BAFTA Adds New Categories

LONDON: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has added two new categories to its annual British Academy Television Awards: Supporting Actress and Supporting Actor.

Additionally for 2010, the Comedy Performance category will be divided into two, recognizing both Female Performance in a Comedy Program and Male Performance in a Comedy Program. 2010 will also see the introduction of a new system available to BAFTA members voting in both Television and Craft Awards to view all entries online.

The British Academy Television Awards will take place on June 6 at The London Palladium and will be broadcast on BBC One. The awards will be preceded by the British Academy Television Craft Awards on May 23 at The London Hilton.

John Willis, the chairman of the television committee, said: “We are delighted to be introducing these changes for 2010. As a committee, we annually review all categories to ensure the ceremony is relevant to, and reflects, the industry’s output, and these additional categories do exactly that. Moreover, our move to June provides a more distinct place in the awards calendar for Television and allows more time between them and February’s Orange British Academy Film Awards for our members, industries and viewers.”