The Television Publicity Executives Committee is adding two new categories to its 4th Annual TPEC Awards — as well as naming its Rising Star Award after the late Robert Pietranton.
In addition to adding Outstanding Campaign for an International Series and Best Press Event for 2026, the Robert Pietranton Rising Star Award has been renamed in honor of the longtime Warner Bros. TV comms exec who died at 56 in November.
“We are thrilled to be honoring the creative and strategic work of our hard-working colleagues again this year,” TPEC chair Wendy Zocks said in a statement. “We continue to see an impressive selection of campaigns supporting a diverse range of content in an ever-evolving industry and we look forward to recognizing everyone’s amazing work. Our membership, without hesitation, agreed to rename the Rising Star Award after our beloved colleague Robert Pietranton.”
“Robert was revered throughout the industry for his expertise, professionalism, and integrity. He loved this business and was a mentor to so many. But most of all, to those who knew him best he’ll always be remembered for his unwavering kindness, decency, and generosity, which is why we’ve seen so many tributes celebrating what a special person Robert was,” Rebecca Marks, Warner Bros. TV Group EVP of publicity and communications, added. “All of us at WBTVG are thrilled he’s receiving this honor and touched that Robert’s memory will live on and inspire a new generation of publicists.”
Submissions for all 21 categories open on Dec. 15. They will then close on March 30, 2026, with voting set for April 2026 and winners revealed in June 2026.
Founded in 1992, TPEC is a non-profit organization that “fosters collaboration among senior communications professionals in programming across all platforms and studios. TPEC champions industry evolution, supports relationships between publicists and media, and develops the next generation of PR talent,” per a press release.
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