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iHeartMedia Announces Inaugural Podcast Awards
RADIO ONLINE | Monday, October 22, 2018 |
iHeartMedia will present its first annual live iHeartRadio Podcast Awards at the iHeartRadio Theater Los Angeles on Friday, January 18, 2019 at 8 p.m. PT. The first-ever major live awards event voted by the listeners to honor the very best in podcasting will span 22 categories and will celebrate the incredible talent and wide variety of leaders across the booming podcasting industry.
Hosted by Holly Frey, co-host of "Stuff You Missed in History Class," one of today's biggest history podcasts; Charlamagne Tha God, nationally-syndicated on-air host and co-host of "The Brilliant Idiots" and "The Breakfast Club" podcasts; and Bobby Bones, top Country radio host, multiplatform personality and host of the leading Country music focused podcast "Bobbycast" and creator of the Nashville Podcast Network, the event will run 90 minutes and will include a live audience with a live stream hosted by on-air and TV personality Mario Lopez. Presenters include Payne Lindsay ("Up & Vanished"), Aaron Mahnke ("Lore"), and Jake Brennan ("Disgraceland"), with more to be announced.
Since the introduction of podcasts more than a decade ago, the entertainment industry has seen a steady increase in listenership and popularity across the medium, with over 44 percent of Americans having listened to a podcast. Today, podcasts have twice the reach than all of satellite radio and the iHeartRadio Podcast Network has seen a nearly 200 percent year-over-year growth in podcast listening in the past year.
"Podcasting has roared onto the audio scene, creating the most excitement since the advent of streaming music services. The iHeartRadio Podcast Awards will 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," said Conal Byrne, President of iHeartMedia's Podcasting Division. "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."
The iHeartRadio Podcast Awards will honor the most entertaining and innovative podcasts of 2018 as well as celebrate podcast fans by giving listeners the opportunity to decide the winners in 17 of the 22 categories with podcasts "Atlanta Monster," "Dirty John," "Hardcore History," "Joe Rogan," "Radiolab," "Serial," "Slow Burn," "Stuff You Should Know," "The Daily" and "The Habitat" nominated for Podcast of the Year.
A panel of blue-ribbon podcast industry leaders, creatives and visionaries including Marc Smerling, "Crimetown"; Jake Brennan, "Disgraceland"; Alex Blumberg, Gimlet; Conal Byrne and Chris Peterson, iHeartMedia; Aaron Mahnke, "Lore"; Anya Grundmann, NPR; Max Cutler, Parcast; Owen Grover, Pocket Casts; Maggie Taylor, PRX; Chuck Bryant and Josh Clark, "Stuff You Should Know"; Holly Frey, "Stuff You Missed in History Class"; Donald Albright and Payne Lindsay, Tenderfoot TV; Sim Sarna, Unqualified Media; and Hernan Lopez, Wondery 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.
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