iHeartRadio Launches Podcast Awards
• iHeartMedia, described as “the No. 1 commercial podcast publisher globally with over 20,000 podcasts available on its platform,” announced the first annual iHeartRadio Podcast Awards to be held at the iHeartRadio Theater Los Angeles on Friday, January 18, 2019. The 90-minute live show will be hosted by three podcast pros: Holly Frey, co-host of Stuff You Missed in History Class; Charlamagne Tha God, co-host of the syndicated The Breakfast Club and the Breakfast Club and Brilliant Idiots podcasts; and syndicated stud Bobby Bones, host of the Country-focused Bobbycast and creator of the Nashville Podcast Network. The event will also include a live-stream hosted by Mario Lopez.
The first-ever major live awards event voted by the listeners to honor the very best in podcasting will span 22 categories and honor the most entertaining and innovative podcasts of 2018, while giving listeners the opportunity to decide the winners in 17 of the 22 categories — nominees for Podcast of The Year include Atlanta Monster, Dirty John, Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History, The Joe Rogan Experience, Radiolab, Serial, Slow Burn, Stuff You Should Know, The Daily and The Habitat.
Conal Byrne, recently named President of iHeartMedia’s Podcasting Division, said, “The iHeartRadio Podcast Awardswill provide a forum to celebrate the high-caliber, creative content that has made podcasting a major new audio category — and that truly reflects America’s favorite podcasts, voted by the listeners themselves. We look forward to hosting this transformative, annual event and encouraging everyone in the podcasting industry to push the envelope and inspire even more creators in this space.”
Bob Pittman, Chairman & CEO of iHeartMedia, Inc., commented, “The podcasting space is on fire and we are excited to recognize its leaders, as decided by the fans and a panel of industry creatives and experts. We are delighted to use our expertise with events and awards shows to build the first major industry awards show for podcasts, to use our unparalleled size and scale to promote and market the event — and to include these great companies and luminaries in the celebration.”
Nominees include podcasts from all creators, distributors and platforms — not just those developed by or available on the iHeartRadio Podcast Network, and a panel of blue-ribbon podcast industry leaders, creatives and visionaries will determine the winner in five major categories: Podcast of the Year, Breakout Podcast, Best Branded Podcast, Best Social Impact from Podcast/Host and Podcast Innovator Award. Fans can vote for their favorite podcasts through January 6, 2019 online and via Twitter and Instagram. Visit iHeartPodcastAwards.com for a complete list of nominees and voting details. Winners will be announced during the live show and stream.
