Winners of the first ever Publisher Podcast Awards announced

Media Voices are delighted to reveal the winners of the inaugural Publisher Podcast Awards, following the ceremony last night at Proud Cabaret City, London.

The awards are a celebration of the podcasting success of publishers and media organisations, whether they’ve been in the podcasting space a while, or have just launched their first one.

From over 120 entries and an exceptionally strong shortlist of 77 podcasts, our judges marked the podcasts on a range of factors, including production quality, continuity, how well the podcast reflected the publisher’s brand, and growth strategy.

Winners

Best B2B Podcast: The Digiday Podcast, by Digiday Media

Best Brand Publisher Podcast: Bestseller, by Reedsy

Best Branded Podcast: Healthy For Men Podumentary Series, by The River Group and Holland & Barrett

Best Entertainment Podcast: The Pilot TV Podcast, by Bauer

Best Health & Wellbeing Podcast: In The Moment Magazine, by Immediate Media

Best Lifestyle Podcast: olive magazine podcast, by Immediate Media

Best Local & Community Podcast: 16 Shots, by WBEZ Chicago and the Chicago Tribune

Best News & Current Affairs Podcast: The Week Unwrapped, by Dennis Publishing

Best Science & Medical Podcast: Nature Podcast, by Springer Nature

Best Specialist Podcast: History Extra, by Immediate Media

Best Sport Podcast: The Spin, by The Guardian

Best Technology Podcast: Crazy/Genius by The Atlantic

From these 12 category winners, the Media Voices team listened to them all and chose an overall winning podcast. It was one that exemplified the podcast as both a passion project and a product, as well as being a strong reflection of the publisher’s brand. This podcast also wins a digital promotion package thanks to headline sponsors DAX, from Global.

Publisher Podcast Of The Year: Crazy/Genius by The Atlantic

There was also an additional award announced on the night, to celebrate key individuals within the business driving best practice, seeking inspiration, and looking for new opportunities with the format. This special award, chosen this year by the Media Voices team, celebrates an individual within the industry who has gone above and beyond to demonstrate the value of podcasting to their organisation.

We looked for someone who has been vocal both inside and outside the industry about their podcasts, who is eager to make the technology and production processes beneficial to a publisher’s workflow, and who is a true inspiration to anyone looking to launch their first or their next podcast.

Winner: Christopher Phin, Head of Podcasts, DC Thomson

Esther Kezia Thorpe, co-founder: “It’s been really exciting to see the response to the Awards, both from publishers keen to get involved, and from the judges who have been blown away by the quality of the podcasts they’ve listened to. Our shortlisted podcasts were all superb, and the marks for many of the categories were very close. Both those on the shortlist and those who won should be extremely proud of what they’ve produced, and we’re looking forward to seeing how their strategies mature and evolve in the future.”

Peter Houston, co-founder: “Podcasting is the perfect medium for publishers and it’s been fascinating to listen in on all the different ways newspapers and magazines have responded to the podcasting challenge. If nothing else, our award’s shortlist is an incredible resource for other publishing organisations looking for inspiration. It has also been really satisfying to see the industry we cover week in, week out on our own Media Voices Podcast get behind the awards. 120 entries for a first-year event is absolutely incredible.”

Chris Sutcliffe, co-founder: “We were taken aback by both the quantity and quality of entries for this year’s awards. We knew there was a hunger for podcasting among audiences; we were delighted to see that publishers are amply fulfilling that need, and making podcasting a central column of their revenue strategies. As we said at the awards, the medium offers unparalleled opportunities to build direct relationships between journalists, creators and their audiences. At a time when trust and investment in brands are more vital than ever, the winning entries are demonstrating that it’s possible to use podcasting to connect with audiences on a more personal level than ever before.”

Entries for the Publisher Podcast Awards 2021 will open this coming September. Publishers interested in entering can subscribe to updates at https://publisherpodcastawards.com

About Media Voices:

Media Voices is a weekly look at all the news and views from across the media world, featuring leading figures from media and publishing businesses. The team behind the podcast take a common sense approach to media analysis, from the practices of journalism to deep dives into publisher business models.

The Media Voices team have recorded live at media events, featured in numerous roundups of the best industry podcasts, and have interviewed an impressive roster of guests from top organisations such as WIRED, The Economist, Facebook, CNN, The Times, Refinery29, the FT, and more.

For more information about the Publisher Podcast Awards, please contact esther [at] voices [dot] media.