2023 ACRAs – Eight for Nine

Nine Radio and Podcasts took home eight awards at the 2023 ACRAs including 4BC’s Laurel Edwards being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Edwards is the longest-serving female announcer in commercial radio history for the same shift and said:

“I never imagined I’d find myself in this incredible industry, and 30 years later, to be on this dream run, especially alongside my mates Gary and Mark, is truly an honour. 

Brisbane is where my heart beats, where the community flourishes, and where I’ve discovered immense joy in guiding and connecting with local listeners through life’s highs and lows – from the 4KQ days to our wonderful 4BC audience. Eight-year-old me, with a transistor glued to my ear, would be pretty impressed at where this journey has led. I’m immensely grateful and still a bit in shock.”

3AW’s Neil Mitchell won Best Talk Presenter for the eighth time and Best News Coverage for his reporting on the Victorian floods. Retiring at the end of 2023 and unable to attend the ACRAs due to being involved in Referendum coverage, he said of the awards:

“This is a tribute to a superb team and a super active and engaged audience which make the program sparkle. It’s a great honour to be stepping down from daily radio on top.” 

2GB’s Ben Fordham was named Best Current Affairs Presenter for a second time, Amie Meehan was Best News Presenter AM and Clinton Maynard received the Brian White Award for Excellence in Journalism (Metro).

Nine Radio’s sports coverage was also recognised with the Continuous Call Team (Darryl Brohman and Andrew Lucas from the CCT pictured above) awarded Best Sports Event Coverage for the 2022 State of Origin Decider, Matt White taking out the Best Podcast Producer (Show) for 9Podcasts’ Stories of Origin, while James Willis was awarded Best Radio Show Producer (Metro).

Managing Director of Nine Radio, Tom Malone said:

“I’m incredibly proud of all our teams across 4BC, 2GB, 3AW and 6PR. They set the standard every day for live and local radio – connecting with listeners and advertisers in a very powerful way. The recent evolution of ratings under GFK 360 shows that the future of streaming is talk radio.”