The winners of the eleventh edition of The Radio Awards were announced on Friday July 30 2021 in an online ceremony hosted once again by comedian Loyiso Madinga. Eighty winners were celebrated across 30 categories.

The prestigious Station of the Year awards went to Jacaranda FM (Commercial), Lotus FM (Public Broadcast Service), Hot 91.9FM (Community), and Tuks FM 107.2 (Campus).

This is the first year that Lotus FM has won the Station of the Year (SoTY) award, claiming five wins across various PBS categories. Similarly, five wins across the Commercial categories saw Jacaranda FM win its second SoTY award. Tuks FM 107.2 celebrated its seventh SoTY award in the Campus category, while Hot 91.9FM took home a fifth consecutive SoTY award in the Community radio category.

“In a year that has been marked by tremendous upheaval because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and where innovation and a can-do attitude has been a prerequisite for success, it’s been incredible to see how radio has brought communities together and kept them engaged,” says Taryn Westoby, head of Arena Events which manages The Radio Awards.

“The ongoing support and participation by radio stations in The Radio Awards has been overwhelming, and we congratulate all the winners and finalists who have played such an important part in keeping the nation informed and entertained with high-quality broadcasting.” 

Station of the Year winners were determined by the number of times they appeared as a finalist across all general categories of The Radio Awards, for the broadcast period from January 1 2020 to December 31 2020. Each of the finalists submitted a further motivation which spoke to the station’s innovation, audience growth, community outreach, general achievements, as well as their “x-factor”.

This motivation was then scored by The Radio Awards advisory panel. This score accounted for the first half of a station’s final score, and the second half of the final score was determined by a station’s success in the other categories.

Annelu le Roux, Delucia Daniels, and J SBU were announced as Bright Star inductees, while Alfie Jay, Brenda Sisane, Lance Rothschild and Mark Pilgrim were inducted into the Hall of Fame for their contributions to radio over more than 30 years.

In the two listeners' choice categories, the My Station Most Votes award went to Pretoria FM, which received the most online votes from the listening public. Pretoria FM previously received the award in 2015. The My Station Loyal Listeners award went to Hot 91.9 FM for receiving the most public votes as a ratio against its RAMS figures. This is the third My Station Loyal Listeners award for Hot 91.9 FM, after wins in 2018 and 2020.

The recipient of The Radio Awards Bursary is Thulani Mashiya.

“We would like to thank the members of The Radio Awards advisory board, members of the NAB, our adjudication panel of esteemed radio professionals, the listening public, and auditors BDO for their commitment to ensuring the radio industry is acknowledged for the hard work it does,” says Westoby.

To view the complete list of 2021 winners, please visit www.radioawards.co.za. 

>> WATCH The Radio Awards 2021 below: