The Radio Academy have today announced that entry nominations for The ARIAS 2024 will open from Thursday 4th January via the website HERE. The highly anticipated annual event that celebrates the very best of UK audio and radio will take place on Tuesday 7th May at London’s Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in the heart of the West End. Previous attendees have ranged from household names to up-and-coming talent in the industry. From Zoe Ball, Ken Bruce and Romesh Ranganathan to Sam Thompson, George the Poet and Jamie Laing. This will be the first ARIAS launched by the new Managing Director of The Radio Academy, Aradhna Tayal Leach. The awards recognise, honour and reward outstanding shows and the teams behind them. Judged by over 200 senior audio and radio practitioners, drawn from all sectors of the industry, it's a huge accolade to be nominated. Since 2023, The Radio Academy have worked with an independent editorial advisor at The ARIAS, to offer guidance and recommendations to judges. They do not have executive decision making, which remains uniquely with the judges, but may offer recommendations and context as appropriate. The Radio Academy will also be working with an independent EDI consultant to offer support and guidance to ensure that equity is embedded at the heart of the ARIAS. This includes offering insights into best practice and highlighting the impact of, for example, unconscious bias when judging entries. 27 Categories will return this year, including Best New Presenter, Best Music Breakfast Show and Best New Podcast. There will also be one change to a category; Best Sports Coverage which was previously named Best Sports Show. This change is set to reward the live nature of sports coverage within radio broadcasting. Sports documentaries should now be entered in either of the two Best Factual Programmes. For full details of categories, visit the ARIAS website. Created by The Radio Academy; a charity dedicated to supporting people in audio and radio, The ARIAS is an inspiring and thrilling evening celebrating UK audio's thriving community. The Radio Academy will also be partnering with Podcasting, Seriously Awards Fund again, to help make the entry process as accessible as possible. The fund reimburses the cost of entering audio awards for independent audio producers of colour and those who identify as LGBTQ+. Entries for nominations are open on Thursday 4th January via the link HERE. Stay tuned for further details on nominees and hosts... |