TCA cancels winter press tour

The Television Critics Association has canceled its winter press tour.

The group announced the news on Monday in a letter to members.

“As you know, Hollywood is in a deep contraction. While several streamers, networks, and studios committed, it was not enough for a full press tour,” Television Critics Association president Jacqueline Cutler said in the letter. “We wanted to be respectful of our members’ need to plan so, as a board, we decided on an early November deadline to make this decision.”

The Television Critics Association normally holds two press tours annually where journalists receive access to talent and television executives. The event takes place at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena, California.

“I want to stress something that members who attended last February and July already know – those were great tours,” Cutler said. “Executives I have talked with have been exceptionally positive about the last two press tours. More importantly, each stressed wanting to participate in the Summer 2025 tour, and we are already working toward that.”

The Television Critics Association was founded in 1979 as a nonprofit group designed to “enhance television criticism, reporting, and editing standards; promote accurate coverage; increase public understanding; and elevate television’s role in American culture.” There are currently about 250 members in TCA, according to the group website.

TCA “exists to serve its membership of full-time TV critics, most of whom do not live near the entertainment capitals of Los Angeles and New York,” reads the website. Of the press tours, the group says, “The twice-yearly TCA press tour represents an unparalleled opportunity to gain access to the people who make television. The reporting our members do at press tours creates story material year-round as well as valuable face-to-face contacts with network executives, producers, and actors.”

While the cancelation of the winter press tour was painted in the best light possible, it perhaps wasn’t entirely unexpected. After the summer tour, which was shorter than usual and didn’t have full network participation, The Hollywood Reporter published an expose about the annual event and its somewhat diminished status within the industry.

“Every time we submit to this, we find ourselves asking, ‘Why?’” one publicist, who didn’t put their name on the record, said to the outlet. “The minute we wrap one TCA, we’re asking ourselves if we really want to do it again.”

In addition to the press tour, the Television Critics Association also gives out annual awards. This year, winners included Jean Smart, Anna Sawai, “Shogun,” and “Hacks.”