BAFTA has opened for entries for the BAFTA Television Craft Awards and the BAFTA Television Awards.
Eligibility rules for the Daytime and Entertainment Performance categories have been updated this time.
The Daytime category eligibility was previously defined by high volume and returnability, not by scheduling, with entrants choosing one episode to represent the series. From 2024, entered episodes must be transmitted between 09:00 – 18:00 to be eligible.
In Entertainment Performance, from 2024, two people will be eligible to be considered as a pair if they have equal billing on their entered programme (and are entered together). This relaxes the previous requirement that pairs must be already recognised as a presenting duo to be eligible.
Limited Drama is a new category for scripted one-off programmes or series that tell a complete story over 1-19 episodes, replacing separate categories for Single Drama and Mini-Series. The introduction of Limited Drama maintains the opportunity for single self-contained films to be eligible following a decline in entries to the Single Drama category in recent years (Drama Series category remains unchanged).
Sport and Live Event Coverage brings together Sports Coverage and Live Event coverage.
Three category names have been updated and renamed (eligibility and voting criteria will remain the same): Soap & Continuing Drama is now defined as Soap; Reality and Constructed Factual is now defined as Reality; Features is now defined as Factual Entertainment
UK-based productions will be required to provide information about meeting BFI’s new Diversity Standards as BAFTA’s eligibility criteria for all UK productions looks to transition from a minimum of two (Standard C + 1) to three in the coming years, to include the BFI’s new diversity Standard E (accessibility).
All UK-based productions will be required to have a policy in place on tackling bullying and harassment in order to be eligible to enter. To support this rule change, free guidance and policy templates will be available on Creative UK in the coming weeks.
To ensure voters have as much time as possible to watch and consider entered work, the window for submitting work has been brought forward.
As previously announced, Hilary Rosen, director of commissioning at UKTV, was elected chair of BAFTA’s Television Committee earlier this year. She said: “I’m delighted to have been appointed chair of BAFTA’s Television Committee – there’s no other art form that is so creatively ambitious and yet so accessible; the stories on TV travel further than any other cultural medium. We’ve listened and engaged closely with our peers and have responded to wider industry trends in setting this year’s eligibility, category and voting rules, which are reviewed annually. At a time when recognition of creative efforts on-and-off screen are needed more than ever, BAFTA’s awards are an important showcase of the ingenuity and talents of those who bring TV to life.”
- March 2024 – P&O Cruises Memorable Moment nominations announced
- Thursday 21 March 2024 – Television Awards and Television Craft nominations announced
- Sunday 28 April 2024 – BAFTA Television Craft Awards
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Entered programmes and performances must be transmitted between 1 January and 31 December 2023 to be eligible.
Jon Creamer
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