The Forces broadcaster BFBS Radio wins The Special Award

Commercial win three of five Stations of  the Year

Scott Mills defeats Radio 1 rival Chris Moyles

95.8 Capital Radio’s Johnny and Lisa strike Gold

5 Live wins UK Station of the Year

Sir David Attenborough and Bono are winners, as are Zane Lowe and Dermot O’Leary

6 Music wins two Golds as Jarvis becomes a ‘Rising Star’

Monday 10 May 2010:  The gold, silver and bronze winners of the 28^th annual Sony Radio Academy Awards, the UK’s most prestigious radio accolades, were announced this evening at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, hosted by Chris Evans.  The event was also webcast live.   In addition to the 35 Award categories, The Special Award was given to the Forces broadcaster BFBS Radio with the legendary broadcaster, Trevor Nelson MBE, proving a popular recipient of this year’s Gold Award.  The Awards ceremony was a vivid reflection of the strength and depth of the UK radio industry.

The Special Award salutes the outstanding achievements of The Forces broadcaster BFBS Radio –‘in recognition of more than sixty years of radio broadcasting and in particular for its current commitment to our serving men and women both on, and behind, the front lines of international conflict. BFBS Radio has served its target audience with legendary success, not just here in the UK, but in most of the territories in which British Forces are currently serving providing a unique and impressive link between those serving abroad and their families here at home.’

Commercial radio had plenty of reasons to cheer, scoring a total of 12 golds, with notable wins for Moray Firth Radio in Station of the Year (up to 300,000), their fifth win in this category, KISS FM in the Station of the Year (1 million plus), Planet Rock scooped Digital Station of the Year and Radio City 96.7’s Euan McMorrow won  Station Programmer.

Radio 1’s Zane Lowe added more Sony gold to his trophy cabinet doing the double in Best Specialist Music Programme and Music Broadcaster of the Year. The judges agreed that: “(he) is an outstanding music broadcaster whose technical expertise serves to enhance his dynamic style.”

Dermot O’Leary also proved that he’s got the X Factor and claimed Best Music Programme for his Radio 2 show.

Absolute and Real both struck gold twice. Absolute defended their 2009 title for Best Live Event, this year with ‘Absolute Blur’ and Christian O’Connell reclaimed Best Competition with ‘Who’s Calling Christian’.  The Real Radio Group became the first winner of two new Sony Awards, with an outstanding win in Breakfast Show of the Year (under 10 million) for Real Radio Yorkshire’s ‘Dixie & Gayle, The Real Breakfast Show’ and triumphing in Best Promotional/Advertising Campaign with ‘Vote Joe’, for Real Radio North East.

Breakfast Show of the Year (10 million plus) proved to be sunny-side-up for Radio 4’s ‘Today’, with the judges commenting: “In a year of great social and economic upheaval, Today has risen to the challenge of being the country’s programme of record.”

Runner up Trevor Nelson, added his silver for ‘The 1 Xtra Breakfast Show with Trevor Nelson & Gemma’ to The Gold Award accolade he received for being ‘a true champion of Music Radio, a master of his craft and a role model for our times.  Heard on the UK’s airwaves for a quarter of a century and currently broadcasting regularly on Radios 1, 2 and 5 Live, his playlist remains as contemporary as ever. His work as a music industry professional and a committed broadcaster has ensured that his is a name that commands respect throughout the music world.’

One of the hottest rivalries in radio was settled, for the evening at least, as Radio 1’s Scott Mills took the gold for Music Radio Personality of the Year leaving Chris Moyles to collect silver. The citation noted that: “ (Scott is) on top form, laugh-out loud funny, cheeky, inventive and original.”

The 2010 Sonys have honoured a record number of women presenters: BBC Radio 4’s Jenni Murray, the doyenne of British radio, wins her first ever solo gold, for Best Interview, Lyse Doucet for BBC World Service wins the vote in the traditionally male-dominated News Journalist of the Year, regional powerhouse, BBC Radio Nottingham’s Frances Finn beat off stiff opposition to get the nod for Speech Radio Personality and 5 Live’s Victoria Derbyshire scored two silvers.  Lisa Snowdon won her first Sony gold for Best Entertainment Programme sharing the winners’ laurels with her Capital 95.8 Breakfast Show buddy, Johnny Vaughan.  The judging panel commented: “Great originality and a wonderful chemistry between the two hosts.”

