The Australian Podcast Awards (APAs) powered by iHeart, today announces Osher Günsberg, one of Australia’s most recognizable media personalities and an industry leader in the podcast space as Chair of Judge for the APA’s.

The APA’s are Australia’s most prestigious and well recognized podcast awards. 2021 winners included Laura Byrne and Brittney Hockley’s Life Uncut, Julia Gillard’s A Podcast Of One’s Own and Brook Boney and Linda Marigliano’s Brooke and Linda’s Dream Club.

As part of his duties as Chair of Judge, Osher has appointed several judges that will form part of the world-class panel of local international judges that will bring in a range of different perspectives to the awards this year.

Osher Güsberg, Chair of Judges at the Australian Podcast Awards, said:

“Podcasts are a form of spoken-art, nothing beats the authenticity and intimacy of podcasting. It has been incredible to see the growth of podcasting in Australia and I am honored to celebrate the top local podcasting talent we have had this year by appointing some of the top industry leaders and podcasting royalty to be part of the panel of judges to bring fresh and diverse perspectives to this year’s Australian Podcast Awards.”

The judging panel includes a list of well-known personalities, industry veterans and audiophiles who will together determine the best Australian podcasts.

A few names to take note of on this years judging panel are Media Personality and Podcaster, Georgia Love, Head of Digital Audio at ARN’s iHeartPodcast Network, Corey Layton, Emma Georgiadis, Triple J Presenter, ARN Podcast Operations Executive, Gabi Price, Commissioning Editor at SBS, Marissa McDowell along with Partnerships Lead at Spotify, Prithi Dey.

The APA’s independent judging panel also unites talent from the nation’s leading podcast production houses including: Spotify Acast, ARN/iHeartRadio, LiSTNR, SoundCartel, SBS, SCA and Piccolo Podcasts.

Matt Deegan, Director at the Australian Podcast Awards, said:

“We are thrilled to announce industry leader, Osher Günsberg as our Chair of Judge for the sixth year of the awards. The judging panel is world-class and will bring new perspectives to this year’s awards. It isn’t strictly audio experts. Instead we ensure that each category has a broad mix of people from podcasting and outside of podcasting to give different viewpoints. It is incredible to see the content Australian creators are bringing to the table, sparking new conversations around the world.

The judging commenced last week and will continue over the next two weeks. Category winner will then be announced at the event in November in person at the awards ceremony taking place at Seymour Theatre on Monday 21st November from 7-11pm.

Event Details:

The Australian Podcast Awards

Date: 21st November, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM

Address: Seymour Theater, Cnr City Road & Cleveland St, Chippendale NSW 2008

The country’s most prestigious and well recognized podcast awards, The Australia Podcast Awards (APA’s) powered by iHeart, will return in 2022 – celebrating the best of the best Australian podcast and podcasting talent to emerge and gain fandom over the past year.

Over 90 judges listened to nearly 1,000 submissions in 2021, awarding gold to 29 top podcasts across categories from True Crime to Comedy and Sex & Relationships. The 2022 Australian Podcast Awards promises to be bigger and better than ever with a total of 33 award categories from Best New Podcast to Podcast of the Year and every genre-based category in between. There are also new awards including Podcast Climate Award and Best Parenting Podcast.

This year the Awards will also make it easier for independent BIPOC, Queer and Trans audio creators to enter, thanks to a partnership with the Podcasting Seriously Fund that provides reimbursement for entries from members of these communities.

The News of the 2022 Australian Podcast Awards comes as Australia officially overtakes the U.S. as the world’s biggest listening nation, and the industry continues to produce a record-number of break-through podcasts.

Matt Deegan, Director at the Australian Podcast Awards said:

“Australia isn’t just the world’s biggest podcast listening nation, it’s also at the forefront of incredible podcast production. We’re so thrilled to bring the industry’s most recognized and prestigious podcasting awards back for its sixth year. The 2022 Australian Podcast Awards promises to uncover, spotlight and champion the best of the best when it comes to Australian podcasting. We welcome podcasts big and small to enter and look forward to another year of break-through podcasting content.”

The Australian Podcast Awards also announces its first wave of partners, including Gold Partner iHeart, LISTNR, Nova, Campaign, Podfollow and PodNews.

