British Academy Television Award for Best Live Event

British Academy Television Award
Country	United Kingdom
Presented by	British Academy of Film and Television Arts
First award	1964
Currently held by	Eurovision Song Contest 2023 (2024)
Website	http://www.bafta.org/

The British Academy Television Award for Best Live Event is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs), the primary awards ceremony of the British television industry. According to the BAFTA website, the category is for "the television coverage of a live event."^[1]

The category has gone through several changes:

• An individual award (occasionally with nominees) named Best Outside Broadcasts was presented from 1964 to 1968 and in 1977.
• From 1986 to 1991, the category was merged with the Best News Coverage category, being presented as Best News or Outside Broadcast Coverage.
• From 1995 to 1997 it was presented as Best Sports/Events Coverage in Real Time.
• In 1998 and 1999 it was awarded as Best Live Outside Broadcast Coverage.
• From 2012 to 2015, the category for sport evens was merged with the Best Sport category being awarded under the name Best Sport and Live Event.

a Since 2016, the category is presented as a stand-alone category, separate from the Best Sport category.

Winners and nominees

1960s

Best Outside Broadcasts

Year	Title	Recipient(s)
1964	Antony Craxton
1965	Dennis Monger
1966	The State Funeral of Sir Winston Churchill LSO - The Music Men	Peter Morley
	Men Against the Matterhorn Cup Winners Cup Final: "West Ham v Munich" England v Scotland	Alan Chivers, Walther Pluess
	The Lying-in-State and The State Funeral of Sir Winston Churchill NATO Conference Festival of Remembrance at Cenotaph	Antony Craxton
	Victory in Europe - 20 Years After Half Time Britain Science Special Challenge Tomorrow's World	Glyn Jones
1967	Grandstand: "World Cup"
1968	Alan Chivers, Christopher Brasher

1970s

Best Outside Broadcasts

Year	Title	Recipient(s)
1977	1976 FA Cup final
	Match of the Day
	St Nicholas Cantata	Margery Baker
	The State Opening of Parliament
	Wimbledon 1976

1990s

Best Sports/Events Coverage in Real Time

Year	Title	Recipient(s)
1995	The Grand National	Keith MacKenzie, Martin Hopkins
	Arnhem 50th Anniversary: Out of Ammunition	Michael Begg
	D-Day Remembered: Beaches of Normandy and the Bayeux Service of Remembrance	Neil Eccles, Stephen Morris
	UEFA Cup: "Aston Villa v Inter Milan"	Mike Inman, John Watts
1996	VE Day Coverage	Peter Hylton Cleaver, Neil Eccles, Philip S. Gilbert and Team
	Cheltenham Gold Cup	Jane Garrod
	Super Sunday: "The Final Day of the Premiership"	Andy Melvin, Tony Mills
	VJ-50 Live: The Final Tribute	Neil Eccles, Simon Betts, Philip S Gilbert
1997	BBC1 Euro '96 Coverage	Niall Sloane, Vivien Kent
	Formula 1 Grand Prix Racing	Jim Reside, Keith MacKenzie
	Monday Night Football	Andy Melvin, Tony Mills
	Remembrance Sunday: The Cenotaph	Peter Cleaver

Best Live Outside Broadcast Coverage

Year	Title	Recipient(s)
1998	Sky Rugby Union	Martin Turner
	The Grand National	Malcolm Kemp, Martin Hopkins, Dave Gordon
	Hong Kong Handover: The Final Moment	Philip Gilbert, Neil Eccles, Geoff Wilson and the BBC Events Production Team
	ITV Coverage of the Grand Prix	Neil Duncanson, Keith McKenzie
1999	Channel 4 Racing: "Derby Day"	Andrew Franklin, Denise Large
	The Eurovision Song Contest	Guy Freeman, Geoff Posner
	The Football World Cup Final Programme	Paul McNamara, Niall Sloane
	World Cup '98: "England v Argentina"	Jeff Farmer, Rick Waumsley, John Watts

