Shortlisted Entries Include: U.Me: The Complete Musical – Magnum Opus Broadcasting, The Menendez Brothers: The Official Companion Podcast – Netflix, The Big Take: The Human Egg Trade – Bloomberg Podcasts, and Amazing Sport Stories: The Black 14 – Whistledown
The New York Festivals®(NYF) 2025 Radio Awards proudly announces the 2025 Radio Awards Shortlist.
Groundbreaking audio created by storytellers from 6 continents were thoughtfully and meticulously judged by New York Festivals 2025 Radio Awards Grand Jury.
This year’s impressive shortlist features entries across a range of categories, including audiobooks, podcasts, dramas, documentaries, breaking news coverage, entertainment, and music specials. Pioneering work was submitted by radio stations, networks, prominent production companies, and independent producers worldwide.
Shortlisted entries within the Entertainment category captivated listeners. Advancing entries include: The Man Who Fell to Earth (Bafflegab Productions), U.Me: The Complete Musical (Magnum Opus Broadcasting), Lonely No More (Audiama Productions Limited), Les miracles ordinaires (Ordinary Miracles) (Radio Canada), Macbeth (Swedish Radio), Miss Happiness and Miss Flower (Flare Path Productions), Nazareno Cruz and the wolf (Cadena 3 Argentina), Indigenous Kids (CBC Radio and Audio), Invitation from PJ Harvey (BBC 6 Music), Pure Energy – Eminem Special (Aramco media production division), Chuck Berry in an Irish Field (Ocean FM), No Regrets (New Media Productions), Pure Energy (Aramco media production division), A Special Thistle & Shamrock Christmas with Fiona Ritchie (Fiona Ritchie Productions and Troubled Times – a sound-composition (Götz Naleppa).
Entertainment entries in the Children/Young Adult category advancing include: The Flying Suitcase and Mio, My Son (Swedish Radio), The Crazy Kiwi Christmas Kids Show (CBA Trust – Christian Broadcasting Association), Hey History! (Impact Studios), The But’s Family – Tomb Sweeping On-Air (R2, Radio Television Hong Kong) and The Kitchen in Barnradion (Sveriges Radio).
Documentaries engaged listeners offering in-depth storytelling and thought-provoking perspectives on global and personal stories. Entries advancing include: The Sounds of America (Accompany Studios), Riptide (Clare FM), What makes you think somebody will come and get us? (ORF Austrian Broadcasting Corporation), Last One On The Train (Susan Dennehy), IDEAS –Child Sex Abuse Prevention: How Best to Protect Kids (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), Jeff Buckley Forever By Guy Pearce (Zinc Media), Foundering: The OpenAI Story (Bloomberg Podcasts), Shane MacGowan: The Old Main Drag (Rich Power), Buried: The Last Witness (Smoke Trail Productions Ltd), Expanse: Spies in the Outback (Australian Broadcasting Corp. Sydney), ), Fingertip Chef : Cooking My Life (BeFM), About the Boys (Whistledown Productions), and HKSAR v. Jimmy Lai (Radio Taiwan International).
Music Documentaries shortlisted include the following: Oliver Jones et les lumières de la Petite-Bourgogne (Radio-Canada), Stories from the New Silk Road: Space (c60media ltd.), Shōgun Seisiún: Irish Music in Japan (Pavel Barter), Serial Offender – Arnold Schoenberg’s 12 Tone Adventure (Curtains For Radio Ltd) and The Trashcan Sinatras (Ken Sweeney).
Compelling podcasts engaged listeners within a robust number of categories: Culture, Drama, News, Sports, Social Justice, Education, Comedy, Business and Technology.
