Romesh Ranganathan and Frank Skinner are among the nominees for this year’s Broadcasting Press Guild (BPG) Awards, chosen by journalists who write about TV and radio.
The BPG Awards – given only for work commissioned in the UK – are highly prized by programme-makers because they are selected independently by TV and radio correspondents, critics and previewers.The 44th annual BPG awards, sponsored by Virgin TV, will be held at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on Friday March 16th 2018.
Former Labour leader Ed Miliband is among the nominees for the BPG’s first ever award for Podcast of the Year, acknowledging the growth and quality of downloadable audio. Miliband co-hosts a podcast with DJ Geoff Lloyd. Romesh Ranganathan is up for the same award for his podcast Hip Hop Saved My Life and Jon Ronson is nominated for his podcast The Butterfly Effect.
Comics Andy Hamilton (BBC Radio 4) and Frank Skinner (Absolute Radio) have been shortlisted as BPG Radio Broadcaster of the Year. The other nominees include A. Dot (aka Dotty), who presents the 1Xtra Breakfast Show, and Emma Barnett, for BBC Radio 5 Live’s The Emma Barnett Show and BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour.
Elsewhere Hilary Mantel’s series of The Reith Lectures on BBC Radio 4 is nominated as BPG Radio Programme of the Year, alongside Neil MacGregor’s Living with the Gods (BBC Radio 4), the Steve Lamacq show (BBC 6 Music) and Classic FM’s Saturday Night at the Movies with Andrew Collins.
The full nominations for BPG Radio Programme of the Year are:
- Hilary Mantel’s The Reith Lectures, BBC Radio 4
- Living with the Gods with Neil MacGregor, BBC Radio 4
- Saturday Night At The Movies with Andrew Collins, Classic FM
- Steve Lamacq, BBC Radio 6 Music
The nominations for BPG Radio Broadcaster of the Year are:
- A. Dot aka Dotty, rapper & broadcaster – BBC 1Xtra Breakfast Show
- Andy Hamilton – Andy Hamilton Sort of Remembers – BBC Radio 4
- Emma Barnett – BBC Radio 5 Live The Emma Barnett Show, Radio 4 Woman’s Hour
- Frank Skinner – The Frank Skinner Show – Absolute Radio
Recognising the growth in popularity and quality of online audio productions, the BPG is introducing an award for Podcast of the Year.
The nominees for the first BPG Podcast of the Year award are:
- Hip Hop Saved My Life with Romesh Ranganathan (Audioboom, Mr Box Productions)
- Reasons to be Cheerful with Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd (Cheerful Podcast)
- Remainiacs (Podmasters)
- The Butterfly Effect with Jon Ronson (Audible)
Previous winners of the BPG Radio Broadcaster award include Alistair Cook, Sir Terry Wogan, Jane Garvey, Nick Ferrari, James O’Brien, Brian Redhead, Sandi Toksvig and Sir Mark Tully.
The 44th annual BPG Awards lunch, sponsored by Virgin TV, will be attended by the winners, BPG members and leading broadcasting executives on 16th March 2018.
Picture: Andy Hollingworth.
