There will be four new categories in next year's Sony Radio Academy Awards, to open it up to entrants from marketeers and advertisers.
The new categories are Best Use of Branded Content, Best Single Promo/Commercial, Best Promotional/Advertising Campaign and Best Specialist Contributor.
The Breakfast Show category has also been split into two opening it up to more entries and recipients.
The Best Use of Branded Content Award recognises excellence in paid-for promotional or sponsored programming; for the Best Single Promo/Commercial Award, the judges will be looking at how well the commercial or trailer communicates its message and encapsulates the personality of the station; while the Best Promotional/Advertising Campaign Award will go to a series or campaign of audio ads or station branded promos and/or trailers.
The Best Specialist Contributor Award will throw the spotlight on broadcasters that regularly appear in programmes, who are not frontline presenters but who have editorial ownership of their contributions and generally enrich the listener experience, such as news, sports, travel and entertainment broadcasters.
And for the first time, the Breakfast award will be given out twice – one to a station under 10 million TSA and one over.
Tim Blackmore, Chairman, Sony Radio Academy Awards, said: “As the only Radio Awards that celebrate the full range of the industry’s output, I have no doubt that this year’s changes will ensure that they remain the pre-eminent yardstick for all that is most excellent in the field of audio production”
Award entries are submitted by 27th January 2010, Nominations are announced in April and the winners are revealed at a gala ceremony in May at London’s Grosvenor House.
Posted on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 9:03 am by RadioToday UK