At a gala celebration in Los Angeles tonight, TPEC (Television Publicity Executive Committee) announced the winners of the 2025 TPEC Awards, honoring standout publicity campaigns across television. The ceremony also recognized individual achievement, including the presentation of the prestigious Ben Halpern Lifetime Achievement Award to Chris Ender, Executive Vice President, Head of Communications, CBS, and the inaugural Press Impact Award to Michael Schneider, Executive Editor of Television at Variety.
Now in its third year, the TPEC Awards continue to celebrate excellence in programming publicity, with submissions spanning nearly every genre and platform. Campaigns were entered by leading publicity teams from broadcast networks, cable channels, streamers, and studios, including ABC, CBS Studios, Comedy Central, Crunchyroll, Disney Channel, Disney Jr., Disney+, FOX, FX, Hallmark, Hulu, Lifetime, Max, MTV, National Geographic, NBC, Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock, Prime Video, and Showtime.
In addition to campaign awards, three Rising Star Awards were presented to early-career publicists whose standout contributions signal a bright future in the industry:
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Lauren Dundee – MGM+, Publicist
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Charlotte McManus – Amazon MGM Studios, Publicist
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Leah Palacios – Disney Branded Television and Freeform, Senior Publicist
“With more submissions than past years, every campaign entered reflected an incredible range of creativity, innovation, and strategy from across all platforms,” said TPEC Chair Wendy Zocks, Founder of Wendy Zocks PR. “It’s inspiring to see the impressive work from our talented peers—plus the well-deserved recognition of industry icons Chris Ender and journalist Michael Schneider, who have both elevated our work and our stories and our Rising Star recipients who continue to help TPEC thrive.”
The evening also celebrated the team behind the overall “Campaign of the Year,” selected from among this year’s winning entries.
The winners of the 2025 TPEC AWARDS are:
Campaign of the Year – The Pitt
Returning Drama Series – Lioness – Season 2
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Kelly Andersen (Paramount Media Networks & MTV Entertainment Studios)
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Jamie Kekejian (Showtime / MTV Entertainment Studios & Paramount Media Networks)
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Kate Mann (Paramount+)
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Patrick Santiago (Paramount Global)
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Charli Wood (Showtime / MTV Entertainment Studios & Paramount Media Networks)
New Drama Series – The Pitt – Season 1
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Sarah Alcala (WBTV)
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Joslyn Martinez (WBTV)
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Kristi Strupinsky (WBTV)
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Allyson Weissman (WBTV)
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Courtney Brown (HBO Max)
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Ashley Mokma (HBO Max)
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Yari Romero (HBO Max)
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Lily Walker (HBO Max)
Returning Comedy Series – Only Murders in the Building – Season 4
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Yasamin Azarakhsh (Hulu)
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Emily Leitz (Hulu)
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Lydia McMahon (Hulu)
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Maura Wong (Hulu)
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Chris Kaspers (20th Television)
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Lilit Zakaryan (20th Television)
New Comedy Series – Nobody Wants This – Season 1
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Meg Masters (Netflix)
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Jennifer Tehrani (Netflix)
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Tiffany Zarabi (Disney)
Returning Unscripted Series- Secrets of the Octopus – Season 3
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Nadia Aziz (Nat Geo)
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Kate Squier (Nat Geo)
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Jennifer DeGuzman (Nat Geo)
New Unscripted Series – The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives – Season 1
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Lauren Burnett (Hulu)
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Lydia McMahon (Hulu)
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Maura Wong (Hulu)
Returning Genre Series – The Boys – Season 4
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Tamara Golihew (Prime Video)
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Akiva Griffith (Prime Video)
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Charlotte McManus (Prime Video)
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Alex Polansky (Prime Video)
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Summerlynn Powell (Prime Video)
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Lauren Grossman (Sony Pictures Television)
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Beth Haiken (Sony Pictures Television)
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Pilar Wafer (Sony Pictures Television)
Animated Series (Adult & Children) – Star Trek: Lower Decks – Season 5
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Nikki Kozel (CBS Studios)
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Cornelia Thomson (CBS Studios)
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Jennifer Verti (CBS Studios)
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Rachael Wesolowski (CBS Studios)
Television Movie – Holiday Touchdown: A Chief’s Love Story
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Maria Fischer (Hallmark Media)
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Alice Rao (Hallmark Media)
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Emily Robinson (Hallmark Media)
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Joanne Schioppi (Hallmark)
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Reid Spencer (Hallmark)
Limited or Anthology Series – Feud: Capote vs The Swans –