Podcast entries advancing include: The Menendez Brothers: The Official Companion Podcast (Netflix), Enquête de crime: une histoire presque vraie (Radio -Canada), Try This (The Washington Post), Jane Fonda: Love, Sex and the Secrets of a Long Life (Now What Podcast), Unsinkable (Datura Studios & North Atlantic Ridge), Claudia Lawrence: A Mothers Story (BBC Radio New York), True Crime Reports (Al Jazeera Digital), Unravel: Mr. Big (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), La Grande Famiglia (The Big Family) (Rai Radiotelevisione Italiano), (Trial by Water (The Age), Heaven’s Helpline (NZME), Cocaine Inc. (The Times & Sunday Times), Master Plan (The Lever), West Bank real estate, protests at Canadian sy (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), The Culture Colonel: Captain Morgan’s Lost Her Marbles (BFBS),The Race to Superintelligence (Pulitzer Center), Asian Tsunami Anniversary Special (Part 1 and 2) (Mediacorp Pte Ltd), Elon, Inc. (Bloomberg Podcasts), Dead Man Running (BBC Disclosure), Promenade (Gaffney Media Productions), Cement City (Cement City Productions), and October Six (KAN Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation).
Sports podcast entries scored a spot on the shortlist including: Amazing Sport Stories: The Black 14 (Whistledown), The Descent of Conor McGregor (MediaHuis Ireland), The Sports Moment (The Washington Post), Tested (Bucket of Eels), and F1 Explains (Formula 1).
Thought-provoking audiobooks transported listeners, with the following entries advancing to the trophy round: Prophet Song by Paul Lynch and Patriot by Alexei Navalny (BBC Audio Scotland & Northern Ireland), The Great When by Alan Moore and Want by Gillian Anderson and Anonymous (Bloomsbury Publishing Plc), The Queen of Poisons – A Marlow Murder Club Mystery, The Haunted House On Hollow Hill and Our Holiday (Harper Collins Publishers), The Sick Bag Song (Major Label), Prendre son souffle (Radio-Canada), and Reading by Moonlight: Xi Xi’s Marvels of a Fl (CEU, Radio Television Hong Kong).
Children’s Audio Book entries shortlisted include: The Big Bright Feelings Collection (Bloomsbury Publishing Plc), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hot Mess (Penguin Random House UK), Evenfall: The Golden Linnet (HarperCollins Publishers), and Lucien supersensible (Radio-Canada).
The ever-changing parade of global events unfolding on the world stage kept audiences riveted. Entries advancing to the trophy round include: Entries advancing to the trophy round: The Big Take: The Human Egg Trade (Bloomberg Podcasts), Trump Campaign Arlington Scandal (NPR News), North Korea in Senegal: Stranded and Isolated (Radio Free Asia), Forced Into Treatment (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), Blind Spot and Derailed (Hot 1027), Valentine’s Day Collision (Radio Taiwan International), Were Israel’s Actions in the Gaza War Justified? (Open To Debate), Abdullah Ibrahim Hears the World in Many ‘Different Colors’ (WXPN), and Unsafe Heights: The Ongoing Toll of Industrial Negligence (Radio Television Hong Kong-Chinese News and Current Affairs Section.
View the entire 2025 Radio Awards Shortlist.
The 2025 National Press Club Award will go to the highest scoring entry in these news program categories: Coverage of Breaking News Story, Coverage Of Ongoing News Story, Nonfiction Series, Investigative Journalism podcast, and News Podcast. The winner will be announced during the New York Festivals 2025 Storytellers Gala virtual event on May 22, 2025.
For storytellers who are using their talents to change the world, New York Festivals and JusticeAid are partnering on a new honor, the JusticeAid Award, which will recognize the highest-scoring entry across all Social Justice categories in the Radio and TV & Film competitions.
For 68 years, the New York Festivals Radio Awards has provided a global platform to celebrate world-class storytellers. Since 1957, the competition has honored innovation and excellence in broadcast audio content across all genres and platforms, continuously evolving alongside industry developments and global trends.
Entries for the 2025 Radio Awards were rigorously evaluated by the esteemed Radio Awards Grand Jury, a panel of 100 distinguished storytellers from the radio industry spanning six continents. This panel includes world-class content creators, industry visionaries, and iconic voices. Submissions were judged on the following set of criteria: production values, creativity, content presentation, direction, writing, achievement of purpose and audience suitability.
Award-winning entries will be announced during the New York Festivals 2025 Storytellers Gala virtual event on May 22nd at 6PM EDT. The virtual event will include featured global audio and video highlights, award winners’ acceptance speeches from around the world, and up-close and personal spotlights featuring some of radio and television’s most respected storytellers.
