Following news that TV Week has revamped the entry and judging criteria for this year’s Logies, and the Most Popular TVC Award category is returning for the second year, B&T spoke with TV WEEK editor Thomas Woodgate about the changes and asked the big question: do we still care about The Logies?
It was recently announced TV Week would offer a simplified voting method for the local Most Popular awards.
All networks have been invited to submit candidates for each of the 12 Most Popular Awards – including the
big one: the TV Week Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television.
A combination of TV ratings, Nielsen Social Content Ratings and the opinions of TV Week‘s panel of
experts will be taken into account to determine this year’s six nominees in all categories, and seven
for the TV Week Gold Logie.
Nominees will then be announced on Sunday, May 24, where the public will be tasked with selecting the winners for all Most Popular Awards in an extended five-week live voting period right up until the end of the red carpet telecast on Sunday, June 28.
Woodgate told B&T it’s all about making the process simpler and finding ways to “drive even more engagement with the Logies.”
“When we introduced the live voting recently, which was the second round of it, where people could vote right up until the end of the red carpet, engagement was so high.
“And we were just thinking to ourselves that it was really proving that people are still engaging with the awards, and we basically want that period to go for as long as possible.
“What we’ve now got is a singular five week voting period that will get everybody voting for their favourite show, styles and personalities. The idea behind it was really about driving engagement and looking to continue to evolve the award show.”
The Logies will also bring back the Most Popular Television Commercial, with the winner taking home a Logie statue and a $100,000 Bauer Media advertising package. The award recognises excellence in television advertising and is open to advertisers, as well as creative, media and content agencies.
The 15 finalists will be selected by a 10-strong panel of leading industry peers, including Russel Howcroft, partner and chief creative officer, PWC; Kim Portrate, CEO of Think TV; and Dee Madigan, ECD at Campaign Edge. The winner will then be decided by the ultimate arbiters of TV advertising, the general public.
Woodgate said on bringing back the TVC award: “The amount of quality of advertising creative being produced is quite astounding. There’s lot of great storytelling being told and a lot of creative agencies pushing the boundaries. On-air time is so precious and you really see agencies trying to find new and exciting creative ways to get their stories out there. It’s really pleasing to see what gets put forward.”
And the big question… are the Logies still relevant?
Woodgate said: “Absolutely. The reaction to Tom’s [Gleeson] win was both positive and not so positive. And you know, it showed that people are still engaging with the award shows that people still very much value the TV Week Logie Awards.
“I think it’s absolutely relevant. It is the premium award shows for our industry and is celebrated by the public. They get to vote on the awards, as the industry does, in the outstanding categories. No other award show can do that.
“We’re going around 60 plus years. We continue to champion and celebrate all facets of our wonderful industry. I would go as far as to say the Logies are more relevant than they’ve ever been.
“People are watching TV in so many different ways. It’s not just about commercial FTA. It’s about streaming. It’s about pay TV. We get to celebrate the amount of wonderful content that they produce. I’m extremely proud that we are able to continue to move with the times and you know it’s the best awards show in the calendar.”