A discernible thread running through this first Sony Awards of the new decade was television presenters and rock stars making their mark on radio and demonstrating their enthusiasm and talent for this most versatile medium.  So U2’s Bono brought his Midas touch to Radio 4 and won gold with his debut nomination for Best Music Special about Elvis, national treasure, Sir David Attenborough exchanged jungle khaki for black tie as he ascended the winner’s podium in the Speech Broadcaster of the Year category giving Radio 4 another golden moment, Jarvis Cocker won the Sony DAB Rising Star Award, voted for by listeners, for his 6 Music Show and Frank Skinner won silver for Absolute Radio in Best Entertainment Programme.

Stations the length and breadth of the country were honoured throughout the night, BBC Radio Derby won gold in the highly prestigious Station of the Year (300,000 – 1 million), diminutive Oxfordshire’s 106 JACK FM pipped KISS 100 to the winning post for Best Station Imaging and also took silver, as Radio Berkshire went gold with ‘The New Ballads of Reading Gaol’ in Best Community Programming.

Perennial Award nominees, 6 Music’s Adam and Joe,  finally got their hands on gold, winning Best Comedy.

Radio 3 upset the formbook by taking the honours for Best Drama, a play written by Jack Thorne titled ‘People Snogging in Public Places’, which focuses on attitudes to mental health.  ‘Alzheimer’s Tragedy’ was the subject of BBC Radio Ulster’s winning entry for Best Breaking News Coverage, illustrating what a powerful medium radio is in covering difficult and often sensitive issues.

Other golden moments included ‘Nihal on BBC Asian Network’ for Best Speech Programme, BBC Radio Scotland’s Sportsound for Best Sports Programme, talkSPORT’s Dear Stan for Best Single Promo/Commercial and Best Internet Programming went to Hackney Podcast, impressing the judges as: “just the type of targeted and locally orientated content that sets podcasting apart from conventional radio broadcasting.”

The blue riband award of UK Station of the Year went to 5 Live, with the judges citing:  “..a station at the top of its game with an enviable roster of skilled presenters.”

Tim Blackmore, Chairman of the Sony Radio Academy Awards said:

“Having been associated with these awards since their inception in 1983, I remain immensely proud to be part of an industry that continues to deliver high quality audio on an ever increasing range of platforms.  Radio is truly one of our most creative industries and the proof is in the work of this year’s gold, silver and bronze winners.”

Ex-Brit pop favourite and new BBC 6 Music regular, Jarvis Cocker has scooped this year’s Sony DAB Rising Star Award, established in 2008 to recognise new radio talent. The former Pulp front man turned successful solo star has been hosting the Sunday Service on BBC6 Music since January this year.

Presenters of the Awards included golden girl gymnast Beth Tweddle, Claudia Winkleman, Alistair McGowan, Louie Spence, Katie Melua, Danielle Spencer (aka Mrs Russell Crowe), Fiona Phillips, Shami Chakrabati, Kirsty Young, Anna Ford and Richard Madeley.

LBC 97.3’s Nick Ferrari breaks Sonys record with five nominations

Music Radio Personality contested by Chris Moyles, Scott Mills, and Christian O’Connell

Absolute Radio, talkSPORT and BBC Radio 5 Live contest Station of the Year

The nominations for the 28th annual Sony Radio Academy Awards, the UK’s most coveted radio honours, were announced this evening at a launch hosted by Heart 106.2’s Jamie Theakston, himself a nominee. The shortlists for the 35 Awards were presented live to guests drawn from all sectors of the industry, with Stations from around the country tuning in via the live webcast.  The Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards will be presented on Monday 10th May at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, and hosted by Radio 2’s new breakfast presenter, Chris Evans.