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Haley Baker (FX)
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Bill Brennan (FX)
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Susan Kesser (FX)
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Justin Sutton (FX)
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Chris Kaspers (20th Television)
Talk Show (Late Night/Daytime/Syndicated) – The Daily Show
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Ronnie Brumant, Comedy Central
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Parker Moreno, Comedy Central
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Nicole Platt, Comedy Central
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Imani Punch, Comedy Central
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Natalie Lee, Minassian Media
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Craig Minassian, Minassian Media
Documentary Movie / Limited Series- Jim Henson: Idea Man
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Katherine Nelson (Disney Branded Television)
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Amber Brockman (Freeform)
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Cara Freitas (Disney Branded Television)
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Syd Jean (Freeform)
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Amanda Kell (Freeform)
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Nick Rodea (Freeform)
Live or Taped Variety Show / Special – SNL 50th Anniversary
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Nikaila Dube (NBCUniversal)
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Kennedy Jirard (NBCUniversal)
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Lauren Manasevit (NBC Universal)
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Lauren Roseman (NBCUniversal)
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Sydona Roberts (NBCUniversal)
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Julianne Tarullo (NBCUniversal)
Ben Halpern Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient – Chris Ender, Executive VP, Head of Communications, CBS
Chris Ender oversees external and internal communications and media relations across all CBS divisions, including Entertainment, News and Stations, Sports and Studios, a role he has held since 2020. Since joining CBS in 1996 as vice president of media relations for CBS Entertainment, Ender has crafted communications strategies as the company transformed from a singular broadcasting company into one of the world’s leading multiplatform content creators. During that time, he also oversaw launch campaigns for shows that have built CBS into America’s Most-Watched Network and created the CBS Studios PR department, which supports a roster of more than 50 series. Ender is currently helping shape CBS’ communications strategies for Entertainment, News and Sports in a rapidly changing media landscape. He began his career as an account executive at Bender, Goldman & Helper public relations before later serving as vice president of media relations for Sony Pictures Television.
Press Impact Award Recipient – Michael Schneider, Executive Editor, TV, Variety
Michael Schneider is Variety’s Executive Editor, TV. He has been covering the business of television for nearly 25 years — most of that time at Variety. He also hosts “Screengrab,” a weekly segment about the TV industry, for KCRW. He was previously Executive Editor at IndieWire; the Chief Content Officer for TV Guide Magazine; and TV Editor at Variety and Daily Variety. Mike regularly moderates industry and TV show panels at events including Comic-Con, PaleyFest, HRTS, NATPE and others, and once won a staring contest with Jon Hamm on the Dolby Theatre stage. He’s a graduate of Northwestern University. Schneider is also the organizer and founder of The Great L.A. Walk, Los Angeles’ annual urban hike from downtown to the ocean, held the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
The TPEC Award committee conducted this year’s judging, evaluating the submissions with an eye on fully-realized, innovative and creative campaigns that made a cultural impact. The committee also considered work that thoughtfully embraced diversity and inclusion, overcame unexpected roadblocks and ultimately achieved press hits that met the goals and strategies. The committee was comprised of:
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Ryan Milling, Freelance
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Gabriella Alaimo, Freelance
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Brian Eley, Crunchyroll
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Kristen J. Hall, CBS Studios
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Ryan McCormick, NBCUniversal
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Lindsay Miller, Amazon MGM Studios
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Amy Prenner, The Prenner Group
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Shari Rosenblum, Disney Television Studios
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Dustin Smith, SMITHHOUSE
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Lakeitcha Thomas, Disney Television Studios
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Lynn Weiss, SMITHHOUSE
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Wendy Zocks, Wendy Zocks PR
About TPEC
TPEC (The Television Publicity Executives Committee) was created in the 1990s to foster collaboration among senior communications professionals across the television industry as they faced shared challenges, including changing technology and redefinition of media ownership regulations. Members are involved in all forms of programming publicity from networks, studios, streamers and agencies. TPEC is chaired by Wendy Zocks and executive committee members include Todd Beck, Irina Bobker, Brian Eley, Nancy Insua, Eileen Quast, Alice Rao, Joe Schlosser and Dustin Smith. Decades later, as the industry evolves at an unprecedented pace, TPEC continues to serve that purpose while fostering mutual understanding and positive working relationships between publicists and the media who cover the TV business and elevating the next generation of communications talent. The Los Angeles-based non-profit publishes the annual TPEC Guide, an invaluable resource that TV publicists use everywhere. For more information on TPEC membership or the Guide, please visit www.tpec.tv. Follow TPEC on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and LINKEDIN.
