2026 Radio Mercury Awards Winners Announced

RADIO ONLINE | Wednesday, June 3, 2026 | 11:54pm CT

Radio Mercury Awards

Progressive Insurance and Arnold Worldwide captured the Best of Show honors at the 2026 Radio Mercury Awards, which celebrated excellence in radio and audio advertising during the competition's 35th annual awards presentation at Sony Hall.

The winning campaign, "Truckers Unite the World," earned the night's top recognition in a competition that honors creative achievement across broadcast radio, streaming audio, podcasts and integrated audio campaigns. The Radio Mercury Awards remain the only major creative competition dedicated exclusively to radio and audio advertising.

"This evening is a celebration of the creativity, storytelling and innovation that continue to make radio and audio one of the most powerful mediums in advertising," said Mike Hulvey, President and CEO of the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) and Chair of the Radio Creative Fund. He noted that the awards continue to showcase the industry's best ideas and craftsmanship after 35 years.

The 2026 competition was led by Chief Judge Danny Gonzalez, co-founder and co-chief creative officer of Bandits & Friends. Gonzalez praised the quality of this year's entries, saying strong writing remained the defining element among the top submissions.

In addition to recognizing creative excellence, Liberty Mutual Insurance was named the 2026 Radio Marketer of the Year for its longstanding commitment to radio advertising and the success of its widely recognized sonic branding campaign featuring the "Liberty, Liberty, Liberty, Liberty" jingle. Jenna Lebel, Chief Marketing Officer of U.S. Retail Markets, accepted the award on behalf of the company.

The awards ceremony was hosted by nationally syndicated personality Angela Yee, host of "Way Up with Angela Yee." Additional presenters included Audacy's Shelley Wade, Skyview Networks' Erik Zachary and Connoisseur Media's Anna Zap.

Among the category winners, iHeartMedia Studio55 earned multiple honors, including wins for promotional spots "Swampazookeedooks" and "Kaitlyn Imani Whitaker," as well as the campaign "Kid Free Sailing" for Virgin Voyages. Arnold Worldwide also won several awards for Progressive Insurance campaigns, including "Bench Press," "Bad Team Protection," and "French Press."

Other notable winners included Audacy Studios for WCCO's "Deep State Fair," Zimmer Communications for the "Play It or Plunge It" campaign, University of Kentucky for the student-produced script category, and Amazon XCM for "Save the Everyday: Laura vs. Fruit Flies." Bandits & Friends won the Use of Radio/Audio Technology category for "Half Speed Radio" and shared a Sound Design award for Liberty Mutual's "Stay Awake Audio."

The 2026 Radio Mercury Awards were supported by a broad range of industry sponsors, including Hubbard Radio, Audacy, Cox Media Group, iHeartMedia, Nielsen, Skyview Networks, Triton Digital, Urban One, Zimmer Radio and Marketing Group, Katz Radio Group and others.