MONTREAL — The Banff World Television Festival has established a new prize to recognize French-language TV.

Open to Canadian and international French-language projects, the best francophone grand prize will be handed out at the annual Banff World Television Awards on June 9.

‘Francophone programs play a vital role in the diversity of television content and programs produced around the world,’ said the executive director of the festival, Peter Vamos, in a statement.

Unlike that of English Canada, the television industry in Quebec has been thriving for over five decades. Most of its top 30 programs are made in Quebec for a domestic audience. The province has also set world records for watching its homegrown fare such as La petite vie, which drew more than 3.5 million viewers at the peak of its popularity. Formats developed here, such as Guy A. Lepage’s Un gars et une fille (A Boy and a Girl) have been exported around the world.

The deadline for submissions to is Feb. 16. The awards, also known informally as the Rockies, honor excellence in international television, covering all major genres in over 23 categories.