CANNES: The world's largest television programme competition, the Banff Rockie Awards, have been rebranded as the Banff World Television Awards. This development is an indication of the high stature the awards have acquired over the past few years, owing to the independent and transparent judging process involved.
Commenting on the rebranding, Festival CEO Robert Montgomery said, "Over the past 27 years, Banff's program competition has grown to become the most influential and truly international in the world. The Banff World Television Awards is an identity that encompasses the global scope of this competition and provides proper justice to the many noted program creators and broadcasters who enter the race. As interactive television content gains an ever-stronger foothold within the industry and amongst audiences, we are elated to honour the 'best of the best' in this category."
The call for entries for the 2006 programme competition were also announced. This time round, an award for Interactive Television Programs has been introduced, amongst the 18 categories in the competition. The nominees will stand to win a Rockie Award for each category, besides several Special Jury Awards and of course, the Grand Prize.
The Banff World Television Festival will be produced by Achilles Media Ltd. It will take place from 11 - 14 June, 2006, at the Fairmont Banff Springs in the Canadian Rockies, and will be attended by over 1,300 broadcasters and program creators from more than 24 countries.
Past nominees and winners include productions from ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), A&E, ARTE France, AVRO, BBC, CBC/SRC, Channel 4, CTV, Film Australia, FRONTLINE, Granada, HBO, MTV, NFB, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), NPS, Paramount, PBS, Showtime, SVT, Touchstone, VPRO, WDR, WGBH, and ZDF German Television.
The 2006 Program categories are:
Animation Programs
Arts Documentary
Children's Programs
Comedies
Continuing Series
Family and Youth Programs
Feature Length Documentaries
History and Biography Programs
Information and Current Affairs Programs
Interactive Television Programs - NEW
Lifestyle Programs
Made-for-TV-Movies
Mini-Series
Performance Programs
Popular Science and Natural History Programs
Social and Political Documentaries
Sports Programs
Unscripted Entertainment Programs
