NEW: Crime Thriller Awards from ITV3

From Marketing Week:

'ITV is launching Crime Thriller Awards in a bid to boost the profile of the ITV3 brand. The event, which will be supported by a major advertising push, will be held in London and will focus on UK and international crime fiction from film, TV and books.

The awards, which will take place in the autumn, will be televised on ITV3 and the channel will run six weeks of crime dramas in the run up to the event.

An ITV spokesman says: "This is about getting the ITV3 brand out there. We are looking to associate the channel with quality crime fiction."

The award categories will include a breakthrough prize for a new crime author. The awards will also focus on the best crime TV and films of the year. Each award will be presented by a celebrity with a connection to crime fiction.

The crime dramas shown in the run up to the awards will begin with a specially-commissioned documentary profiling the "best" crime writers working today. The six authors who have been chosen are Colin Dexter, Ian Rankin, PD James, Lynda La Plante, Val McDermid and Ruth Rendell.

ITV3 viewers will then be able to vote for the authors to select which one will win the first ITV3 Award for Classic TV Crime Drama. The documentaries will introduce the viewers to the personalities behind the shows and their writing methods. Each documentary will be followed by episodes of the crime shows that were penned by the writers.'

Nice one!

UPDATE 20:28: there's more on this at The Bookseller.  Apparently there's a launch event at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival in July.