The South African radio industry will celebrate its stars in the highly-anticipated 10th edition of The Radio Awards as this year the Awards go online!
The Radio Awards winners for 2020 will be announced at 14h00 on Friday 17 April.
Understandably during this time of the coronavirus pandemic and the national COVID-19 lockdown, the organisers, Arena Events, made an early decision to change the format from previous years where winners were celebrated at a gala dinner amongst their peers. This year, the Awards will be ‘presented’ in a digitised, streaming format – allowing the radio industry and their listening audiences to join the excitement online and share their congratulations on social media.
The home of popular comedian Loyiso Madinga will be the backdrop for his performance as MC – yes, even though the Awards will be a digital affair, viewers will still be treated to Loyiso’s uniquely engaging style of humour and wit, promising to make the event a highlight for stay-at-home audiences during lockdown.
“It’s been an exciting year of preparation for The Radio Awards,” says Taryn Westoby, Head of Arena Events. “We assembled a phenomenally experienced and respected advisory board and adjudication panel to make the Awards more inclusive and representative of the industry; we embarked on a strong industry communication campaign; and we launched a new category – the Station Manager’s Choice – where, for the first time, behind-the-scenes and not-on-air talent will be recognised for their contributions to their Station’s success.” Arena Events also appointed auditing firm BDO South Africa to review all the results.
This year saw The Radio Awards set new records in terms of entries received (more than 2000!), and stations participating (more than 160!). On top of that, voting in the My Station listener’s choice category saw 890 000 online votes received from radio audiences across the country.
“We are unbelievably grateful for the support The Radio Awards has received from the industry, listeners, and members of the NAB,” says Westoby. “We feel it’s incredibly important to recognise the hard work and diligence that stations have shown in submitting high quality entries. It’s clear that the Awards are prized and highly-valued, and it’s why we’ve been working non-stop (and remote from our team members too) to deliver the best online awards show possible – especially during these very difficult times for our country.”
To watch The Radio Awards winners’ announcement online, people are advised to register their details at www.radioawards.co.za to receive the links, and a reminder to login and get comfortably ensconced before the announcement starts streaming.
To see who’s in the running for an Award, check out this year’s list of category finalists at www.radioawards.co.za.
To follow and participate on social media – Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram – use #SARadioAwards and follow @SARadioAwards
Here is Madinga’s video on what to expect.
