iHeartMedia Announces Its Inaugural iHeartRadio Podcast Awards Presented By Capital One® January 18

Hosted by Holly Frey, Bobby Bones and Charlamagne Tha God with Live Stream Hosted by Mario Lopez, The First-Ever Major Live Podcast Award Ceremony Voted by the Listeners Will Be Held at the iHeartRadio Theater Los Angeles 

 Atlanta Monster, Dirty John, Hardcore History, Joe Rogan, Radiolab, Serial, Slow Burn, Stuff You Should Know, The Daily and The Habitat Nominated for Podcast of the Year

 Panel of Judges to include Industry Leaders from Gimlet, iHeartMedia, NPR, Parcast, PRX, Tenderfoot TV, Wondery and others

 NEW YORK -- October 22, 2018 -- iHeartMedia, the No. 1 commercial podcast publisher globally with over 20,000 podcasts available on its platform, today announced the first annual live iHeartRadio Podcast Awards Presented By Capital One® to be held at the iHeartRadio Theater Los Angeles on Friday, January 18, 2019 at 8 p.m. PT. The first-ever major live awards event voted by the listeners to honor the very best in podcasting will span 22 categories and will celebrate the incredible talent and wide variety of leaders across the booming podcasting industry. 

Hosted by Holly Frey, co-host of “Stuff You Missed in History Class,” one of today’s biggest history podcasts; Charlamagne Tha God, nationally-syndicated on-air host and co-host of “The Brilliant Idiots” and “The Breakfast Club” podcasts; and Bobby Bones, top Country radio host, multiplatform personality and host of the leading Country music focused podcast “Bobbycast” and creator of the Nashville Podcast Network, the event will run 90 minutes and will include a live audience with a live stream hosted by on-air and TV personality  Mario Lopez. Presenters include Payne Lindsay (“Up & Vanished”), Aaron Mahnke (“Lore”), and Jake Brennan (“Disgraceland”), with more to be announced.

Since the introduction of podcasts more than a decade ago, the entertainment industry has seen a steady increase in listenership and popularity across the medium, with over 44 percent of Americans having listened to a podcast.  Today, podcasts have twice the reach than all of satellite radio and the iHeartRadio Podcast Network has seen a nearly 200 percent year-over-year growth in podcast listening in the past year.

“Podcasting has roared onto the audio scene, creating the most excitement since the advent of streaming music services. The iHeartRadio Podcast Awards Presented By Capital One® will provide a forum to celebrate the high-caliber, creative content that has made podcasting a major new audio category -- and that truly reflects America’s favorite podcasts, voted by the listeners themselves,” said Conal Byrne, President of iHeartMedia’s Podcasting Division. “We look forward to hosting this transformative, annual event and encouraging everyone in the podcasting industry to push the envelope and inspire even more creators in this space.” 

The iHeartRadio Podcast Awards Presented By Capital One® will honor the most entertaining and innovative podcasts of 2018 as well as celebrate podcast fans by giving listeners the opportunity to decide the winners in 17 of the 22 categories with podcasts “Atlanta Monster,” “Dirty John,” “Hardcore History,” “Joe Rogan,” “Radiolab,” “Serial,” “Slow Burn,” “Stuff You Should Know,” “The Daily” and “The Habitat” nominated for Podcast of the Year

A panel of blue-ribbon podcast industry leaders, creatives and visionaries including Marc Smerling, “Crimetown”; Jake Brennan, “Disgraceland”; Alex Blumberg, Gimlet; Conal Byrne and Chris Peterson, iHeartMedia; Aaron Mahnke, “Lore”; Anya Grundmann, NPR; Max Cutler, Parcast; Owen Grover, Pocket Casts; Maggie Taylor, PRX; Chuck Bryant and Josh Clark, “Stuff You Should Know”; Holly Frey, “Stuff You Missed in History Class”; Donald Albright and Payne Lindsay, Tenderfoot TV; Sim Sarna, Unqualified Media; and Hernan Lopez, Wondery will determine the winner in five major categories: Podcast of the YearBreakout PodcastBest Branded Podcast, Best Social Impact from Podcast/Host and Podcast Innovator Award

Fans can vote for their favorite podcasts beginning today through January 6, 2019 online and socially across Twitter and Instagram. Visit iHeartPodcastAwards.com for a complete list of nominees and voting details.  Winners will be announced during the live show and stream filled with unique celebrations at the iHeartRadio Theater Los Angeles.

“The podcasting space is on fire and we are excited to recognize its leaders, as decided by the fans and a panel of industry creatives and experts,” said Bob Pittman, Chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia, Inc. “We are delighted to use our expertise with events and awards shows to build the first major industry awards show for podcasts, to use our unparalleled size and scale to promote and market the event – and to include these great companies and luminaries in the celebration.”   

Nominees include podcasts from all creators, distributors and platforms — not just those developed by or available on the iHeartRadio Podcast Network. The iHeartRadio Podcast Awards Presented By Capital One® is part of iHeartMedia’s roster of incredibly successful, nationally recognized events, including the iHeartRadio Music Festival, iHeartRadio Music Awards, the nationwide iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Concert Tour Presented by Capital One®, iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina, iHeartCountry Festival, iHeartRadio ALTer Ego and iHeartRadio Wango Tango.

iHeartRadio carries more than 20,000 podcasts from its own podcasts to other major podcast publishers ranging from NPR, Wondery and WNYC to ESPN and Gimlet.  iHeartMedia also recently acquired Stuff Media, LLC, the leading for-profit publisher of entertaining and informative podcast content, which includes the HowStuffWorks podcasting business. Conal Byrne, President and CEO of Stuff Media has now become the President of the iHeartRadio Podcast Division. 

 

About iHeartMedia, Inc.

iHeartMedia (NASDAQ: IHRT) is the number one audio company in the United States, reaching nine out of 10 Americans every month. It consists of three business groups.

With its quarter of a billion monthly listeners, the iHeartMedia Multiplatform Group has a greater reach than any other media company in the U.S. Its leadership position in audio extends across multiple platforms, including more than 860 live broadcast stations in over 160 markets nationwide; its National Sales organization; and the company’s live and virtual events business. It also includes Premiere Networks, the industry’s largest Networks business, with its Total Traffic and Weather Network (TTWN); and BIN: Black Information Network, the first and only 24/7 national and local all news audio service for the Black community. iHeartMedia also leads the audio industry in analytics, targeting and attribution for its marketing partners with its SmartAudio suite of data targeting and attribution products using data from its massive consumer base.

The iHeartMedia Digital Audio Group includes the company’s fast-growing podcasting business -- iHeartMedia is the number one podcast publisher in downloads, unique listeners, revenue and earnings -- as well as its industry-leading iHeartRadio digital service, available across more than 500 platforms and 2,000 devices; the company’s digital sites, newsletters, digital services and programs; its digital advertising technology companies; and its audio industry-leading social media footprint.

The company’s Audio & Media Services reportable segment includes Katz Media Group, the nation’s largest media representation company, and RCS, the world's leading provider of broadcast and webcast software.

Visit iHeartMedia.com for more company information.