RTÉ Radio has again been voted Broadcaster of the Year Award at the 2012 New York Festivals Awards in New York with finalists from 28 countries. It is the second year in a row that RTÉ Radio has won the honour. Last year, RTÉ Radio became the first Irish radio station in the award ceremony’s 55-year history to be awarded the accolade. This year’s finalists included BBC Radio, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) American Public Media, Radio France and Radio New Zealand. TV winners included CNN, HBO, The Biography Channel, ABC, ZDF (Germany), Canal Plus, BBC Worldwide, PBS and National Geographic.
RTÉ also bagged 25 awards for individual programmes on Radio 1 and RTÉ Lyric fm. The awards include 13 for programmes in RTÉ Radio 1’s Documentary on One series, three for Drama on One, two for the station’s Curious Ear series and one for Athena Media’s five-part series Death of an Empire, which saw Irish Times journalist Seamus Martin explore 25 years since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the rise of modern Russia. The series, produced by Helen Shaw (pictured above), won gold in the history section.
Newstalk won gold in the best writing section for Flights of Fancy, written and produced by freelance producer Zoe Comyns. The radio play, broadcast on St Patrick’s Day, charts the life of balloonist Richard Crosbie and starred Alan Stanford and Frank Kelly. RTÉ lyric fm won six programme awards, including a silver medal for Piano Keys, an educational podcast series that saw Professor Réamonn Keary, in conversation with Liz Nolan, guide music students through the 2012 Royal Irish Academy of Music Local Centre Piano Examinations.
98FM won a bronze for its Dermot and Dave in the best comedy/humour personality category and Classic Hits 4fm also won bronze for Rhoda’s Story in the best human interest category.
