The awards have been very successful since the birth in 1995, broadcast by the ITV network, the awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted for by the general public. The first ceremony was held in August 1995 and was hosted by Eamonn Holmes but since 1996 onwards it was traditionally held annually in October. In 2010, the NTA’s changed dramatically, from the timing of the event from October to January and Dermot O’Leary took over as host of the ceremony.
Categories include; Entertainment Presenter, Drama, Daytime Programme, Entertainment Programme, Reality Programme , Serial Drama, Actor, Actress, Quiz Programme, Comedy and Factual Programme etc. The categories all vary from year to year.
There are two voting stages: a longlist of nominees featuring the most watched shows and their stars from each channel, based on Broadcasters audience research board (BARB) ratings, is published in September, and the subsequent shortlist of the leading contenders in each category is published in January. The public vote in a nationwide poll via post, telephone and online with the process verified by an independent adjudicator.
History
- 1995 – 2002 Eamonn Holmes hosted the award at the Wembley Conference Centre
- 2002 – 2008 Trevor McDonald presented the awards at the Royal Albert Hall
- 2009 – no award show was presented due to loss of earnings that financial year
- 2010 – present Dermot O’Leary are currently presenting the awards at The O2 Arena
Past & Present
2015 will see the 20th National Television Awards ceremony and will be held at The O2 Arena on 21 January 2015 and broadcast live on ITV – tickets are still available on the ITV website! You can vote – the decision on who wins is entirely up to the general British Public, the categories for 2015 are:
Talent Show:
The XFactor
Strictly Come Dancing
The Voice UK
Britain’s Got Talent
Skills Challenge Show:
The Great British Bake Off
Master Chef
Come Dine with me
The Apprentice
Serial Drama:
EastEnders
Emmerdale
Coronation Street
Hollyoaks
Comedy:
Big Bang Theory
Benidorm
Mrs Brown’s Boys
Outnumbered
Drama:
Cilla
Doctor Who
Sherlock
Downton Abbey
Factual:
Gogglebox
Long Lost Family
Top Gear
Paul O’Grady: For the love of dogs
Multi-Channel:
Game of Thrones
The Walking Dead
Geordie Shore
Celebrity Juice
The Award
The prestigious statue is not a glass award, but is a statue, gold in colour with an avant-garde design, it is extremely unusually, with an almost horn-like shape with a global at one end – it difficult to describe unless you’ve seen one!
The National Television Awards celebrate their 20th year as Britain’s leading awards show featuring the nation’s most popular stars plus exclusive live music and special guest performances. An NTA is TV’s most coveted award and last year nearly 7 million votes were cast! It’d bound to be packed full of glitz and glamour, brushing shoulders with your favourite stars and tickets are still available for £23.50 – £38.75 – bargain if you ask me – I’ll see you there!