The newly formed Broadcast Television Journalists Association will present its first Critics Choice Television Awards in 15 different categories, including Most Exciting New Series, the BTJA announced on Wednesday.
The awards will be far narrower in scope than the Emmys, which present awards in more than 100 categories between the Primetime Emmy Awards show and the Creative Arts Emmys.
Members of the organization, which is currently made up of about 50 journalists who cover television for TV, radio and Internet outlets, will give awards in five categories in the Drama and Comedy fields (Lead Actor and Actress, Supporting Actor and Actress, and Show) and three in Reality (Reality Program, Reality-Competition Program, and Host). One award will be presented to a talk show, either daytime or late night.
The Most Exciting New Series award will be given to a show that has yet to air, and will be judged on the basis of pilots and early episodes sent to BTJA voters.
The Critics Choice TV Awards will not give prizes in the marquee Emmy categories devoted to miniseries and TV movies, and will not give awards for directing or writing.
The BTJA will create three nominating committees to sift through the many possible nominees in the Drama, Comedy and Reality fields. The committee members will make their recommendations on June 1; nominations in most categories will be announced on June 6, with Most Exciting New Series nominations revealed three days later.
The awards will take place at a lunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel on June 20, just before Emmy nominating ballots are due. The ceremony will not be televised, though BTJA acting president Joey Berlin told TheWrap that the organization hopes to sign a television deal within a few years.
The purpose of the BJTA, Berlin said, is to give broadcast journalists more clout with the TV networks. The awards are also designed, he added, to "help ... out those poor Emmy voters who have to sift through a virtually infinite number of programs."
The categories are open to shows that aired from June 1, 2010 through May 31, 2011, which is the same eligibility period used by the Emmys.
THE BTJA is a partner organization of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, which presents the Critics Choice Movie Awards. That show has become one of the most accurate Oscar predictors among the precursor awards.
The BJTA also released its list of charter members, which includes TheWrap's Tim Molloy.
The list:
Brian Adams – KLIV
Michael Ausiello – TV Line
Josh Bell – about.com
Howard and Sandy Benjamin – Interview Factory
Jason Black – KYJO
Lisa Breckenridge - KKFX
Anne Brodie – Studio 12 News
Jenna Busch – sheknows.com
Clay Cane – BET.com
JD Cargill – CNN
Angel Cohn– Television Without Pity
Ari Coine - Hollywoodoutbreak.com
