New York — The British Broadcasting Corp. came up big at the International Emmy Awards, which were held in New York on Monday.

Three BBC programs took home awards at the ceremony: Arena: The Life and Times of Count Luchino Visconti (arts programming), Legend of the Lost Tribe (children and young people), and The Kumars at No. 42 (popular arts-scripted), which won for the second straight year.

Britain's Channel 4 won the trophy for best non-scripted popular arts program, for the game show Without Prejudice, and ITN won the prize for best news coverage for its reporting on the fall of Saddam Hussein.

The Danish Broadcasting Corp. won in the drama category for the second year in a row.

"This is just incredible, that a little spot in the TV world map like Denmark can win this twice," said Piv Bernth, who accepted the award for Nikolaj and Julie.

Last year, the Danish Broadcasting Corp. won its first International Emmy in the same category for the police drama Rejseholdet (Unit One).

Two German companies also won awards. One, for documentary, went to StarCred Media for Das Leben geht weiter (Life Goes On), about Nazi propaganda films. The second went to Westdeutscher Rundfunk Cologne for Mein Vater (Coming Home) in the movie or miniseries category.

A special award — the International Emmy Directorate Award — was given to BBC Director General Greg Dyke for outstanding achievement in television broadcasting.

Dyke thanked BBC employees "for the creativity, originality and sheer hard work they put in every day to enable the BBC to produce such a remarkable range of quality programs."

The U.S. cable TV network HBO won the special Founders Award for innovative programming.

The ceremony was hosted by Bob Costas at the New York Hilton Hotel. The presenters included Joanna Lumley, Lorraine Bracco, Sarah Jessica Parker and the Indian actress Simone Singh.

The International Emmy Awards, presented for the 31st time, honours the best in television from around the globe. The awards are presented by the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, whose board includes representatives from more than 60 countries.