The Australian Podcast Awards launched in 2016 as a way to showcase the amazing podcast talent and content Australia has to offer. Now in its sixth year, the Award continues to recognize the industry’s most innovative and emerging podcast content across its varied categories. It also hosts an annual conference, Podcast Day 24 on October 4th in Sydney, which shares content, research, and podcast industry trends.

2022 winners included Laura Byrne and Brittney Hockey’s Life Uncut, Julia Gillard’s A Podcast Of One’s Own and Brooke Boney and Linda Marigilano’s Brooke and Linda’s Dream Club. Other winners include true crime podcast, The Nurse, dramedy fiction podcast, Private Affairs, and pop-culture podcast, The Culture.

Submissions for the Australian Podcast Awards are now open, find out more at australianpodcastawards.com. Nominees will be selected by a judging panel of industry experts before the category winners are announced in November.

The Australian Podcast Awards (APAs) announced the country’s biggest podcast player, Acast, will be powering the Awards this year as its headline partner.

Joining Acast is Southern Cross Austero’s LiSTNR app who joins as a Gold Partner and the sponsor of the public vote category – The Listener’s Choice Award.

Acast and LiSTNR join a list of podcasting heavyweights supporting the 2021 APAs, including Spotify, iHeartPodcast Network Australia, Nova Entertainment Podcast Network, Podfollow, and Podnews.

The APAs has also announced its 2021 judging panel, which includes a list of well-known personalities, industry veterans and audiophiles who will together determine the best Australian podcasts of 2021.

News Corp’s National Entertainment Editor, Johnathan Moran, joins a series of media and entertainment heavyweights including the TODAY Show’s Entertainment Producer, Cosima Toni, Editor and podcast creator Melissa Mason, Head of Entertainment for The Project, Kristy-Lee Lorraway, Pedestrian Group’s Senior Entertainment Editor, Matt Galea, and pop culture writer Patrick Lenton.

The APAs independent judging panel also unites talent from the nation’s leading podcast production houses including: ABC Radio, Acast, ARN / iHeartRadio, Mushroom Group, Nova Entertainment, Piccolo Podcasts, SBS, SCA, SoundCartel, and Spotify.

Matt Deegan, Director at the Australian Podcast Awards, said:

“This year’s Australian Podcast Awards, powered by Acast, is shaping up to be the best yet. The judging panel is truly world class and the content we’re seeing is sure to spark debate, intrigue and even some laughs along the way. It’s an absolute delight to see such amazing content from Australian creators who continue to raise the bar year on year.”

Guy Scott-Wilson, Content Director, Acast Australia and New Zealand said:

“As a creator-first podcast company, Acast will always champion and celebrate the independent podcasting industry. In Australia and across the world, we power a thriving, profitable and sustainable open ecosystem, giving podcasters the freedom and tools to develop and grow valuable listener relationships, while making money from their craft. It’s this approach to podcasting that has seen us work with some of Australia’s favourite podcasters.”

“Our industry has been on a growth trajectory and we are firm believers that it’s the creators that are powering that growth. The quality and breadth of Australian podcast content is amongst the best in the world, so sponsoring the 2021 Australian Podcast Awards is a great opportunity for us to celebrate the talent of our local creators and their contribution to the global podcasting community.”

Grant Tothill, General Manager for Digital Audio at Southern Cross Austereo, said:

“Podcasting in Australia continues to grow and is fast becoming a part of people’s everyday life. The creativity in audio treatments, concepts, and story-telling is advancing each year. With so many great creators and producers doing brilliant work, to be able to play a role in recognizing that by sponsoring the Australian Podcast Awards’ ‘Listeners’ Choice Award’, ‘Best Documentary’ and ‘Best Current Affairs’ Awards is an exciting opportunity for everyone at LiSTNR.”

The judging panel of industry experts will determine nominees from the provided category shortlists. Category winners will then be announced at a virtual event in November.

Following unprecedented entries and industry support in 2020, the Australian Podcast Awards (APAs) will return for its fifth year with the official 2021 program announced on August 24, 2021.

This year’s APAs will feature a total of 31 award categories, including four new categories. New award categories include the Spotify Rising Star Award, recognizing the success of new creators, as well as Best Sales Team, Best Commercial Campaign, and Best Marketing Campaign.

The Awards also announces its first wave of partners, including Gold Partners Spotify, iHeartPodcast Network Australia, Nova Entertainment Podcast Network, Podfollow and Podnews. Omny Studio from Triton Digital joins as a category partner.

Matt Deegan, Director of the Australian Podcast Awards, said:

“2020 was the biggest year ever for the Australian Podcast Awards – and we’re committed to making 2021 even bigger. We know that people are turning to podcasts now more than ever before, and the content coming out of Australia is truly world-class. We’re thrilled to be launching this year’s awards as a way to further the industry’s innovative and emerging podcast content that’s helping push the industry forward.”

The Australian Podcast Awards launched in 2016 as a way to showcase the amazing podcast talent and content Australia has to offer. Now in its fifth year (and second pandemic year), the awards continue to recognize the industry’s most innovative and emerging content across its varied categories.

In 2020 winners includes Bird’s Eye View, Life Uncut with Brittany Hockley and Laura Byrne, Matt & Alex’s All Day Breakfast, Spotify’s Search Engine Sex, That’s Incredible from Mamamia, The ABC’s Unravel and 7am amongst others.

Prithi Day, Senior Partner Manager at Spotify, said: “The Australian Podcast Awards is such a great time to celebrate our diverse local talent from across the country and Spotify is excited to support for a second year.”

Corey Layton, Head of Digital Audio for ARN’s iHeartPodcast Network Australia, said: “The Australian Podcast Awards is such a great time to celebrate our diverse local talent from across the country and Spotify is excited to support for a second year.”

While the Covid-19 pandemic continues to disrupt the creative industry, podcasting content and listen numbers continue to skyrocket in Australia and around the world. Celebrating that content and its creators remains the core focus of the Australian Podcast Awards.

Submissions for the Australian Podcast Awards are now open, find out more at australianpodcastawards.com. Nominees will be selected by a judging panel of industry experts before the category winners are announced in November.

The Australian Podcast Awards (APAs) has announced its list of 2020 partners, showcasing the growing support for premium Australian on-demand content both locally and globally.

Supporting big and small, eight Gold Partners have joined this year’s event, including podcast industry leaders Acast, iHeart Podcast Network Australia. Nova Entertainment, Omny Studio from Triton Digital, PodacstOne Australia and Spotify; podcast production house Piccolo Podcasts; podcast marketing platform Podfollow and podcast industry news publication Podnews.

Matt Deegan, Director at the Australian Podcast Awards, said: “While it’s been a tough year for the creative industry, podcasting content and listen numbers continue to skyrocket. The overwhelming support shown by our Award partners is testament to the strength of the industry and its faith in Aussie-made content. We cannot wait for this year’s awards – an opportunity to celebrate some of the best and brightest local podcasting content and talent there is.”

The Australian Podcast Awards launched in 2016 as a way to showcase the amazing podcast talent and content Australia has to offer. Now in its fifth year, the awards continues to recognize the local industry’s most listened to, innovative, and emerging podcast content with over 20 award categories.

Submissions for the Australian Podcast Awards are now open. Nominees will be selected by a judging panel of industry experts before the category winners are announced at a virtual event in November.

The Australian Podcast Awards announced their plans for 2020 as they continue to reflect the growing Australian podcast sector. Firstly, the event will be moving from May to a date in early November, with the awards opening for entries at the end of July 2020.

Founder Dave Gertler said about the changes, “As we enter our fourth year, it is clear that podcasting still has plenty of room to grow – and so we’ll be delivering an even bigger ceremony and want to be even more representative of Australia’s audio makers.”

As the number of entries has grown, the 2020 event will have an expanded independent panel of judges with Sophie Harper, host of Not By Accident, joining the Awards as their first Chair of Judges.

Sophie says: “The Australian Podcast Awards has quickly become one of my favorite nights of the year. It’s an opportunity to recognize, and importantly, to discover the incredible, world-class work being produced in Australia and listened to here and around the word. I can’t wait to hear more of what’s being produced this past year, and to work closely with a diverse and diligent panel of judges to make sure we can celebrate the very best of Australian podcasting across every category.”

As well as a whole range of judged categories, the APAs will also be developing the Listeners Choice’ category, that will allow any Australian to easily vote for their own favorite podcast, for free. The Awards are keen to reflect the huge breath of Australian podcasting from individuals to radio companies, publishers to startups and every other flavor of podcasting in between.