The last 12 months have again demonstrated what an important role radio plays in the cultural life of the UK and how its machinations and output creates passionate and heartfelt responses from its loyal listeners: whether it’s the comings and goings of DJ’s or the threatened closure of much loved stations or tackling difficult subjects with compassion and care.  The 2010 nominations celebrate a radio industry that is diverse, both creatively and geographically, is buoyant and brimming with a new-found confidence.  The 2010 Sony nominations also throws a spotlight on an exciting new generation of young broadcasters coming to the fore and challenging the more familiar presenters.

Nick Ferrari of LBC 97.3 is already a winner, receiving a record-breaking five nominations for Speech Radio Personality of the Year, Speech Broadcaster of the Year, Breakfast Show of the Year (10 million plus), Best Speech Programme and News Journalist of the Year.

The five blue riband Station of the Year Awards sees commercial radio dominating the short lists: Station of the Year (up to 300,000) is contested by Andover Sound, BBC Guernsey and Moray Firth. Station of the Year (300,000 – 1 million) sees Oxfordshire’s 106 JACKFM take on BBC Hereford & Worcester and BBC Radio Derby.  In the Station of the Year (1 million plus) BBC Radio Wales is challenged by rivals Kiss 100, the recipient of three nominations this year, and Real Radio Scotland.  Planet Rock, previous winner of Digital Station of the Year, receives some strong opposition from Absolute Classic Rock and BBC Radio 5Live Sports Extra.  The Absolute Radio brand crowned its strongest ever showing at the Sony nominations, a whopping eleven, by making the shortlist for the big one: Station of the Year, joined in battle by heavyweights, talkSPORT and BBC Radio 5Live.

This year is the first time that the fiercely contested Breakfast Show of the Year has been split into two, allowing the considerable power of local radio shows to be fairly reflected.  The Breakfast Show of the Year (10 million plus) nominees were both refreshingly eclectic and controversial for some notable big name absentees: last year’s Gold Winner, 5live Breakfast, gets a chance to defend its crown against Kiss Breakfast with Rickie, Melvin & Charlie, Nick Ferrari at Breakfast LBC 97.3, The 1Xtra Breakfast Show with Trevor Nelson & Gemma and Today, Radio 4.  The Breakfast Show of the Year (under 10 million) pits North versus South, with nods for BBC Radio Kent, Heart Sussex, BBC Radio Berkshire, Galaxy North East and Real Radio Yorkshire.

The 2010 nominations features a strong showing by women broadcasters, with  two nods each for 6 Music’s Lauren Laverne, Radio 4’s Jenni Murray and three for Radio 5Live’s Victoria Derbyshire.  Laverne will be fighting 6Music’s corner in The Best Music Programme taking on the Dermot O’ Leary Show Radio 2, In tune BBC Radio 3, The A-Z of Classic FM Music, Classic FM and The Radcliffe and Maconie Show, Radio 2.  Laverne is also in the thick of it for Music Radio Personality of the Year, relishing the challenge of taking on Radio 1’s Chris Moyles, Absolute Radio’s Christian O’Connell, Scott Mills for Radio 1 and Key 103’s Mike Toolan & Chelsea Norris. Victoria Derbyshire takes on a Knight, a Lord, a soft fruit and a fast car for the Speech Broadcaster of the Year:  Sir David Attenborough, Radio 4, Lord Melvyn Bragg,  Radio 4, Andrew Peach, BBC Radio Berkshire and Nick Ferrari, LBC 97.3

Beleaguered stations, 6Music and Asian Network gave their supporters a boost, with an impressive nine nominations.  BBC 6 Music are contesting Best Music Programme, Music Radio Personality of the Year, Music Broadcaster of the Year, Best Comedy, Specialist Contributor and Station Imaging.  The BBC Asian Network are contesting the Best Speech Programme and Best News Special.

This year’s high level of nominations for speech broadcasting reflects a year of uncertainty and economic difficulties, with listeners tuning in to gain insight, information and reassurance.  Multiple Sony Gold winner, Eddie Mair, will be looking to spoil Nick Ferrari’s party, when they contest Speech Radio Personality of the Year, as will the other nominees for News Journalist of the Year:  Andover Sound’s News Team, Ian Pannell for Radio 4, Real Radio North West News Team and Lyse Doucet for BBC World Service.

