Winning always feels great, and awards are essential in recognising hard work and identifying talent. For different industries, they also allow those within it to grow, and the same can be said of the podcast industry.

The question is, should we be competing with one another and how do those in the industry see the value of winning awards?

Richie Culph, Chair RBA Podcast Ranker Committee, David Hua, SBS Director of Audio and Language Content, and Katy Gosset, RNZ Podcast and Series Producer, share their insights.

THE JUDGE

“As podcasts attract larger audiences, the incentive to lift the bar on quality increases.” - Richie Culph

Auckland-based Richie Culph has spent the better part of two decades creating award-winning radio content in Australasia working for Nova Entertainment, ARN & SCA in Australia, and in New Zealand, NZME and now at MediaWorks where he heads the digital audio department and is also responsible for leading the development of the company’s Rova app.

Culph is also chair of the RBA New Zealand Podcast Ranker Committee, and a judge for the RBA New Zealand Radio Awards which has just released its list of finalists, with winners announced 1 June.  The NZ Radio Awards has been running since 1978, and now includes five separate categories for podcasts.

Culph says the platform has evolved in recent years to celebrate the achievement of radio in the digital space - changes that reflect the important role that digital now plays in engaging new and existing audiences. He adds that as radio follows other traditional media and undergoes its digital evolution, the methods of consuming content are now informing its delivery to meet the way listeners want to consume audio.

“There are millions of podcasts, and to be frank, most of them are not very good. But as podcasts attract larger audiences, the incentive to lift the bar on quality increases and this is where [our experience in] radio comes in,” says Culph.

Also, an advocate of the NZ Podcast Awards which accepts submissions from production houses, freelance producers, independents, and traditional broadcast media, Culph believes there is room for independent makers to be included in more formal industry awards.

“Although currently the NZ Radio Awards are open only to radio broadcasters, as the industry evolves I believe the RBA should evolve to celebrate independent podcast publishers,” Culph says.

THE AUDIO DIRECTOR

David Hua, Director of Audio and Language Content at SBS says awards are important in any industry because they celebrate work that helps to strengthen communities, and also bring about positive change.

“Audio is no different and further serves as a public platform to inform new audiences, content makers and general community members about amazing podcasts they might otherwise not know exist.”

Hua says awards are also a recognition of teamwork across the organisation.  In 2022, SBS won Gold for Best Publisher at the Australian Podcast Awards and says this is a strong reflection of SBS’s commitment to meeting the growing demand in the podcast and audio space for diverse Australian communities across more than 60 languages.

“We already receive over millions of streams and podcast downloads every month, and being able to serve audiences on their digital platforms of choice at the times they prefer is key to our audio strategy,” he says.

The Australian network focuses on the delivery of distinctive, multicultural podcast content produced across its various channels including SBS Audio, SBS News, SBS Voices.

Last year, SBS Voices - Let Me Tell You also won Gold at the Australian Podcast Awards and features true stories of eight Australians told in their own voice.

To increase its diversity, content and reach, each year SBS makes a call out for podcast pitches to fund new ideas. This has resulted in other award-winning work such as the seven-part series My Bilingual Family a podcast about raising bilingual children, The Ugly Ducklings of Italian Cuisine which is available in Italian and English and recently hit number one on the Apple Podcasts Australia food category.

“I’m extremely proud of our teams’ innovative and creative storytelling, tackling diverse topics and engaging diverse audiences … but what I’m always inspired by is the ongoing creative commitment to our diverse audiences irrespective of the accolades,” says Hua.

THE PRODUCER

Katy Gosset is a senior journalist and producer with RNZ’s Podcasts and Series team. She has won a number of awards throughout her career, including a Silver at the New York Festivals Radio Awards in 2015 for a feature about teaching sex and hygiene to young people with intellectual disabilities. This fits in with RNZ’s remit to serve diverse audiences, including remote communities and regions, and tell stories that would otherwise not be heard elsewhere.

Gosset was also one of the producers of White Silence which won Gold at the New York Festivals Radio Awards in 2020. The co-production with Stuff recognised the 40th anniversary of the Erebus crash. Gosset says working on the podcast was an opportunity to share an important New Zealand story with a new audience.

“Working on audio is a very intimate experience where often it feels like you are the only person hearing the project, and during the production, you are. But once the podcast is completed, getting an award is an indication that others have heard and connected with the story.”

From a career perspective, Gosset says awards encourage those in the industry to improve their techniques and keep the audience in mind.

Listen to the first episode of White Silence or head the full series.