DALLAS: Nominations have been announced for the first annual Texas Emmy Awards. The trophies will be presented by the newly formed Lone Star Chapter of the National Television Academy (NTA). Lone Star is located in the state of Texas.

Winners will be announced on 18 October in Dallas. The Lone Star Chapter will also honour three Texas broadcasters with the presentation of the Silver Circle Award that recognises lifetime professional achievement in their field. The 2003 Silver Circle honorees are Troy Dungan, WFAA-TV in Dallas/Fort Worth; Byron Harris, WFAA-TV in Dallas/Fort Worth and Marvin Zindler, KRTK-TV in Houston.

Stations and/or companies from Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Plano and Houston were nominated in categories such as "Overall Station Excellence," "Outstanding Evening, Noon/Morning Newscast" and "Outstanding Breaking News Coverage", plus a variety of individual craft categories including news and sports reporting, photography, editing, writing, lighting, sound design and more. There are nearly 70 categories.

The release adds that the mission of this particular chapter is to impact the quality of television in Texas. Earlier membership was split between NTA chapters in south Florida, Colorado and Arizona.

Meanwhile the main Emmy Awards function will take place next week. Watch this space for further developments.