Despite the challenges of Covid-19 and lockdown, the radio industry in South Africa has succeeded in delivering value to listeners across the nation – if The Radio Awards finalists are anything to go by.
The quality of entries, says Taryn Westoby, head of Arena Events “has been remarkable considering the circumstances of Covid-19 and remote working. We congratulate the radio industry on their hard work and perseverance in delivering valuable content to their listeners and ensuring that radio remains one of South Africa’s foremost media choices”.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) garnered 89 nominations, and indication that SABC radio stations “remain true to their public service mandate while delivering entertaining and relevant programming to all South African citizens in their indigenous languages”, the public broadcaster said in a press release..
“We are delighted that our radio brands and personalities continue to be recognised as the best in the industry,” said Nada Wotshela, group executive of SABC Radio. “This is affirmation for the good work that our management at stations’ level, content producers, presenters and everyone involved with the production value chain, delivers on a daily basis. I would like to congratulate each and every show and employee nominated this year, and encourage everyone to continue doing their best in discharging our public service mandate”.
Campus station, Tuks FM, garnered its highest number of nominations ever, with 24 in the bag.
Now in its eleventh year, The Radio Awards honour outstanding achievements across Campus, Community, Public Broadcast, and Commercial radio, setting benchmarks for all stations and professionals to strive towards.
This year, the Awards entries were adjudicated by a panel of 40 judges and reviewed by auditors, BDO. Entries for this year’s awards were required to be broadcast on FM or AM, (and in the online radio category) between 01 January 2020 and 31 December 2020.
The complete list of finalists is here.