21st ANNUAL CRITICS' CHOICE AWARDS announcement

Announcement by Joey Berlin – BFCA President/BTJA President – 9/30/15

Having done this year’s Critics’ Choice Movie Awards show and the Critics’ Choice Television Awards show with our new television partner A&E Networks, the BFCA and its sister organization, the Broadcast Television Journalists Association – or BTJA – have all come to the conclusion that the time has come to combine the shows into one. So on Sunday night, January 17th, we’re going back to our old name and simply presenting the 21st annual Critics’ Choice Awards gala. BFCA and BTJA members will make all the nominations and vote for all the winners in the same categories as we have in the past and we’ll be presenting all the major film and television categories live on air in one glamorous and star-studded TV special.

A&E has strongly encouraged BFCA and BTJA to combine their awards shows into one super-show and thinks so much of the idea that it has decided to trimulcast the January 17th Critics’ Choice Awards show on A&E, Lifetime and LMN. This marks the first time the show has been seen live on more than one channel and the first time it will be seen on a Sunday night. To celebrate all this great work properly, the main show will run three hours long, preceded by a live one-hour Red Carpet Pre-Show.

Film and TV awards together in one three-hour show – yes, there will be similarities to the Golden Globes. But we believe it’s meaningful in this age of such abundant high quality film and television for BFCA and BTJA – made up of America’s leading film and television critics and reporters – to offer their well-informed assessments of the best in popular entertainment. While the Critics’ Choice Awards traditionally foreshadow the Oscars and the Emmys, our voters are perhaps less star-struck and a bit savvier than our foreign peers. While the Globes have long been the party of the year, we believe the Critics’ Choice Awards are a little smarter, a little more in touch with American and Canadian tastes, and ultimately more useful to the viewers and ticket buyers.

The 21st annual Critics’ Choice Awards show will again be produced by Bob Bain Productions. WME and Dan Black of Greenberg Traurig put the deal together.
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