Entertainment

Clara Amfo and Laura Whitmore among nominees at Audio and Radio Industry Awards

The ceremony celebrates networks, podcast and presenters across 25 categories.
The ceremony celebrates networks, podcast and presenters across 25 categories.

BBC Radio 1 presenter Clara Amfo, Love Island host Laura Whitmore and punk rocker Yungblud are among the nominees at the Audio and Radio Industry Awards (Arias).

This year’s shortlist also features radio hosts Zoe Ball and Chris Evans, Steve Coogan’s fictional broadcaster Alan Partridge, former footballer and pundit Ian Wright and rapper George The Poet.

Celebrating audio and radio across 25 categories, the Arias will stream live from London’s West End, hosted by Kiss presenters Jordan Banjo and Perri Kiely, on Wednesday May 26.

Laura Whitmore pregnancy
Laura Whitmore (Nigel French/PA)

Zoe Ball on BBC Radio 2, Greg James on Radio 1, Chris Evans on Virgin Radio and Fleur East on Hits Radio will compete for the best music breakfast show award.

The Radio Times moment of the year award shines a spotlight on the biggest on-air events of the past 12 months.

Those featured include Annie Nightingale marking 50 years of broadcasting on BBC Radio 1, Amfo’s impassioned response to the Black Lives Matter movement, Whitmore reacting to the death of friend and fellow Love Island host Caroline Flack on BBC Radio 5Live, and Wright remembering his childhood teacher Mr Pigden on Desert Island Discs.

The 2020 special award category marks content that supported audiences during the coronavirus pandemic, and includes BBC News’s Coronavirus Newscast podcast, HMP Wandsworth’s prison media and literacy project Radio Wanno, and Magic Radio’s Magic With The Musicals.

This Time With Alan Partridge
Alan Partridge (Andy Seymour/BBC/PA)

In the comedy category, Alan Partridge: From The Oasthouse will compete against The Jason Manford Show on Absolute Radio and Sketchtopia on BBC Radio 4, among others.

Kiss presenters and awards hosts Banjo and Kiely are nominated for best new show, alongside The Yungblud Podcast via the BBC.

Independent radio stations such as NTS in east London and National Prison Radio are also recognised, as well as podcasts including George The Poet – Have You Heard George’s Podcast?, The High Performance Podcast and The Bellingcat Podcast.

Elsewhere on the shortlist, Absolute Radio Network, BBC Radio 1 and 4, Magic Radio and TalkSport Network are vying for the national station or network of the year award.

This will be the fifth annual Arias. Prior to 2016 they were known as The Sony Radio Academy Awards, which started in 1983.