The 8th Annual American Reality TV Awards (ARTAS) made its announcement on Thursday with 22 categories, including its newest category: International Reality Series. The worldwide vote begins on Monday, March 1st by texting ARTAS to 40691.
31 broadcast, cable and streaming networks and 87 reality production companies are represented in this year’s nominations. Leading the pack with 6 nominations each is NBC‘s The Titan Games and ABC‘s The Great American Baking Show followed by a tie with 5 nominations each: ABC‘s Dancing With The Stars and Discovery‘s Life Below Zero.
ABC‘s rebooted Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, as well as Holey Moley, Shark Tank and Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Amazon‘s Making The Cut, have been granted with 4 nominations each.
Regarding network nominations, ABC leads the pack with 38, Food Network has 20, Amazon claims 13, TLC with 11 and Nat Geo with 9. Fremantle leads the production company nominations with 12, followed closely by Universal Television Alternative Studio with 11. Amazon Studios and Eureka Productions tie with 10 nominations each.
Superstar talent Rihanna, Jimmy Kimmel, Amy Schumer, Melissa McCarthy, Jeff Goldblum, Tiffany Haddish, James Charles, LaurDIY & Bear Grylls are receiving first time nominations for their shows.
Some of the most notable winners over the awards’ history have been Dwayne Johnson as last year’s “Outstanding Host” for NBC‘s The Titan Games and NBC‘s World of Dance‘s Jennifer Lopez and Derek Hough winning “Reality Queen & King” respectively; Leah Remini was a past recipient of “Best Host” for A&E‘s Scientology & The Aftermath; Six time Emmy-winner for HBO‘s Veep, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, won “Reality Crossover Talent” for Crackle‘s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee; Gordon Ramsay received “Best Host” for FOX‘s Hell’s Kitchen and MasterChef, and RuPaul won “Best Host” over President Donald Trump for VH1‘s RuPaul’s Drag Race. Discovery‘s The Deadliest Catch won “Bad Ass Crew” for 5 years and still holds the longest winning streak in any single category. Animal Planet‘s Pit Bulls and Parolees received the win for “Feel Good Show” four years in a row and Abby Lee Miller of Lifetime‘s Dance Moms who won “Best Villain” four times was defeated a few years back by a tie between Scott Disick of E!‘s Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Chad Johnson of ABC‘s The Bachelorette franchise.
Many pioneers in the reality space have also been given special awards for their work including Celebrity Big Brother star Omarosa Manigault-Newman, accepting on behalf of The Apprentice franchise, The Hills stars Heidi & Spencer Pratt and America’s Next Top Model’s original judge, supermodel Janice Dickinson.
Previous hosts of The Reality TV Awards have been Michelle Visage of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Matt Iseman of American Ninja Warrior and winner of The Celebrity Apprentice and RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race, Jonathan Bennett of Cake Wars and Celebrity Big Brother, Melissa Peterman of Worst Cooks in America: Celebrity Edition and 25 Words or Less, Rachel Reilly of Big Brother and Amazing Race fame and Renee Young of Total Divas and WWE Raw.
Executive Producers Kristen Moss and Andrew Ward started ARTAS in 2011 to support, examine and redefine the art of reality in media by rewarding excellence, encouraging experimentation and recognizing that the public is the heart of our industry. The American Reality TV Awards embrace the spirit of fun and camaraderie which is an inherent part of what makes this industry great. The awards value the rich diversity of programming that puts reality on the leading edge of entertainment.
- Follow the American Reality TV Awards on social media at @RealityAwardsTV or trend #TheARTAS For general information visit www.TheArtas.com or email info@TheARTAS.com
- For talent inquiries, please contact the Co-EP and Head of Talent, John Barra at John@TheARTAS.com For business inquiries and sponsorships: sponsorship@TheARTAS.com