What's New July 31, 2023

A big, big thanks to our Judges, Sponsors, Contestants and You, our Readers

It’s time to wrap up the third annual Radio Today Podcast Awards.

As with any contest, you need some ingredients, starting with Contestants.

This year, entries were up 23 per cent on the year before and almost 50 per cent on the year before that. And entries have just closed for the inaugural radioinfo.asia Podcast Awards with winners to be announced at the Radiodays Asia conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in September.

You also need Judges.

Here’s what a few of them had to say about the conestants that were assigned to them.

President of Geller Media International, Valerie Geller, who works with more than 500 TV/Radio stations throughout the world, training broadcasters and podcasters to create powerful content and “NEVER BE BORING,” is also on the board of the prestigious New York Festivals International Radio Awards.

We have been honoured to have had Valerie play a major role in this year’s judging of the Radio Today Podcast Awards.

Here are her comments:

“While ALL of the entries were distinctive and powerful, each in their own ways… but, a thing I always listen for is, ‘can this host engage me in a subject about which I care not or have had no previous interest?’”

“And that happened with the TECH ZERO podcast.

“It immediately hooked me. The podcast features an interesting character and his failure to success story.
He invented a thing, but then ‘…nobody in the industry actually cared about a fix for lowering the cement industry’s carbon footprint.’

“Seriously—this is the story of a man who created a way of producing zero carbon building materials to reduce emissions for making steel iron ore. Yep. And it had effective visuals, ‘imagine a giant kiln inside a kiln…’

and audio clips that enhanced the storytelling…

“It also ticked so many of the boxes: Does it surprise you? Bring you on a unique journey? Do you learn something new? Do you laugh? Engaged? Not bored? And finally, Does it make you want to hear more? The answer for me was YES.

“Congratulations!”

Abe Udy is the founder of the audio production company Abe’s Audio which is a returning support sponsor of the RT Podcast Awards.

Originally specialising in production for radio, TV and online content, the business has expanded to provide podcast advice and production expertise. From start-up podcasts to well-established shows, Abe and his team have worked with podcasters large and small, helping them create shows their audiences love.

No prize for guessing which Award categories Abe was judging… here are his notes on some of the entries that really impressed him:

Madeline Joannou – Producer
Fantastic curation and development of the Mamamia ‘sound’.
Impressive & innovative use of binaural audio.

The Children In The Pictures

Brilliant, immersive audio production.

Compelling storytelling.

Tragic story.

… every parent needs to hear this!

Jess Rowe’s BIG TALK Show

Refreshing authenticity & vulnerability.

Nina Young

Impressive knowledge & multi-disciplinary skillset.

Jen Seyderhelm was most recently breakfast co-host with Paul Holmes at 2CA in Canberra and is currently a reporter with radioinfo.

Among her many talents, Jen freelances in providing services in Podcast Production, Design, Creation and Delivery. She’s also an experienced Educator in Broadcast, Podcast, Voiceover, Audio Editing and Writing for an Audio Audience as well as a Musicologist specialising in Australian Charting Hits from 1960 to current.

Jen says, “The stand-out podcasts for me were a surprise. I would never have listened to Under the Gloss with Phoebe Burgess but was so pleasantly surprised with how much her interview style, her guests and the production worked for me. It’s great.

“The biggest stand outs were in The Best Factual Audio Documentaries. If I could have put OPERATION ALLIANCE: the 2002 Bali Bombing and Sick as a Dog equally at No 1, I would have.

“I particularly want to mention OPERATION ALLIANCE because I’ve taken that podcast with me, telling others about what I heard and still thinking about it now. So much research, production time and empathy accompanies it. I could see it all in my head.

Caroline Winter was exceptional hosting Sick as a Dog too. Giving voice to the vet industry, which I had never thought about any deeper than lovely people who nurture my pets, it resonated more than I was expecting due to the quality behind the production.

If you haven’t already, you can meet all the judges here, here and here. Radio Today is grateful for their generosity in providing their time and expertise and genuine enthusiasm for helping grow podcasting in the audio sector.

Judging Process

Judging was done online using the Awards Force platform.

There were three judges assigned to each entrant, based on their expertise within the category.

None of the judges knew who the other two judges assigned to the same entrants were. Nor were they aware of the scores the others had given.

The major networks were invited to provide one representative to the judging panel. The number of judges appointed from any single company or entity was limited to just one, if they had one or more entries in the RT Podcast Awards – whether they were sponsors or not.

Judging assignments were allocated by the organisers to eliminate known conflicts such as voting for their own entries. And judges were encouraged to recuse themselves in the event of personal conflict.

We used a simple ranking system where each judge determined their top 5 picks from each category they were assigned, ranking them 1 – 5: 1 being first place and 5 being 5^th. As in golf, the lowest scores win. The lowest overall score in each of the Divisions – Major and Indie – were deemed the winners of the Radio Today Podcast of the Year Awards.

Winners in each of the Podcast categories (as opposed to the Individual or Organisation categories) as chosen by the Judges automatically became “finalists” in the RT Readers’ Choice Awards, together with the next 20 best scores that made the cut. Readers were able to cast two votes, one for their favourite podcast in the Major Division and the other in the Indie Division. The Judge’s winners and the Readers’ Choice winners were announced simultaneously to prevent one influencing the other.

Winners Certificates

All the winners, as well as the finalists, will be sent a certificate suitable for framing.

Hear, See all our winners Here and Here

Hail to Our Partners.

Awards such as these are incredibly intricate to stage with many moving parts. Without industry partners, entry fees would need to be far higher. Radio Today is grateful for the sponsorship our partners have provided.