Finalists in the 31st annual Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAs) were announced today including more than 200 from country and provincial radio stations, with Canberra, Hobart, Coffs Harbour, Newcastle, Warrnabool, Bathurst, Gosford, Port Macquarie and more well represented.
Some of the biggest names in radio are vying for Best On Air Team. Two-time winners in the Metro FM category Kate, Tim and Marty (Kate Ritchie, Tim Blackwell & Marty Sheargold, NOVA Entertainment 2016, 2017) are amongst the finalists that include six-time winners Kyle Sandilands and Jackie Henderson, (The Kyle and Jackie O Show, KIIS 106.5, Sydney); Jonesy and Amanda (Brendan Jones and Amanda Keller, WSFM, Sydney, winners in 2012 and 2014); Fifi, Fev & Byron (Fifi Box, Brendan Fevola & Byron Cooke, Fox FM, Melbourne); Chrissie, Sam & Browny (Chrissie Swan, Sam Pang, Jonathan Brown & Dean Thomas, NOVA Entertainment, Melbourne) and Kennedy Molloy (Jane Kennedy & Mick Molloy, Triple M Network, SCA).
The Metropolitan Best On Air Team AM title will be a contest between Ray Hadley's Continuous Call Team (2GB, Sydney, Macquarie Media Limited, winners for the past two years); Breakfast with David Penberthy & Will Goodings (FIVEaa, Adelaide, NOVA Entertainment); Drive with Mark Allen & David Schwarz (Macquarie Sports Radio, Melbourne, Macquarie Media Limited); Laurel, Gary & Mark; (Laurel Edwards, Gary Clare & Mark Hine, 4KQ, Brisbane, ARN), and 2GB's first female news/talk duo, Afternoons with Erin Molan & Natalie Peters (Sydney, Macquarie Media).
The competitive Best Talk Presenter category features three finalists from Macquarie Media Limited – Ray Hadley (2GB), Ben Fordham (2GB) and Neil Mitchell (3AW) up against Luke Bona (Triple M Sydney, SCA). Fordham and Bona are also in the running for two other awards - Best Current Affairs Presenter and the Brian White Award for Radio Journalism.
In the Best Entertainment Presenter category, NOVA's Kate Ritchie is up against her drive show co-host Tim Blackwell and Sam Pang (NOVA 100, Melbourne), with Lawrence Mooney (Triple M Sydney) also in the running. Best Music Presenter finalists are Melissa Doyle (smoothfm); Gordie Waters (KIIS 106.5, Sydney); Tim Lee (hit92.9 Perth, SCA) and Kent "Smallzy" Small (Nova Network).
The metro finalists for Best Newcomer on Air are Paralympic Gold medallist Dylan Alcott (Hit Network, SCA); comedian Zoe Norton-Lodge, known for her work with The Chaser team and The Checkout (Triple M, Sydney); Jack Post (Gold 104.3, Melbourne) and Rebecca Morse (half of the Bec & Cosi breakfast show on Hit107, Adelaide, SCA).
Entries were received from 260 metropolitan and regional radio stations across Australia. Stations outside the metropolitan areas are well represented at the ACRAs with more than 200 finalists from country and provincial stations. This year the gala black-tie event will be held at the Royal International Convention Centre Brisbane on Saturday, 19 October and will start at 6.00 pm (red carpet 5.00 pm).
The chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner, said: "Live radio is one of the most demanding of mediums, so congratulations to all the talented finalists across metropolitan and regional Australia on their outstanding work. The radio awards keep getting bigger and better every year. We look forward to hosting the 31st annual event in Brisbane."
Organised by Commercial Radio Australia, the national awards cover 39 categories. Winners are announced in each category across four areas: metropolitan, provincial, country and syndication/production company and encompass all areas of commercial radio broadcasting including news, talk, sport, music and entertainment. The ACRAs differ from television's Logie Awards in that they are peer judged by industry members. The ACRAs follow the Radio Alive 2019 conference, which will be held at the Royal International Convention Centre on Friday 18 October.
A complete list of the 2019 ACRAs finalists follows.
