX also scored a stunning upset when Louie Anderson unexpectedly won for his gender-reversed work as the mom on the comedy “Baskets.”

Including last week’s Creative Arts Emmy Awards, FX took home 18 awards — a basic-cable record — proving that Murdoch’s basic cable network, run by longtime programming boss John Landgraf, is now, along with Netflix, nipping at the heels of HBO when it comes to creative prestige and Emmy dominance.

That wasn’t all: Fox, Murdoch’s broadcast arm, took home an Emmy for its daring version of “Grease Live!”

All that should help take the sting out of the Ailes annus horribilis.

Oh, and here’s something else: Fox News is still the No. 1-rated cable news network. Even without Ailes.

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