Peter Saxon comments.
To my mind, there were three or almost four notable differences between the inaugural Australian Audio Awards and similar media awards of recent years, and I’ve been to most of them.
1 . For better or for worse, Kyle and Jackie O didn’t win a thing. Nor did they show up to mingle with their colleagues at the afterparty, like Jonesy and Amanda always did at previous awards.
2 . For the first time, the ABC was pitted against its commercial, community and SBS radio counterparts and won a slew of awards for both Radio and Podcasting. There was long-held belief amongst radio pundits that a contest of content between ABC and Commercial radio would be like comparing apples and oranges. Because of its higher funding which can be ploughed into producing content with higher staffing levels but, without the imperative of having to turn a profit, surely Auntie would sweep all before her, particularly, in the news and documentary categories. The result: The pundits were right. The ABC entity did, indeed, win the largest number of Australian Audio Awards (or Triple A’s, as I overheard someone call them). Tapt Media was also a big winner. But who cares? It’s more interesting. It’s not war. It’s a peaceful and uplifting contest of ideas and storytelling.
3 . It was quite an accomplishment by the organisers, Radioinfo, Radio Today and Mumbrella, that these awards were held at all in these turbulent times when others had abandoned the space.
3a) By necessity, these awards were made to a budget.
No sumptuous, sit-down dinner. No big-time musical acts, juggler or mariachi band. Yet, it worked like a charm if measured on the “less is more” scale.
What was more, was the heterogeneous cast of colourful nominees for the various “independent” podcast categories.
After the pre-show drinks and copious canapes came out, it was time to enter the arena to take our seats for the Australian Audio Awards presentations.
Once started, proceedings were propelled at a brisk clip by hosts Bianca Dye and Mitch Churi. They put in a herculean effort, hosting the entire show with no rostered breaks. Instead, one or the other would casually walk off stage as nature called. This dynamic duo distributed almost 60 awards between the rightful winners in about an hour and a half. Then it was back to more drinks and finger food before lights out at 10pm.
Most attendees I spoke with were pleased with the format and the energy in the room that beamed confidence in a strong and lasting future for the AUDIO sector. Despite some teething issues such as the quality of the sound (ironically, a common issue with RAWARDS in its early days) and the inadequate time allotted and production values befitting the “in memorial” segment, most felt that this first attempt laid an excellent platform going forward.
If you were there and have any constructive advice to offer, you are invited to contact management via [email protected]. It would be greatly appreciated.
Peter Saxon
Editor Emeritus
Please note, the author attended the Australian Audio Awards as a guest of the organisers. I have no direct involvement any more with Radioinfo, Radio Today, nor with Mumbrella.
Previous articles
See also, all previous Peter Saxon Comments