Days after its copious Gemini Award nominations, cbc emerged the top Canadian winner at the Jan. 16 New York Festivals International Television Programming & Promotion competition, taking home three golds, two silvers and five bronzes at the gala cap to natpe.

All in all, Canadian companies came away with 22 medals – nine gold, six silver and seven bronze. A record 2,185 entries were submitted for competition this year, representing 590 tv production companies, broadcast and cable networks and tv stations from 39 countries.

On the gold list are J.M. Story Productions’ Captive Heart: The James Mink Story, which got the nod in the prestigious top tv movie/drama special category.

Garnering gold for cbc were Your Vote ’96 for best news documentary, On the Road Again for top human relations series, and Newswatch CBC Montreal for ‘Citybeat Richard iii’ in the tv news inserts category.

Other gold winners include George Ungar’s The Champagne Safari for top biography, Keg Productions’ Buck Staghorn’s Animal Bites as the best variety series, YTV Canada in the news promotion category for ‘YTV News Move Ya/Speed’, Victoria’s CHEK 6 TV’s ‘Real/Honest/ Campaign’ for station-image promotion series, and Big Star Motion Pictures for best music video with Windows To the Past.

Silver awards went to Nelvana/Great North Productions’ Jake And The Kid for top family series, Barna-Alper Productions’ The Tenure of Dr. Fabrikant in the politics category, Rhombus Media’s Falling Down Stairs/ Struggle For Hope for best performing arts series and u.tv’s Three Stories From Beyond The T17 Fringe in the human-interest category.

Carol Reynolds Productions’ Golden Will: The Silken Laumann Story took bronze for top drama and access’ Opportunities for You garnered the same prize in the young adult special category.

Of the 78 gold medals handed out, 54 were captured by American companies, nine went to Canada, four to the u.k., and three each to Australia and Germany. Brazil, Hong Kong, Spain, the Netherlands and the Philippines were awarded one apiece.

Overall, a&e and Discovery Channel emerged as the top winners at the 39th annual competition with five Gold World Medals each. hbo followed with four and cbc tied for third with espn and The Learning Channel.