Clare Balding Wins Special BAFTA Award

And local resident Steve Boulton gets BAFTA for Digital Creativity in C4's Paralympics coverage

The BAFTA season has brought success to two residents of Chiswick. Popular sports and television presenter Clare Balding is to be honoured for "outstanding achievement in factual presenting" at this year's TV Baftas "in appreciation of her incredible dedication to presenting across entertainment and sporting events".

And Steve Boulton (below on right) has already received a BAFTA for Television Craft for his contribution to Digital Creativity as part of Channel Four's coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

The award honours the collaborative achievement of his company deltatre, C4, and 13strides for "multiplatform" coverage of the Paralympics. The team provided all of C4’s on-screen TV social media – including athlete and audience tweets, polls, photos and trending information.

Steve Boulton, deltatre’s Creative Director, acted as Executive Editor for the Games with responsibilities spanning Editorial, Innovation and Digital Service provision. He said; ‘Having influence across the full breadth of C4’s digital offering, including their technical solution, provided an agility which allowed us to achieve much more than would normally be possible. 

‘We are very proud to have been trusted with delivering Channel 4’s Paralympic vision. To be recognised by BAFTA for our Digital Creativity is a tribute to a brilliant and wonderfully committed team.’

Announcing the special BAFTA award for Clare Balding, TV committee chairman Andrew Newman said her work covering London 2012 - on the BBC for the Olympics and on Channel 4 for the Paralympics - had made her "a national treasure".

"She is a trusted and intelligent live presenter with an ability to transcend genre and we're delighted to honour her contribution to television," he added.

A delighted Balding said she "may not stop smiling until the night". Graham Norton will present the awards on May 12th at London's Royal Festival Hall.

Previous recipients of the factual presenting special award include Jon Snow, Andrew Marr, Jeremy Paxman and Kate Adie. The special BAFTA was last presented in 2006 to Jamie Oliver.

Clare Balding has lived in Chiswick for several years with her partner, broadcaster Alice Arnold. Her childhood memoir, My Animals and Other Family is currently a best-selling book.

May 1, 2013