The National Television Awards is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted on by the general public. Because of the way the awards are decided, winners are not given the title "Best", but rather "Most Popular". The first ceremony was held in August 1995 and was hosted by Eamonn Holmes. From 1996 onwards it was traditionally held annually in October and hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald. However, after no ceremony was held in 2009, McDonald stepped down from the role, which passed to Dermot O'Leary. The January 2010 ceremony was hosted at the London O₂ Arena.
Categories at the 2006 Awards ceremony, which was held on the evening on 31 October were: Entertainment Presenter, TV Contender, Entertainment Programme, Reality Programme, Drama, Serial Drama (soap opera), Newcomer, Actor, Actress, Quiz Programme, Daytime Programme, Comedy and Factual Programme. Viewers can vote for the short-list of nominees from an initial long list prepared by ITV, and then later can vote by text message, the official website and phone for which of the nominees in each category should win. The awards ceremony, held at the Royal Albert Hall, (until 2010 when it moved to the O2 Arena) is shown in full by ITV. This is sometimes live, but has also been the evening after it takes place, by which time the results have usually been widely reported in the British media.
Unlike the BAFTAs and other similar awards ceremonies, the National Television Awards allow foreign programmes to be nominated, providing they have been screened on a British channel during the eligible time period. For example, American series Desperate Housewives was nominated in the 2005 Most Popular Drama category.
Read more about National Television Awards: Award Ceremonies
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