About Us
What is Reality?
Reality is any and everything we can experience and reflect upon. Reality is the everyday moments, great and small, from birth to death. Reality is the challenges, successes and failures of our shared experience. To experience the real is to know what it’s like to hope, to have faith, to be challenged, to love, know heartache and to reflect on the passage of time from youth to old age. Reality is found in exotic places, the homes of the elite, the kitchens of your local eateries, the halls of your schools and in your own backyard. The real is in the here and now.
Mission Statement
The American Reality Television Awards supports, examines and redefines the art of reality in media by rewarding excellence, encouraging experimentation and recognizing that the public is the heart of our industry. We embrace the spirit of fun and camaraderie which is an inherent part of what makes this industry great. We value the rich diversity of programming that puts reality in media on the leading edge of entertainment.
History
Executive Producers Kristen Moss and Andrew Ward started the American Reality Television Awards (The ARTAS ®) in 2012 to support, examine and redefine the art of reality in media by rewarding excellence, encouraging experimentation and recognizing that the public is the heart of our industry. The American Reality Television Awards embrace the spirit of fun and camaraderie which is an inherent part of what makes this industry great. The ARTAS value the rich diversity of programming that puts reality on the leading edge of entertainment. Joining a few months before the 1st awards began, John Barra, 2-time Daytime Emmy Award-winning producer for Jeopardy! serves as the showrunner and talent producer for all nine years.
“According to The Hollywood Reporter, in 2019 more than 75% of cable TV’s 25 highest rated original series were Non-Fiction shows. We’re excited to give our industry something to celebrate during these uncertain times,” said Moss & Ward.
Winners of note have been Ellen DeGeneres accepting for “Best Game Show” and Steve Harvey for “Best Host” in 2019; Leah Remini, recipient of “Reality Queen” in 2015 and “Best Host” in 2018, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, recipient of “Reality Crossover Talent” in 2016, Gordon Ramsay receiving “Best Host” in 2015 and RuPaul claiming “Best Host” over President Donald Trump in 2016. Deadliest Catch holds the longest winning streak in any single category: “Bad Ass Crew” four years in a row. Abby Lee Miller of Dance Moms has been the recipient of “Best Villain” from 2014-2016 and Pit Bulls and Parolees took “Feel Good Show” the past three years straight.
Constantly expanding and changing, the Reality Television Awards started a Humanitarian Award that eventually birthed the Reality TV Hall of Fame. President Donald Trump was the recipient of the “Humanitarian Award” in 2014 received on his behalf by The Apprentice & Celebrity Big Brother star Omarosa Manigault-Newman. Hall of Fame inductees also include Heidi and Spencer Pratt in 2015 and Janice Dickinson in 2016.
Past Reality Television Awards hosts have been Michelle Visage of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Matt Iseman of American Ninja Warrior, Jonathan Bennett of Cake Wars, Melissa Peterman of 25 Words or Less and Young Sheldon, Renee Paquette of WWE fame, Rachel Reilly of Big Brother, Amazing Race and our most recent host, Vivica A. Fox, illustrious and celebrated film and television star.
Follow the American Reality Television Awards on social media at @RealityAwardsTV or trend #TheArtas