2027 Competition Introduces New Crime Drama and Kids & Family Podcast Categories, Continues Championing News Excellence Through the National Press Club Award
The New York Festivals® 2027 Radio Awards®, celebrating 70 years of creative excellence in audio storytelling, is now open for entries.
New York Festivals® Radio Awards provides a global platform celebrating creative excellence and innovation in audio storytelling. Since 1957, NYF has honored exceptional work across genres and platforms, evolving alongside the ever-changing audio landscape to recognize the ideas, talent, and storytelling shaping the future of the medium.
The 2027 Radio Awards features 14 category groups, offering recognition across a wide range of disciplines, from News Programs, Documentaries, and Talk Programs to On-Air Talent, Craft, and Entertainment. Specialized category groups spotlight groundbreaking work in Digital, Podcast, and Audio Book content, while Programming Formats and Promotion/Open & ID recognize the creative standards and imaging innovation driving radio forward.
This year, NYF’s Radio Awards continues to expand its recognition of the growing audio landscape with two new categories: Crime Drama Podcast and Kids & Family Podcast and two updated categories Kids & Family Audio Book and Kids & Family Program.
“Here’s to Radio – the original social media. Awards do more than keep score: they honor creative excellence, mastery of craft, they can change your life, and they offer an opportunity to take your place in industry history!”—Rose Anderson, Executive Vice President, New York Festivals
View the 2027 NYF Radio Awards categories: HERE.
New York Festivals Radio Awards celebrated excellence in audio storytelling in 2026, honoring three Grand Tower Award winners: Sea of Lies, CBC / What’s the Story Sounds, Narrative/Documentary Podcast; Uncuffed Season 4, KALW Public Media, Social Issues Documentary; and Wolf Valley, Almost Tangible, Entertainment: Drama Program. These world-class award-winning programs raised the bar for global audio storytelling.
The 2026 New York Festivals Lifetime Achievement Award honored distinguished news leader Stephen Capus, President of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and former President of NBC News. The annual award recognizes prominent industry leaders whose accomplishments and contributions have advanced their field and left a lasting impact on the media landscape.
Through its partnership with the National Press Club, New York Festivals honors audio journalists and reporters who use their talents to tell the stories that matter and keep listeners informed. Since its inception in 2023, the National Press Club Award has recognized the top-scoring news program across the Breaking News Story Coverage, Continuing News Story Coverage, Nonfiction Series, and News Podcast categories. In 2026, Dear Rachelle (News Corp Australia/True Crime Australia) received the 2026 National Press Club Award for Investigative Journalism Podcast.
New York Festivals announced the 2026 Radio Awards winning entries at the Storytellers Gala, held May 21 at 6 p.m. EDT. The virtual event was anchored from iconic Central Park in New York City. Over 150 teams sent their acceptances from around the world and industry leaders shared behind-the-scenes commentary along with their insights into the future of storytelling. Explore the 2026 Storytellers Gala.
Celebrating the spirit of global audio in NYF Radio’s Spotlight on Radio, a short video that honors the storytellers, award-winning work, and 70-year legacy of New York Festivals.
Each year, the New York Festivals® Radio Awards welcomes entries from radio stations, networks, independent producers, publishers, and podcast creators in over 30 countries, honoring the world’s most innovative audio storytellers.
New York Festivals welcomes accomplished award-winning leaders from the world of audio content creation across six continents to join its esteemed 2027 Radio Awards Grand Jury. Invitations for this year’s jury will be sent in the coming weeks. Entries are evaluated on creativity, production quality, writing, direction, content presentation, effectiveness, and audience relevance.
“New York Festivals Radio Awards® honors the exceptional and innovative content being created today on all continents and seen across all platforms. We respect the achievements of the many talented men and women who make up the worldwide creative community. You take your work seriously, and so do we.”—Rose Anderson, Executive Vice President, New York Festivals
All award-winning entries from the 2027 competition will be proudly featured in the Radio Awards Winners’ Showcase. Visit the 2026 Radio Awards Winners’ Showcase.
The entry deadline for the 2027 Radio Awards competition is January 31, 2027. To enter the 2027 Radio Awards, visit: HERE.