With shows like Survivor and the CSI franchise making it the most-watched network in the U.S., CBS Television will receive the Banff World Television Festival’s Outstanding Achievement Award.

According to a release from the festival, CBS has drawn more than 233 million primetime viewers to its 200 stations since the beginning of the 2005/06 television season, and boasts TV’s highest-rated daytime drama in The Young and the Restless, and the highest-rated news mag with the evergreen 60 Minutes, in addition to its primetime hits.

Armando Nuñez, Jr., president of CBS Paramount International Television, will accept the award at Banff on behalf of the broadcaster and longtime network boss Les Moonves.

Mesley wins Drainie

CBC reporter/anchor Wendy Mesley will receive ACTRA’s John Drainie Award at Banff this year for her lifetime of achievements in Canadian broadcasting.

As a broadcast journalist, Mesley’s career spans 30 years spent entirely at the Ceeb, having appeared on, hosted and/or anchored The National, Marketplace, Sunday Report and Undercurrents. She added to her large trophy case last year with her third best host Gemini Award for Marketplace.

The John Drainie Award – named for actor Drainie, who died in 1966 – has been presented to the likes of Pierre Burton, Wayne and Shuster, David Suzuki and last year’s recipient, Vicki Gabereau.

NHK to award best HD

Japanese public broadcaster NHK will present $25,000 cash for the best HD offering at the Banff World Television Awards with its President’s Prize.

The President’s Prize goes to the single program competing at Banff that best exemplifies the creative use of HD technology. This will be the sixth year the award has been presented. Last year, the prize went to Finland’s L’Enfant et les Sortileges (The Bewitched Child).

Innovative producer prize

Lions Gate Television and Maple Pictures will present their second annual Innovative Producer Award at Banff 2006, recognizing entrepreneurial excellence in an established Canadian producer.

The only major qualifications for the award are that the producer is Canadian and currently creating programming for a broadcaster. Even Canuck producers working and living abroad can apply. The winner will be selected by a jury of three, comprised of one Maple rep, one Banff rep and one member of the Canadian production or broadcasting community. The winner will be notified on June 1.

Last year, Toronto reality TV house Lone Eagle Entertainment and producer Michael Geddes won the $5,000 prize.

The Fellowships of the Springs

In addition to its participation at Banff with its Documart pitching competition, CTV continues with its CTV Fellowship Program, this year awarding 30 fellowships to emerging television professionals in advance of the fest, allowing them full registration to the event and access to all of its assorted industry bigwigs.

Fellowship recipients were informed of their selection in April, and chosen based on a four-page summary of their project, explaining why it is a good choice for Banff buzz, and providing budget and financing-to-date info, its content and intended audience. Financial need and producer status are also considerations, says Kerry Stauffer, director of Banff’s production and program competition.

‘The fellowships are intended for the development of emerging talent, but they are not for an absolute beginner, nor an established professional. It’s somewhere in the middle,’ says Stauffer. ‘We ask that everyone has at least one significant production credit, because we’re looking for people that can really benefit.’

Past fellowship recipients include directors John Fawcett (Last Exit) and Jeremy Podeswa (Carnivalé), and writers Hart Hanson (Bones) and Karen Walton (The Many Trials of One Jane Doe).

WIFT-T looks for one producer

This is the fourth year that Women in Film and Television – Toronto will present its WIFT-T Banff Mentorship Award, earmarked for an up-and-coming TV producer of aboriginal descent or a visible minority.

The award package includes full registration to the fest, $500 for travel to Banff, and professional coaching on the development and pitch of the recipient’s show idea. Last year’s winner was Tatyana Terzopoulos (SWAP-TV).