2020 Radio Awards presented online amid Covid-19 pandemic

Winners of The Radio Awards 2020 were celebrated in an online awards ceremony hosted by comedian Loyiso Madinga on 17 April.

The Radio Awards, now in the tenth year, is the leading recognition platform for celebrating outstanding talent in the South African radio
industry.

This year’s Station of the Year Awards went to Kaya 95.9 FM (Commercial), Hot 91.9 FM (Community), Radio 2000 (PBS), and Tuks 107.2 FM (Campus). Winners were determined by the number of times they appeared as a finalist across all general categories of The Radio Awards. Each of the finalists submitted a further motivation which spoke to the station’s innovation, audience growth, community outreach, general achievements, as well as their “x-factor”.

This motivation was then scored by The Radio Awards advisory panel. This score accounted for the first half of a station’s final score, and the second half of the final score was determined by a station’s success in the other categories.

“Congratulations to all of the finalists, and especially the winners for producing dynamic, captivating radio for the South African listening audience,” said Taryn Westoby, Head of Arena Events which manages The Radio Awards. “It’s been a challenging period in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, and making The Radio Awards happen this year – albeit on an online platform – has meant that the tireless work of radio stations around the country can be highlighted at a time when good news is really welcomed.”

More than 80 award winners were celebrated across 25 categories.

Acting Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Jackson Mthembu, congratulated all finalists and winners of the awards.

Community and commercial radio stations have responded positively to the clarion call made by the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies for broadcasting services licencees to disseminate, in all official languages, information that will assist in halting the spread of Covid-19 and flattening the curve.

The awards continue to underscore the importance of the three-tier broadcasting system of community, commercial and public broadcasting, while acknowledging the emergence of podcasting and the online digital environment. While the diversity of winners was encouraging, the department acknowledged the need for more gender inclusivity, language and geographic representation within the sector.

“The uniqueness of our three-tier broadcasting system must be celebrated and nurtured. We are also immensely proud of the growing importance and relevance of community radio. The medium is the third largest tier of broadcasters nationally, with more than 8.8 million listeners (26% share), broadcasting mainly from rural areas and small towns across the country.

“The community radio sector and public broadcasting are key in ensuring that all South Africans have access to information and communicate in a language of their choice,” said Mthembu.

Minister Mthembu added that radio remained a low-cost medium suited to reach remote communities and vulnerable people, and offering an opportunity for government and healthcare experts to provide essential and useful information to everyone. Radio has once again shown its importance with the crucial role it plays in serving as a platform for emergency communication and disaster relief interventions in cases such as Covid-19 pandemic we are currently facing.