Back in 2020, my Variety colleague Kate Aurthur and I wrote a cover story on the death of cable — complete with striking art of a coaxial cord shaped like a skull. The headline read, “R.I.P. Cable TV: Why Hollywood Is Slowly Killing Its Biggest Moneymaker,” and I think it remains one of the most damning indictments of how this business made some potentially fatal choices in upending its entire financial model.

Since then, we’ve been proven right over and over. But it didn’t take a genius to see the storm on the horizon, as several basic cable channels had already gone zombie (or should I say, full “Ridiculousness”) back then. Cut to four years later, and there’s nothing “slow” about how the congloms have killed their cable assets.

Ironically, when we made that observation in 2020, cable still had a flicker of life left. But not anymore. A string of events in August delivered the final blow to cable's weakened state, including TNT losing the NBA, networks like Nat Geo laying off a significant portion of their staff, and websites for networks like MTV, Comedy Central, and Cartoon Network going dark.

And of course, the real shock came recently when Warner Bros. Discovery wrote down $9.1 billion in the valuation of its channels, followed by Paramount Global doing the same for $6 billion in its networks. Just last week, Kathleen Finch announced her retirement as chairman and CEO, US Networks, at Warner Bros. Discovery, with Warner Bros. TV Group chairman/CEO Channing Dungey taking on the oversight of the channels. In the past, Dungey likely would have moved from the studio to the networks job — and that would have been seen as a promotion. But these days, that would have been considered a demotion, so suddenly Finch’s duties are now just a secondary part of Dungey’s already busy schedule.

There aren’t many success stories in basic cable anymore. And no, you can’t count FX’s dominant 93 Emmy nominations (its most ever) — because John Landgraf’s “FX” is no longer a cable entity. (He has no oversight over the linear cable network that shares the same name but only airs some of his shows.)

This year’s Emmy nominations reflect these challenging times for basic cable. Surprisingly, MTV — which has pretty much given up on its linear outlet — managed to land its largest nomination tally ever, at 10. But that comes with an asterisk: All of those noms are for “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and its sister series, a franchise that only recently moved from VH1 to MTV.

Bravo, BBC America (for “Planet Earth III”) and Comedy Central (“The Daily Show”) also managed to secure three or more nominations, but most major basic cable networks were completely shut out this year.

That’s why it’s all the more impressive that Investigation Discovery made it onto the board this year, with three nominations via two programs: “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” (including documentary/nonfiction series) and “Lost Women of Highway 20” (for Octavia Spencer, as narrator).

These are the first-ever Emmy nominations for ID – quite an achievement in this era. “I believe that in these complicated times, you have to embrace the victories when they come and take a moment to celebrate them,” says Jason Sarlanis, the president of TNT, TBS, TruTV, ID and HLN. “But also consider them a sign that, perhaps contrary to popular opinion, these brands do matter and can absolutely evolve. And I think that this recognition is an indication of that.”

Sarlanis says the Emmy nominations – and possibly, Emmy wins – have sent a message to filmmakers “that we are a company that will safeguard them, support them and potentially even enhance their project.”

These nominations have placed ID in an unprecedented position: showcasing its Emmy campaign strength through outdoor advertisements and other promotional efforts. “We're cautiously optimistic because when you look at the entire field, it's comprised of incredible filmmakers and captivating stories.”

ID isn’t the only newcomer to the Emmy field this year. Also joining the race for the first time is Shudder , the AMC Networks streamer that focuses on horror and thriller content. The niche programmer scored two nominations for its original series “The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula,” in hairstyling and in makeup, both for a variety, nonfiction or reality program.

At least that (and the BBC America nominations) offered some solace for AMC, which found its flagship network completely shut out of the awards ceremony for the first time in over a decade. It's a tough time for cable networks.