TCA back to Beverly Hills for summer sesh

The Television Critics Assn. has secured its summer schedule.

Org, which has two confabs a year in which the networks tubthump its shows in front of a ballroom full of scribes, will be returning to the Beverly Hilton after two sessions at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena.

NBC will commence activities on July 27 while the cablers will close out the summer tour from Aug. 6-8.

July 31 has been set as the date for the TCA Awards, in which crix hand out trophies to those it believes fare best in the small-screen biz. In 2009, "Battlestar Galactica" was named program of the year, while "Mad Men" and "The Big Bang Theory" took home top drama and comedy awards, respectively.

The recently concluded winter TCA tour was chuck full of news, including the Conan O’Brien-Jay Leno fracas and Simon Cowell announcing he’s leaving "American Idol."