We are delighted to confirm that the IMRO Radio Awards will go ahead in 2020.
As an industry, this has been a challenging time but we have shown that radio is clearly an essential service, going the extra mile to be informing, entertaining and the best lockdown company our listeners could ask for.
Financially the industry has been significantly affected and the IMRO Awards committee fully recognise this. In addition, the uncertainty around gatherings continues which has made planning an awards ceremony difficult.
In place of the usual Gala dinner in Kilkenny, the awards will be now held as a live video/virtual event stream allowing the industry to join in from home or in smaller stations groups if they wish – full details of this event will follow in the coming weeks.
The awards are delighted to have the continued involvement of IMRO as title sponsor. During this particularly testing time for the radio sector, IMRO has been a great support to stations across the country and it is wonderful to retain its commitment to such a key event in the media calendar. The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) also remains as a valued secondary sponsor.
There is amazing content being produced now and prior to the crisis which fully deserves to be recognised. Having taken all this into consideration, the committee has made the decision to make some changes to the IMRO Radio Awards this year;
- Radio stations will be entitled to submit the same number of entries in 2020 free of charge as they did in 2019. There will be a reduced cost for any additional entries – the committee recognises these have been challenging times for the industry and while wishing to celebrate our year, we wanted to show our support for the stations.
- Some changes to the categories for this year in the awards;
- Gay Byrne Award for Newcomer of the Year. Following the passing of Ireland’s greatest radio broadcaster, we are excited that the Byrne family has allowed the Radio Awards Committee to name the Newcomer award in his honour.
- Category C2 – Documentaries – now covers Music, Arts and Culture
- We have retitled F4 to be National Station of the Year.
- In an exciting development, we are introducing a new category Podcast of The Year open to stations for online-only productions.
- Judging meetings will all be held remotely this year and will continue to be Chaired by Peter McPartlin.
Entries are open now. As the timeframe for entries is tighter than normal we are extending the deadline with a closing date of July 23rd 2020 at 5 pm.
While I am sure we will all miss the gathering in Kilkenny this year I hope you understand and appreciate the sentiment behind the committee’s decisions.
Full details of the awards are on the website at www.imroradioawards.com
Wishing you the best of luck!
Chris Doyle
Chair
IMRO RADIO AWARDS