2010s

Best Sport and Live Event

Year	Title	Recipient(s)	Broadcaster
2012	The Royal Wedding		BBC One
	Frankenstein's Wedding: Live in Leeds	Meredith Chambers, Pat Connor, Richard Fell, Eleanor Moran	BBC Three
	Rugby World Cup Final	Phil Heslop, Paul McNamara, Tony Pastor, Roger Pearce	ITV
	Tour de France 2011	Steve Docherty, Gary Imlach, James Venner, Carolyn Viccari	ITV4
2013	The London 2012 Paralympic Games		Channel 4
	The London 2012 Olympics: "Super Saturday"		BBC One
	The London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony: Isle of Wonder
	Wimbledon 2012: "Men's Final"
2014	The Ashes 2013: "1st Test, Day 5"		Sky Sports
	Wimbledon Men's Final		BBC One/BBC Sport
	Glastonbury 2013		BBC
	Bollywood Carmen Live		BBC Three
2015	WW1 Remembered – From the Battlefield & Westminster Abbey		BBC Two
	2014 FA Cup Semi Final: Hull City v Sheffield United		BT Sport 1
	Monty Python (Mostly) Live: One Down, Five to Go		Gold
	Tour de France, 2014, Stage 1	Steve Docherty, Carolyn Viccari, James Venner, Gary Imlach	ITV

Best Live Event

Year	Title	Recipient(s)	Broadcaster
2016	Big Blue Live		BBC One
	The Sound of Music Live!		ITV
	Stargazing Live: "Brit in Space, Tim Peake Special"		BBC Two
	The Vote	David Clews, James Graham, Tony Grech-Smith, Josie Rourke	More4
2017	The Queen's 90th Birthday Celebration		ITV
	The Centenary of the Battle of the Somme: Thiepval		BBC One
	Shakespeare Live! from the RSC		BBC Two
	Stand Up to Cancer		Channel 4
2018	World War One Remembered: Passchendaele		BBC Two
	ITV News Election 2017: The Results		ITV
	One Love Manchester		BBC One
	Wild Alaska Live
2019 [2]	The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance		BBC One
	Open Heart Surgery: Live		Channel 5
	The Royal Wedding: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle		Channel 4
	Stand Up to Cancer	Suzi Aplin, Andrew Charles Smith, Murray James, Gabe Turner

2020s

Year	Title	Recipient(s)	Broadcaster
2020 [3]	Blue Planet Live		BBC One
	Election 2019 Live: The Results		ITV
	Glastonbury 2019		BBC Two
	Operation Live		Channel 5
2021 [4]	Springwatch 2020		BBC Two
	Life Drawing Live!	Emyr Afan, Sally Dixon, Josie d'Arby, Lachlan Goudie, Diana Ali, Nicky Philipps	BBC Four
	The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance		BBC One
	The Third Day: Autumn		Sky Arts
2022 [5]	The Earthshot Prize 2021		BBC One
	The Brit Awards 2021		ITV
	The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance		BBC One
	Springwatch 2021		BBC Two
2023 [6][7]	Platinum Jubilee: Party at the Palace		BBC One
	Concert for Ukraine	Guy Freeman, Richard Valentine, Anouk Fontaine, Tom Cuckson, Laura Djanogly, Jen Bollom	ITV
	The State Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II		BBC One

Best Live Event Coverage

Year	Title	Recipient(s)	Broadcaster
2024 [8]	Eurovision Song Contest 2023		BBC One
	The Coronation Concert		BBC One
	Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance
2025 [9]	D-Day 80: Tribute to the Fallen		BBC One
	Glastonbury 2024		BBC Two
	Last Night of the Proms

• Note: The series that don't have recipients on the tables had Production team credited as recipients for the award or nomination.

References

1. "Rules and Guidelines" (PDF). British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
2. "Nominations announced: Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards and British Academy Television Craft Awards in 2019". www.bafta.org. 2019-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
3. Kanter, Jake (2020-07-31). "BAFTA TV Awards Winners: Night Of Surprises, As 'Chernobyl' & 'The End Of The F***ing World' Take Two Prizes Each". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
4. "BAFTA TV 2021: Nominations for the Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards and British Academy Television Craft Awards". www.bafta.org. 2021-04-28. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
5. "Bafta TV awards 2022: full list of nominations". The Guardian. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
6. Ritman, Alex (22 March 2023). "BAFTA TV Awards: 'This is Going to Hurt,' 'The Responder' Lead Pack of Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
7. "Bafta TV awards 2023: the full list of winners". Guardian. 14 May 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
8. Szalai, Georg (March 20, 2024). "BAFTA TV Awards: 'The Crown,' 'Black Mirror' Lead Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
9. Richardson, Hollie (27 March 2025). "Bafta TV awards 2025 nominations: full list". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 March 2025.

External links

• List of winners at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts