Sony creates two new awards

The 2007 Sony Radio Awards will feature two new awards – The Internet Programme Award and The Lifetime Achievement Award. Entries are now being accepted with a closing date of 17th January 2007. The winners will be announced at a gala ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London next Spring.

The Internet Programme Award — to recognise excellence in the creation of radio programmes produced for distribution via the internet, and The Lifetime Achievement Award to celebrate the long term and significant contribution of a broadcaster or practitioner whose body of work lies primarily within the localities, nations or regions of the UK, rather than nationally, across the UK as a whole.

Tim Blackmore, Chairman of the Sony Radio Academy Awards Committee talks about The Internet Programme Award: “I think it’s significant that for this special anniversary year we’re introducing a new category that reflects a fundamental change in the way our industry is developing.

The BBC led the way with its enthusiastic move into web based activity, and now a whole raft of players, both established and brand new are using newly accessible platforms to disseminate their use of audio. The Internet Programme Award will seek to recognise the creative use of audio, distributed not by transmitters, but via the World Wide Web.

For 25 years, these awards have celebrated excellence in the creative use of sound, and irrespective of the platform used, this will continue to be our objective. Our hope is that everyone who can fulfill our entrance criteria will want to try for the ultimate recognition that a Sony win represents.”

The Lifetime Achievement Award will recognise the long term and significant contribution of a broadcaster or practitioner whose body of work lies primarily within the localities, nations or regions of the United Kingdom, rather than across the UK as a whole. Nominations are invited from

Radio Academy members, industry practitioners and the general public and are being accepted now. To nominate, visit [link=http://www.radioawards.org]radioawards.org[/link] and follow the links to the nominations page.

A special podcast to celebrate 25 years of the awards featuring audio from Kenny Everett to Chris Evans is now available from the official site.