The 15th annual Podcast Awards is upon us please review the new rules for 2020 -- we hope this change will create an opportunity for more shows to win a podcast award.

The Podcast Awards are open to all shows globally. We encourage shows from around the world to participate in the podcast awards stand and be recognized.

Official Timeline

  • Podcaster Registration Period, Feb 1- July 31

  • Listener Nomination Period, July 1-July 31

  • Slate Announcement Aug. 8

  • Slate Voting, August 9 - September 13

  • Podcast Awards Ceremony, In Conjunction with International Podcast Day. Live Sept 30th @ 6PM PST

SPIRIT OF THE PODCAST AWARDS

It's the spirit of the Podcast Awards for individual shows to work with their audiences independently to ask for nominations for a Podcast Award. That said, shows often collaborate -- aka team up with other shows -- to get each of their audiences to nominate a specific slate of shows and maximize the number of listener nominations. Networks are allowed to work together with the following caveat that applies to all.

The podcast awards committee reserves the right to disqualify any show or network of shows the committee feels violates the spirit of the Podcast Awards or bring discredit to the awards or the process. The Podcast Awards committee decision on disqualification will not come lighty but will be final, a disqualified show can appeal disqualification in writing within 48 hours to podcast@podcastconnect.com. Disqualification will result in forfeiture of the registration fee and the Podcast Awards committee may and can invoke multi-year suspensions from future participation.

FORBIDDEN ACTIVITIES:

Expressly forbidden are automated program, web assist templates that interact with the Podcast Awards site, web overlays, bookmarklets; and no nomination tool or macro is allowed. The podcast committee reserves the right to revise and amend forbidden activity details at any time throughout the awards process.

ALLOWED ACTIVITY

Podcasters can and should provide instructions in their shows and on their sites instructing their audiences on how to register and nominate their podcast.

NOMINATION RULES AND ELIGIBILITY

  • Any show podcasting on or before July 1, 2020, with a minimum of 10 published episodes is eligible to register and be nominated for the 2020 Podcast Awards.

  • Legacy Shows as listed on the Legacy Page are not eligible to win a category podcast award. If a legacy show has not yet won a People's Choice Podcast Award the show will be automatically registered to participate in the People's Choice Category.

  • All registered shows will automatically be eligible to be nominated in the People's Choice Category. Any show wishing to be eligible to be nominated can register via the registration page until the nomination closing date and pay via PayPal the $25 registration fee.

  • Shows that do not register are not eligible to participate. The registration fee is non-refundable.

THE REGISTRATION PERIOD

The 2020 registration window is Feb 1 to July 31. Note: Be aware that the listener nomination period opens July 1 and your show will not be added or shown on the nomination page until you register.

THE NOMINATION PERIOD

Listeners can register on the Podcast Awards site and then nominate their favorite registered shows through a web-based form between July 1 and July 31. Be aware that once a nomination has been made in a specific category, that category will be closed to the nominator and no changes can be made. Listeners have the full 30 days to nominate a show in each of the categories.

PODCAST AWARDS SLATE DETERMINATION

The slate of nominated shows to be voted on will be determined by the number of nominations each show receives during the nomination period. The nomination committee -- made up of three Podcast Awards team members -- will review the top 10 nominated shows, validate eligibility and certify the slate to be announced no later than Aug. 8. Each category will have up to 10 eligible shows to be voted on.

PODCAST AWARDS VOTING

The Podcast Awards voting team will be made up as follows:

  • The Podcast Awards Committee will invite journalists, podcast thought leaders, legacy podcasters, sponsors and individuals of the committee’s choosing to vote, not to exceed 250 participants.

  • Through random selection, 500 of the 2020 registered podcasters will be asked to review and vote with a backup pool of registered podcasters to ensure 400 podcasters cast ballots.

  • Through random selection, 5000 registered listeners who volunteered to vote during registration will be asked to review and vote with a backup pool of registered listeners to ensure 4000 listeners cast ballots.

This voter pool of 5750 podcasters, listeners, journalists, thought leaders and sponsors will independently review and vote to determine a winner in each category. In the event of a voting tie, the show with the most nominations will be awarded the category.

Final voting results will be verified by One Technologies and submitted to the Podcast Committee. In the spirit of the Podcast Awards, vote totals will not be posted, nor will they be revealed. Shows that make the slate are all equally honored for having an engaged audience.

2020 PODCAST AWARDS CEREMONY

The Podcast Awards ceremony will be held in Conjunction with International Podcast Day in and around Sept. 30, during a one-hour segment to be announced. The show will be produced live.

AWARDS PREPARATION

All shows that make the final slate are required to submit a 90-second maximum acceptance video on the premise that they have won no later than Sept. 23. The video shall be in mp4 or mov HD format @ 720 or 1080. It will be submitted through an online submission form that we will be made available via email when the final slate is announced.

If the final slate nominee fails to submit their 90-second acceptance speech and is the winner the podcast will forfeit and the award will go to the second place show. Do not let down the listener who nominated you by not submitting your winning video.