Sport is part of the UK’s DNA and talkSPORT certainly hit the target, with shots on goal for Speech Radio Personality, Best Single Promo/Commercial, Best Sports Programme and the Cup-Final, UK Station of the Year.  Sport also featured in Best Live Event Coverage where BBC Radio Sport’s Test Match Special take guard against Absolute Blur for Absolute Radio, Radio 1’s Comic Relief, The Kilimanjaro Climb, London Jazz Festival for BBC Radio 3 and The Funeral of Harry Patch, BBC Somerset & BBC Radio Bristol.

Two of this year’s new awards, Best Single Promo/Commercial and Best Promotional/Advertising Campaign feature the X Factor.  The former award has an entry, ‘Tourism Ireland: Apology for Apology for Jedward’ produced by 750 mph broadcast on Heart 106.2 Magic 105.4 and Capital 95.8, while the latter appeals to Joe McElderry’s fans to reach No 1, ‘Vote Joe’, Real Radio Programmes for Real Radio North East.

The 28th Sony Radio Academy Awards are judged by over 130 industry and media professionals.  The judges are required to reach their decisions based solely on the content of the entry submitted, and not based on any wider knowledge they may have.  One of the reasons why the Sony Awards are so well respected is that every level of professional radio has an opportunity to shine, as demonstrated by this year’s nominees.

Tim Blackmore, Chairman of the Sony Radio Academy Awards said: “This is another encouraging year for these awards. Once again the number of entries has increased and the nominations reveal just how broad is the range of radio programming and radio stations that are celebrated by this event. The nominated entries represent the very best of UK Radio, and happily there is a very great deal about which we can be very proud indeed.”

The 2010 Gold Award and Special Award are in the gift of the Awards Committee and will be announced at the Ceremony on 10th May.

The shortlist for the Sony DAB Rising Star Award, the only people’s choice award which celebrates new radio talent, was announced at the launch by Steve Dowdle, Managing Director of Sony UK.  Contenders for 2010 are:  James Lister & Dave Chipman – Silk FM, Jarvis Cocker – BBC 6 Music, Lucy Jones – Banbury Sound, Max Dickins – Absolute Radio and Waqas Saeed – BBC Asian Network. The public can place their vote at www.sony.co.uk/risingstar.

For further information contact:
Nadine Bibi/Claire Singers@ LD Communications
T: +44 207 439 7222
E: Nadine.bibi@ldcommunications.co.uk

Kim Talbot at the Sony Radio Academy Awards Secretariat
Kim@radioawards.org
T: +44 207 723 0106
Sony is a registered trademark of the Sony Corporation, Japan
www.radioawards.com

Sony DAB ‘Rising Star’ Award contact:
Louise Thompson at Borkowski
T: 020 7404 3000
E: Louiset@borkowski.co.uk

We are pleased to report that 48% of our judges are ‘newbies’ and the panels are less London centric than in previous years.  Looking at our final list of judges for 2010,  20% currently work within the BBC, 27% have been drawn from the Commercial sector and 53% are independent consultants or professionals working in other fields; journalists, academia, publishing, television, digital media, the Arts, sports and literary circles.

Our judges have been carefully selected across each of the panels to ensure that their particular expertise relates directly the genre of radio they have been asked to assess. Each category is judged by a separate panel, and the judging process takes place simultaneously across all categories, with no panel ever aware of the decisions reached by other panels.

For those of you who we were unable to place on a panel this year, we would like to publicly thank you for volunteering.

So what happens when a judge receives their Sony Walkman and supporting paperwork…

Judges have four weeks to listen to the entries, under the guidance of their Panel Chair (it is a pre-requisit that all Chairs have previous experience of judging our Awards). All panel members are asked to evaluate your entry as the listener would be hearing it, based purely on the extracts you have submitted, taking account of the rubic definition for the category, and your written submissions.

Depending on the level of submissions received in each category, the size of panels vary between 3 – 7 judges.  We encourage all panels to organise a face to face meeting before agreeing their final list of nominees and consensus on the Gold, Silver and Bronze winners.

To view a full list of the 2010 Judges please visit the Judges section of this site.

