NPR to Receive Inaugural iHeartRadio Podcast Pioneer Award

RADIO ONLINE | Tuesday, November 13, 2018

NPR

NPR will be honored with the first-ever iHeartRadio Podcast Pioneer Award at iHeartMedia's inaugural iHeartRadio Podcast Awards on January 18 at 8pm PT at the iHeartRadio Theater in Los Angeles. iHR will recognize NPR as an innovative force in the creation of the podcasting industry and will pay tribute to the on-profit multimedia organization's contributions to podcasting's expanding role in today's popular culture.

NPR launched its first digital-only podcasting predecessor, "All Songs Considered," in April, 2000 and officially debuted NPR Podcasts in August, 2005 with a full slate of 174 programs, including 17 original podcasts. In less than a year, they reached 13 million downloads for all of its podcast programming and reached more than 80 million downloads by February, 2007. Today, NPR remains a leading podcasting publisher with over 40 active podcasts on topics ranging from the day's news to arts, culture and science, that reach a unique monthly audience of 16,386,000 (per Podtrac).

"When we decided to honor the biggest names in podcasting with our first awards show for podcasts, we knew we wanted to recognize NPR's unparalleled impact on how millions of listeners consume audio content," said iHeartPodcast Network President Conal Byrne. "We're thrilled to be able to honor their trailblazing efforts with our first-ever iHeartRadio Podcast Pioneer Award in January."

"We are honored to receive the Podcast Pioneer Award. Podcasts have been a major source of innovation for NPR," said NPR Senior VP/Programming and Audience Development Anya Grundmann. "They have given our reporters the chance to flex their storytelling muscles, pursue creative ideas and longer stories, and play with form in ways not always possible on a daily show. They have also helped us connect with listeners in new ways and helped us evolve our sound."

The iHeartRadio Podcast Awards 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. iHeartRadio Theater Los Angeles.

Hosted by Holly Frey, co-host of "Stuff You Missed in History Class," one of today's biggest history podcasts; Charlamagne Tha God, syndicated on-air host and co-host of "The Brilliant Idiots" and "The Breakfast Club" podcasts; and Country radio host Bobby Bones 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.

Fans can vote for their favorite podcasts through January 6, 2019 online and socially across Twitter and Instagram. Visit iHeartPodcastAwards.com for a complete list of nominees and voting details.