Television and Radio Industries Club

The TRIC presidency is an honorary position that usually has a fixed term of one year. For the first few decades of its existence, TRIC presidents were drawn mainly from TV/Radio industry pioneers or the world of politics. The 1970s heralded a shift and marked a period which saw the appointment of numerous broadcast industry executives. The 1990s saw another shift with appointments from the world of popular entertainment. Notable holders have included Robert Maxwell, Michael Grade, Bob Monkhouse, Bernard Ingham and Tony Hadley[2][3]

Traditionally, the annual awards ceremony has taken place at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London, ever since the first Awards Lunch was held there in April 1969 when three awards were presented to Val Doonican, Kenneth Horne and The Forsyte Saga.[4] In 2021 due to COVID restrictions the awards were presented in September instead of their usual March fixture and at 8 Northumberland Avenue near Trafalgar Square with an accompanying livestream.[5]

Since 1992 it has been the honour of the TRIC president to host the awards ceremony, the only recent exceptions being the 2009 ceremony when Bill Turnbull stepped in on behalf of Sian Williams who was on maternity leave, and 2021 when Roman Kemp hosted in lieu of then president John Barrowman.[5]

Award winners from the twentieth century have included sports presenter David Coleman,[6] newscaster Jan Leeming[7] and long-running radio drama, The Archers.[8] The 2023 awards were sponsored by a number of notable companies including Humax, SES S.A., Samsung[9] and GB News, the latter of whom won awards at the ceremony that year.[10]

• The Television and Radio Industries Club