BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Last week's Emmy Award nominations came as no surprise to anyone who was at the Oasis at the Beverly Hilton on a recent Friday night.

Holly Hunter was there. So were Tim Robbins, Kyra Sedgwick and Tony Curtis. Gloria Reuben, Jane Kaczmarek, Mark-Paul Gosselaar and big-deal producer Steven Bochco were also in the house. (Or, technically, the yard.) Dozens more nibbled barbecue sandwiches, sipped drinks and chatted carefully with TV critics and reporters, all part of the usual TV critics semiannual press tour.

What made it different was that it was a party from cable company Turner Broadcasting, not, as usual, something thrown by CBS or ABC. The tour demonstrated exactly what's happening to TV and to the entire entertainment world.

Money, quality and attention are spreading everywhere, and for TV, the first proof is that lots of cable shows -- basic cable, not just stuff from the HBOs and Showtimes -- are as good as network TV. The television academy acknowledged as much Thursday. For the first time, two best-series nominees were on basic cable: AMC's "Mad Men" and FX's "Damages."

For many viewers, particularly younger viewers, this is hardly a news flash.

"I have a 21-year-old and an 18-year-old," said Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks. "They don't even know what broadcast TV or cable TV are. To them, it's just television."

What's happened over the past few years to cause all this? Part of it is that TV and other media are changing and spreading out because of technology. More viewers bring more money and more demand for good shows. But there's more to it. Here are other factors.

• Broadcast networks have to program 24/7. That costs lots and lots of money, so they need lots and lots of viewers. To lure them, shows need to have broad appeal.
• Cable nets operate on a less-expensive business model, which includes spending smaller on production. That means they can live with fewer original shows and smaller audiences. Most of those good cable shows draw 2 to 4 million, and their channels are thrilled. Some get about 1 million. A broadcast hit is 10 million to 12 million, and networks would prefer 20 million.
• Cable channels can amortize their costs by repeating shows during the week and the year, another reason they can live with lower ratings.
• Because they don't need massive ratings, cable shows can take more risks or appeal to niche audiences. An "Amazing Grace" can venture into unsentimental, angel-infested territory, "Rescue Me" can be raw and harsh, "Psych" can be sweetly silly and risk being uncool.
• They can go niche with characters, too, which includes female leads and complex anti-heroes. That's why cable can attract stars such as Sedgwick, Hunter, Reuben or Glenn Close of "Damages." "Cable has the opportunity to stretch the boundaries," Reuben told me. She's starring in the new Bochco-produced TNT series, "Raising the Bar," in September. "It doesn't surprise me that's where we can find so much good material."
• Stars are attracted to the 13-week seasons of most cable series, instead of the 22- to 24-week needs of the broadcast nets. "That lets me live a real life," Reuben said.
• HBO's successful creative approach -- on "The Sopranos," "The Wire," "Sex and the City" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" -- taught FX, TNT, USA and AMC to let their writers write, not to dictate to them.
• Broadcast networks almost abandon scripted programming in the summer, when TV viewing is lower. That leaves big openings for cable. "If a mall put up a sign that said 'Closed till September,' people would go find the boutiques. And they might keep shopping there," Koonin said.

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