News

Publicists for Max’s hit medical drama “The Pitt” took the top prize, Campaign of the Year, at the 3rd annual Tpec Awards, honoring publicity campaigns across television and streaming. The ceremony was held Wednesday night.

“The Pitt” publicity team also landed the prize for New Drama Series, making the show the night’s top winner with 2 awards.

Meanwhile Chris Ender, executive VP and head of communications for CBS, won the Ben Halpern Lifetime Achievement Award. Variety executive editor Michael Schneider won the Press Impact Award Recipient, presented for the first time in 2025.

The ceremony’s Rising Star awards were presented to MGM+ publicist Lauren Dundee, Amazon MGM Studios publicist Charlotte McManus and Disney branded television and Freeform senior publicist Leah Palacios. The award honors early career publicists.

Read on for the full list of competitive winners at the 2025 Tpec awards.

Campaign of the Year – The Pitt

Returning Drama Series...

Tpec (Television Publicity Executive Committee) has announced the recipients of the annual 2025 Tpec Awards, honoring publicity campaigns across television.

The Tpec Awards were held in Los Angeles, where the ceremony recognized individual achievement, including this year’s Ben Halpern Lifetime Achievement Award to Chris Ender, the executive VP and head of communications at CBS, and the inaugural Press Impact Award to Michael Schneider, Variety‘s executive editor, television.

The Tpec Awards spotlights programming campaigns and publicity from every genre and platform. Campaigns were entered by publicity teams around the world from broadcast networks, cable channels, streamers, and studios, including ABC, CBS Studios, Comedy Central, Crunchyroll, Disney Channel, Disney Jr., Disney+, Fox, FX, Hallmark, Hulu, Lifetime, Max, MTV, National Geographic, NBC, Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock, Prime Video and Showtime.

“With more submissions than past years, every campaign entered reflected an incredible range of creativity, innovation, and strategy from across all platforms,” said Tpec chair Wendy Zocks,...

Sam Witwer, Sam Huntington, and Meaghan Rath discuss Being Human Season 2, which premieres Monday, January 16 at 9 Pm Et on Syfy

Syfy is bringing back its hit genre series Being Human, which premieres Season 2 on Monday, January 16 at 9 Pm Et. Series stars Sam Witwer, Sam Huntington, and Meaghan Rath recently held a conference call to discuss the new season. Here's what they had to say below.

I wanted to ask you guys just I know if you could just talk a little bit about what it's been like to film season two and maybe touch upon some of the bigger things people see happening with, like you guys to go back to the set for season two and how it's different to play these characters in the second season.

Sam Huntington: Sure, we loved the show so much, I think I can speak for all of us when I say...

Every week we pick the gays who we think have made the biggest splash in television and leave it to you, the keepers of the flame, to decide who will be crowned Gay of the Week. We'll announce the winner in Friday's Bgwe column, and that champ will reign until a new set of challengers are introduced the following week to try to steal his title.

Last week Oliver Fish from One Life to Live took the crown for his angsty coming out scene. But this week he's been busy on the periphery with police work, and a slew of reality show personalities have crowded out the field: We've got a gay Idol finalist and his groom, a harried Project Runway contestant, the most successful gay Big Brother housemate ever, and a guy who literally "danced his ass off" (well, at least 90 pounds of it).

Check them out after the break,...

Jim Verraros is keeping things civil. Chief among them, his union to his entrepreneur partner of four years, Bill Brennan. The American Idol alum, who finished ninth during the reality hit's maiden season, swapped vows with Brennan at the Oak Brook Hills Resort in Illinois (where, incidentally, same-sex marriages are not recognized) in a unity sand ceremony. The event, the lead-up to which was chronicled on the duo's wedding website, took place outdoors in front of 174 guests, with the fathers of both the 26-year-old singer and his partner serving as best men. During the ceremony, the couple, along with family members, took turns pouring individual glasses of colored sand into a large communal...

Former American Idol finalist Jim Verraros has married his boyfriend in an outdoor ceremony in Illinois, according to People. The singer, who finished ninth in the first season of the Fox show, tied the knot with entrepreneur Bill Brennan at the Oak Brook Hills Resort on Sunday. "Every little choice reflected who we are. It was the most beautiful day," said Verraros. "Gay marriage is not legal in Illinois, but we wanted the day to be a reflection of our love and commitment to each other as well as a statement to other gay (more)...

From the matching Tom Ford bowties to the unity sand ceremony to the 10-ft. ice sculpture bar, the wedding of American Idol's Jim Verraros to entrepreneur Bill Brennan on Sunday was planned down to the last detail. "Every little choice reflected who we are," says Verraros, who finished ninth on Idol's first season. "It was the most beautiful day." The couple, who wed at the Oak Brook Hills Resort in Illinois, exchanged self-penned vows under dragonwood trees decorated with white hydrangeas, orchids and roses. The singer, 26, in a tuxedo by Ermenegildo Zegna and shoes by Christian Dior, walked down...

Season one "American Idol" contestant Jim Verraros is making a statement by getting married to his boyfriend -- in Illinois. The top 10 finalist and boyfriend Bill Brennan will tie the knot in the state where they live, despite the fact that Illinois does not recognize same-sex marriages. "Sadly it isn't legal in Illinois yet," Jim blogs. "But we're hopeful that the time is near. Jim and Bill met back in 2005. The wedding will take place this weekend in Oak Brook, Il.

[Read full story on The Insider]...

Former American Idol contestant Jim Verraros has announced that he is planning to marry his boyfriend Bill Brennan. The singer, who appeared in the first season of the Fox reality show, has been dating Brennan for the past four years after they met on MySpace. Writing on the couple's wedding website, he said: "This wedding is a culmination of our lives so far, and our lives from this point onward. "It is so imperative (more)...

If you're holding on to a reality star crush and wondering if you should just go for it and send them a message on MySpace or Facebook or Twitter or FacespaceTwitplace, give it a shot: Communicating with an American Idol star worked for Bill Brennan, who's marrying first-season finalist Jim Verraros this weekend. On their wedding web site, Jim's about-to-be husband Bill Brennan, who's 43, explains how they met on MySpace four years ago: "I... keep reading » » read the full story and comment, or find the latest news about American Idol

» follow reality blurred on Twitter and on Facebook.