The
Indian
Television
Academy
(ITA)
Awards
has
become
the
most
coveted
signet
for
merit
in
the
medium.
This
year,
it
completes
20
years
of
a
highly
celebrated
existence,
thus
becoming
the
only
television
award
to
complete
two
glorious
years.
The
20th
edition
of
the
prestigious
award
show
will
see
some
of
the
biggest
names
of
the
industry
who
are
set
to
come
together
to
celebrate
the
feat.
As
ITA
Awards
marks
20
years,
Anu
Ranjan
says,
"20
years
ago,
we
started
the
ITA
Awards
with
the
aim
of
bringing
the
entire
TV
fraternity
together
and
recognising
their
talents.
Back
then,
we
had
many
film
awards
but
no
award
functions
to
honour
TV
personalities.
It
has
been
two
decades
now
and
we
feel
overwhelmed
by
the
immense
love
and
appreciation
that
we
have
received
from
the
fraternity
and
the
audience
over
these
years.
Watching
the
ITA
Awards
grow
is
like
watching
your
baby
grow.
Looking
forward
to
many
more
decades
together."
The
various
awards
conferred
at
the
ITA
Awards
belong
to
eclectic
categories
which
include
Best
Actor
Popular,
Best
Actress
Popular
along
Best
Show
Popular
with
awards
in
the
drama,
the
comedy,
the
historical/mythological
and
horror/thriller
genres.
Along
with
fiction,
the
ITA
Awards
recognises
the
best
talent
in
the
field
of
non-fiction
which
constitutes
Best
Reality
Show,
Best
Anchor
-
Music/Film
Based
Show,
Best
Music/Film
Based
Show,
Best
Talk
Show
Anchor,
Best
Game
Show
Host,
Best
Game
Show,
Best
News
Anchor
and
Best
News
Show,
among
others.
A
special
GR8!
Performer
Of
The
Year
Award
is
also
conferred
to
the
best
male
and
female
TV
personality
of
the
year.
Technical
and
music
awards
are
also
an
important
part
of
the
show.
The
ITA
Awards
has
been
hosted
by
some
of
the
most
eminent
names
in
the
television
who
has
been
a
part
of
popular
fiction
and
non-fiction
shows
which
includes
the
likes
of
Smriti
Irani,
Ronit
Roy,
Gautam
Rode,
Karishma
Tanna,
Nakuul
Mehta
and
Manish
Paul,
among
many
others.
The
previous
edition
of
the
award
function
was
hosted
by
Aditya
Narayan.
In
2001,
the
Ranjans
envisaged
The
Indian
Television
Academy
with
the
cardinal
aim
of
building
bridges
amongst
the
disparate
sectors
of
this
medium.
They
became
the
first
ones
to
introduce
a
structured
system
into
the
unorganised
television
segment
to
provide
a
ready
platform
for
the
industry
to
meet,
interact
and
figure
the
future
landscape.
In
2001,
Anu
Ranjan
and
Shashi
Ranjan
founded
the
Indian
Television
Academy
(ITA)
Awards
to
garner
and
galvanise
the
entire
television
fraternity
under
one
umbrella.
The
ITA
Awards
was
launched
to
honour
personalities
of
the
highest
distinction
from
the
television
fraternity
which
assumed
the
throne
of
being
India's
maiden
television
awards
of
repute.
Over
the
years,
it
has
won
implicit
trust,
confidence
and
goodwill
from
the
TV
fraternity.