Subscription TV’s night of nights is run and won, and as expected Andrew Winter took out almost everything he was nominated for. More than ably hosted by Shaynna Blaze and Matt Shirvington the 12th ASTRA Awards were a great success with many worthy winners. I was lucky enough to cover the red carpet (images & interviews to come shortly) as well as attend the after party. Let me tell you – those Wentworth ladies are party animals. There was silence – SILENCE – in the media room during the tribute to Charlotte Dawson too. A wonderful night. From the press release:
Subscription television’s premium drama channel, showcase, has won the coveted Channel of the Year award at the 12th ASTRA Awards in Sydney tonight.
showcase screens US drama series including Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones and House of Cards and was named Channel of the Year for delivering blockbuster international drama to some of the biggest audiences on subscription television.
Drama categories of the 2014 awards were won by FX for The Walking Dead (the subscriber-voted Favourite Program – International Drama) and UKTV for Top of the Lake’s Peter Mullen (Most Outstanding Performance by an Actor – Male). Home-grown Wentworth on SoHo was named Most Outstanding Australian Drama and the prison drama’s Nicole da Silva was presented with the ASTRA Award for Most Outstanding Performance by an Actor – Female.
FOX SPORTS won awards for Most Outstanding Use of Innovation for Ref Cam, Most Outstanding New Talent for Kelli Underwood and Most Outstanding Sports Program for The DHL Australia 2013 Lions Tour. Most Outstanding Sports Entertainment Program was FOX FOOTY’s Open Mike.
HISTORY won ASTRA’s new Channel Achievement Award as well as the award for Most Outstanding Factual Program with The People Speak.There were 23 awards presented during the evening, with four of the five subscriber-voted awards going to The Lifestyle Channel.
More than 90 finalists contested the awards, representing 25 subscription television channels. Musical entertainment on the night included a performance by The McClymonts: the country music trio of sisters Brooke, Sam and Mollie McClymont.
The 2014 ASTRA Awards were staged for the first time at Sydney’s Carriageworks in front of a live audience of nearly 800 people, with highlights screened on Foxtel channels during the evening. For the first time, Paul Murray anchored his show Paul Murray LIVE on SKY NEWS National from the red carpet from 9pm.
Hosts for the night were Shaynna Blaze of Selling Houses Australia (who won the award for Favourite Personality – Female for the second consecutive year) and Matt Shirvington.
“Tonight’s ASTRA Awards were the most contested in years and many categories went down to the wire. Everyone in the industry has had a brilliant evening recognising the quality, creativity and originality of content on subscription television,” ASTRA CEO Andrew Maiden said.
The full list of awards presented:
Most Outstanding Children’s Content
Disney Channel FanFest TV Special Event (Disney Channel)Most Outstanding Music Program
The Riff (Channel [V])Most Outstanding Sports Program
The DHL Australia 2013 Lions Tour (FOX SPORTS)Most Outstanding Sports Entertainment Program
Open Mike (FOX FOOTY)Most Outstanding Factual Program
THE PEOPLE SPEAK (HISTORY)Most Outstanding News Program
Election 2013 (SKY NEWS National)Most Outstanding Reality Program
Australia’s Next Top Model (FOX8)Most Outstanding Lifestyle Program
Paddock to Plate (The LifeStyle Channel)Most Outstanding General Entertainment Program
SLIMEFEST 2013 (Nickelodeon)Most Outstanding Australian Drama
Wentworth (SoHo)Most Outstanding Use of Innovation
Rugby (FOX SPORTS)Most Outstanding Performance By An Actor – Male
Peter Mullan [Top of the Lake] (UKTV)Most Outstanding Performance By An Actor – Female
Nicole da Silva [Wentworth] (SoHo)Most Outstanding Performance By A Broadcast Journalist
David Speers [PM Agenda, The Nation, Election Coverage] (SKY NEWS National)Most Outstanding New Talent
Kelli Underwood [Back Page LIVE and ANZ Championship] (FOX SPORTS)Favourite Personality – Male
Andrew Winter [Selling Houses Australia] (The LifeStyle Channel)Favourite Personality – Female
Shaynna Blaze [Selling Houses Australia] (The LifeStyle Channel)Favourite Program – Australian
Selling Houses Australia (The LifeStyle Channel)Favourite Program – International
Grand Designs UK (The LifeStyle Channel)Favourite Program – International Drama
The Walking Dead (FX)Honorary ASTRA Award
“To honour an exceptional contribution to the Subscription Television Industry”
Charlotte DawsonChannel Achievement Award
HISTORYChannel of the Year
showcaseFor more information, visit astraawards.com. On social media, comments can be made and congratulations shared using the Twitter handle @astraevent and the hashtag #ASTRAS.
About the ASTRA Awards
The ASTRA Awards reward the creativity, diversity and quality of the Australian subscription television industry. A total of 23 awards voted by subscribers and industry experts recognise the best content and presenters on more than 100 subscription television channels. Follow us on Twitter at @astraevent and on Facebook at facebook.com/ASTRAawards. For more information visit astraawards.com.About ASTRA
The Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA) is the peak body representing subscription television platforms, the owners and operators of more than 50 independent television channels, advertising sales agencies and equipment manufacturers. Together, ASTRA members produce and broadcast content that reaches more than one third of Australians in their homes via Foxtel, Telstra T-Box and Xbox 360, and a million more via narrowcast services to hotels, clubs and other venues. ASTRA members invest $700 million in local production, add nearly $1.6 billion to GDP, and create 6500 jobs in dozens of businesses large and small. ASTRA represents the industry in the media and on regulatory and policy issues, conducts conferences and forums, manages codes of practice, and organises annual awards that recognise the diversity, quality and growth of subscription TV. For more information visit astra.org.au