The Banff World Media Festival (BANFF) has unveiled the full list of nominees for the 2020 Rockie Awards International Program Competition, recognizing excellence in television and digital media from around the world. The Rockies Program Competition ceremony will stream live on Monday, June 15. 

The Rockie Awards International Program Competition is one of the largest awards programs of its kind, juried by a panel of 150 international industry professionals and covering all major genres. The Rockie Awards Grand Jury chooses the coveted Grand Jury Prize, selected from the top-scoring programs across the entire field of nominees. This year’s Grand Jury includes: Kathleen Finch, chief lifestyle brands officer, Discovery, Inc., Lisa Godfrey, VP, original content, Corus Entertainment Inc., Devin Griffin, general manager, BET+, BET Networks, Paul Mortimer, head of digital channels and acquisitions, ITV, Jill Offman, managing director, Viacom International Studios UK and EVP Comedy Central & Paramount Network International, and Linda Simensky, head of PBS KIDS Content, PBS KIDS.

This year’s in-person Banff World Media Festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 health crisis; however, in addition to the Rockie Awards virtual program, the festival team is working on new ways to connect, inform, inspire and serve the global media industry.

“Although we are not able to gather in-person, this year’s virtual Rockie Awards will, as ever, be a place to honor outstanding creative work,” said Jenn Kuzmyk, executive director of the Banff World Media Festival, adding, “We will also take this opportunity to recognize the challenges that are being experienced within our sector and the role that our industry continues to play by uniting global audiences, informing, entertaining and giving comfort during extraordinarily difficult times.”

In addition to the $25,000 Rogers Prize for Excellence in Canadian Content, awarded to the top Canadian production, 26 awards are bestowed in the category streams of Documentary & Factual, Arts & Entertainment, Children & Youth, Scripted and new this year, Podcast.

Leading nominations by company are:  

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) – 27 nominations
• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) –12 nominations
• Sky – 8 nominations 
• National Geographic – 6 nominations
• HBO – 5 nominations
• ARTE France and Yle – 4 nominations each

Leading nominations by country are: 

• The UK – 44 nominations
• USA – 43 nominations 
• Canada – 37 nominations
• Belgium – 7 nominations
• France – 6 nominations
• Germany – 6 nominations 
• Japan – 5 nominations

For the full list of nominees, click here.