Thank you so much for continuing to support the Awards.  Hope it all went smoothly for you…. or that we have been able to help you iron out any queries you had along the way.  We are always looking for ways to improve, so please let us have your feedback on how the entry process was for you.

So, what happens next?

We are now processing your entries and checking that we have everything we need.  Simultaneously, your audio is being downloaded onto Sony Walkman players and will wing its way across the country into the hands of the judges evaluating the entries in your category.  Entries will journey to places across the UK including Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow, Ipswich and Wells in Somerset.

135 judges, the largest number we’ve ever had, are eagerly waiting to listen to the industry’s greatest work, and their results will be announced at the Nominations Launch on Wednesday 7^th April 2010.

The award was newly launched in 2008 to showcase fledgling radio talent.  It seeks to reward the radio stars of tomorrow and is part of Sony’s ongoing commitment to the radio industry which includes the annual Sony School Radio Awards. The Rising Star award is open to those who have been broadcasting on-air for a total of no more than 18 months. (anyone broadcasting prior to 1^st September 2008 will be ineligible for for consideration)

As the award is ‘people’s choice’, it provides a great opportunity to involve your listeners, encouraging them to vote for their favourite broadcaster via our website, www.sony.co.uk/risingstar.  Initially, entries will be reviewed by an expert panel of radio and media professionals with a shortlist then being drawn up and put to the public vote.  The shortlist will be announced on Wednesday  7^th April 2010.

Entries should consist of up to 30 minutes of audio (supplied on CD), a written resume of no more than 250 words in support of your candidate and a recent photograph.  The closing date for entries is Wednesday 3^rd March 2010.

For further details on how to enter contact Jessica Turner at Borkowski on jessica@borkowski.co.uk or call 020 7404 3000.

Each category is evaluated by a separate group of judges, drawn from across the full breadth of the UK Radio Industry. Judging an individual category can involve listening to as many as 60 hours of output from Commercial, BBC, Internet and Community stations.

If you believe you have a broad enough understanding of UK radio and are able to be objective about the work of your colleagues and your competitors, then perhaps you might want to put your name forward for consideration as a judge in the future.

You’ll need to demonstrate substantial understanding of UK radio programming in general and to indicate any specialisms such as feature making, special event coverage or promo production that you believe may be relevant. Judges give their time on a voluntary basis but do receive a complimentary invitation to the awards ceremony in May.

For further information or to put yourself or a colleague forward, please contact Riza Turner at the Secretariat on 020 7723 0106 or email riza@radioawards.org

That’s just a 13% increase across a 13 year period in which inflation is recorded at 32.7%.

This year, the price has been frozen for the fourth year running to £85.00 plus VAT.

The Awards are funded by entry fees, ticket sales and Sony’s sponsorship and organised by an industry-wide Committee whose key responsibilities include the review and introduction of the categories and the appointment of the judging panels.

Since 1998, the Chairman of the Committee has been chosen by the Radio Academy, in conjunction with ZAFER Associates and together they choose each year’s Committee.  Committee members are chosen not as representatives of their own employers, but because of their personal standing within the industry.

The 2010 Committee includes an independent producer, a senior executive from the RadioCentre, a Community Radio director, seven senior programmers from commercial radio and seven senior programmers from the BBC.  As well as its Chief Executive, the Committee also includes five Radio Academy Trustees.

We’ve also extended the entry deadline by a further week to Wednesday 27th January 2010, which gives you almost 12 weeks to get your submissions together.

You’ll also notice that for those categories requiring a compilation of audio extracts from across the year, we’ve reduced the duration from 60 to 30 minutes. We hope this will make the entry process quicker and easier for you and help our judges to manage their listening time.

Please note that the broadcast date for Station of the Year categories is Wednesday 4th November 2009.  Make sure you save your output from this date if you are planning to enter one of Station of the Year Awards.

We’ve also revised the submission requirements for these two categories and you’ll now need to supply us with TWO SETS of AUDIO of up to 30 minutes each – the first, an example of output from WEDNESDAY 4th NOVEMBER 2009 and the second, a ‘best of’ compilation of 4 to 6 extracts from any dates of your choice.