AACTA Awards brings back separate TV comedy and light entertainment categories for 2015

Entries are now open for the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) awards, with the awards splitting the previously combined award for best television comedy or light entertainment series into two separate categories.

The decision to separate the awards follows consultation with the Australian comedy community and aims to recognise the “considerable contribution of these two highly regarded television genres”.

At this year’s ceremony Todd Abbott picked up the award in the combined category for the Please Like Me series, featuring Josh Thomas, on ABC2, but was up against the likes of Gruen Nation for the award.

AACTA CEO Damian Trewhella said: “The innovation and depth of our Television screen industries has never been stronger: kicking off in February when over 5 million viewers tuned into local Australian drama – Seven’s INXS Never Tear Us Apart (2.8 million viewers), Nine’s Schapelle (1.9 million) and the premiere of ABC1’s third season of Rake (942,000), and Reality Television continuing its meteoric rise, this year’s AACTA Awards will be robustly contested.”