National Television Awards
The National Television Awards (often shortened to NTAs) 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, and are often branded as 'television's biggest night of the year'.
National Television Awards | |
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Location | Wembley Conference Centre (1995) Royal Albert Hall (1996–2008) The O2 Arena (2010–2021) Wembley Arena (2022) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Presented by | Eamonn Holmes (1995) Sir Trevor McDonald (1996–2008) Dermot O'Leary (2010–2019) David Walliams (2020) Joel Dommett (2021–present) |
First awarded | 1995 |
Website | www |
Television/radio coverage | |
Network | ITV |
Runtime | 150 minutes (inc. adverts) |
Produced by | Indigo Television |
The most prestigious award of the ceremony is the Special Recognition Award.
History


The first ceremony was held in August 1995 and was hosted by Eamonn Holmes at Wembley Conference Centre. From 1996 onwards, it was traditionally held annually in October at the Royal Albert Hall and hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald. McDonald retired from the role after 12 years in 2008. In 2009, the NTAs changed the timing of the event from October to January so there was no event in that year. For the 2010 ceremony, Dermot O'Leary took over as host, the ceremony was also hosted at The O2 for the first time.
O'Leary decided to leave the programme on 13 February 2019. On 4 October 2019, in a video posted on social media, comedian and author David Walliams was announced as the new NTAs host for 2020. Despite this, the ceremony remained at the O2 for the 10th successive year.[1] The 26th ceremony was originally going to take place on 26th January but then due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was postponed to 20 April, then postponed again to 9 September.[2] In May 2021, it was announced that Joel Dommett would present the 26th ceremony replacing Walliams. It was unknown why Walliams left. On 6 April 2022, it was confirmed that Dommett would return as host with the upcoming ceremony being held in September at a new venue, this being Wembley Arena.[3]
Voting process
There are two voting stages: a longlist of nominees featuring the most watched programmes and their stars from each channel, based on BARB ratings, is published in September, and the subsequent shortlist of the leading contenders in each category is published in January. The public vote in a nationwide poll via post, telephone and online with the process verified by PromoVeritas, the independent adjudicators. The results are widely reported in the British media with worldwide media coverage of some categories.
Ceremonies
Edition | Date | Venue | Presenter | Special Recognition Winner |
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1st | 29 August 1995 | Wembley Conference Centre | Eamonn Holmes | Julie Goodyear |
2nd | 9 October 1996 | Royal Albert Hall | Trevor McDonald | David Jason |
3rd | 8 October 1997 | Robson Green | ||
4th | 27 October 1998 | John Thaw | ||
5th | 26 October 1999 | Michael Barrymore | ||
6th | 10 October 2000 | Chris Tarrant | ||
7th | 23 October 2001 | Des O'Connor | ||
8th | 15 October 2002 | Ant & Dec | ||
9th | 28 October 2003 | Sir Trevor McDonald | ||
10th | 26 October 2004 | Caroline Quentin | ||
11th | 25 October 2005 | Jamie Oliver | ||
12th | 31 October 2006 | Sir David Attenborough | ||
13th | 31 October 2007 | Jeremy Clarkson | ||
14th | 29 October 2008 | Simon Cowell | ||
15th | 20 January 2010 | The O2 | Dermot O'Leary | Stephen Fry |
16th | 26 January 2011 | Bruce Forsyth | ||
17th | 25 January 2012 | Jonathan Ross | ||
18th | 23 January 2013 | Joanna Lumley | ||
19th | 22 January 2014 | None | ||
20th | 21 January 2015 | David Tennant | ||
21st | 20 January 2016 | Sir Billy Connolly | ||
22nd | 25 January 2017 | Graham Norton | ||
23rd | 23 January 2018 | Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs | ||
24th | 22 January 2019 | David Dimbleby | ||
25th | 28 January 2020 | David Walliams | Sir Michael Palin | |
26th | 9 September 2021[2] | Joel Dommett | Line of Duty | |
27th | 15 September 2022 | Wembley Arena | TBA |
References
- "David Walliams looks suave as he prepares to host National Television Awards 2020". Metro. 21 January 2020. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- "Date of 2021 NTAs announced". Press Centre. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
- "The National Television Awards are back!". Press Centre. 6 April 2022.