The 2015 PPI Radio Awards winners were announced tonight at a ceremony in the Radisson Blu Hotel, Galway.
The ceremony, which came to Galway for the first time after many years in Kilkenny’s Lyrath Estate Hotel, was attended by over 700 guests from both in front of and behind the microphone from both the North and South of Ireland.
The Awards were presented by comedian and actor Barry Murphy of RTÉ TV’s Après Match and Irish Pictorial Weekly.
The party will go on late into the the night tonight after the awarding of the prizes to the best and brightest in the Irish radio business.
The top awards tonight were: Full Service Station of the Year for 2015, which went to state broadcaster RTÉ Radio 1, Music Station of the Year, which was won by UTV-owned FM104 and Local Station of the Year, which went up North – to BBC Radio Foyle.
Aside from these station of the year awards, the accolades were mostly dominated by the Communicorp family of stations, with Today FM (4 golds), Newstalk (3), 98FM (3), Spin 1038 (2), Spin South West (1) and youngest sibling TXFM (1) all taking home prizes.
Radio DJ of the year this year is the host of the biggest drivetime show in Dublin, Steve K of Spin 1038, while Luke O’Faolain – who recently moved from Beat 102-103 to iRadio – took the prize for Best Newcomer.
Despite the typo in the official programme, which was helpfully pointed out early on by 98FM’s Adrian Kennedy (among others), nobody there tonight seemed to “resent” the awards!
Oops #PPI15 – why do all these people RESENT presenting the awards!!! Best of luck to all in @98FM at radio awards! pic.twitter.com/RqN9J8SbzA
— Adrian Kennedy (@AdrianFKennedy) October 9, 2015
Speaking at the event, Chair of the PPI Radio Awards committee, Sean Murtagh, said:
“As we turn 15, I think we can safely say that the PPIs have become the Irish radio industry accolade which everyone strives to achieve. Because of the unique way in which the PPIs are judged – with judges drawn from the radio industry at home and abroad – winning a PPI award, or even just making the shortlist, is a stamp of approval from your peers to say that you are making outstanding radio.”
Michael O’Keeffe Chief Executive of BAI said:
“The BAI is again delighted to support the PPI Radio Awards. The awards recognise the high quality programming that radio stations provide to the listening audience around the country. One of the key strategic objectives of the BAI is to support the production of high quality Irish radio and television content. Our ongoing partnership with the PPI Radio Awards together with the continuing success of the Sound & Vision II, the Broadcasting Funding Scheme, facilitate the achievement of this objective.”
This years Awards saw a massive 25% increase in entries. These 780 entries (all made by the radio industry) were then judged by a team of 83 judges. They were divided up into 26 panels with a total of 22 hours listening.
At a ceremony in mid September four new members of the Hall of Fame were inducted. They are:
Gerry Anderson RIP – BBC Radio Foyle (accepted by Colum Arbuckle)
Pat Balfe – Communicorp
Des Cahill – RTÉ Radio 1
Henry Condon RIP – Independent Broadcasters of Ireland (accepted by Becky Condon)
The 2015 PPI Radio Awards winners are:
| Category A1 General Music Programme | Dermot & Dave – Today FM |
| Category A2 Specialist Music
Programme |
American Country Show with Stephen Keogh – kfm |
| Category A3 Breakfast Programme | The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show – Today FM |
| Category A4 Music Special/Music Event | ALT – Spin South West |
| Category A5 New Irish Music/Musical Talent | The Listening Post – Blood Harmonies – 105.2 TXFM |
| Category B1 News Story | To Catch a Paedophile – The Neil Prendeville Show – Red FM |
| Category B2 News Bulletin | 98FM News – 98FM |
| Category B3 News Programme | This Week – RTÉ Radio 1 |
| Category B4 Current Affairs Programme | Cork Today – C103 |
| Category B5 Sports Story | Goodbye King Henry – Today FM |
| Category B6 Sports Programme | Off the Ball – Newstalk 106-108 |
| Category C1 Documentary | Con Carey and the Twelve Apostles – RTÉ Radio 1 Documentary on One |
| Category C2 Music Documentary | From Dancehall Days to Boogie Nights – RTÉ Radio 1 |
| Category C3 Short Feature | The Four Elements: Water – Futureproof – Newstalk 106-108 |
| Category C4 Magazine Programme | The John Toal Show – BBC Radio Ulster |
| Category C5 Drama | Left Behind – Shannonside Northern Sound |
| Category C6 Specialist Speech Programme | Phoenix from the Ashes – The Rise and Restoration of St. Mel’s Cathedral, Longford – Shannonside Northern Sound |
| Category C7 Craoltóireacht le Gaeilge | Muidne agus na Manannaigh – BBC Radio Ulster |
| Category C8 Interactive Speech Programme | The Niall Boylan Show – Classic Hits 4FM |
| Category C9 Comedy Programme | The Blame Game – BBC Radio Ulster |
| Category D1 Community/ Social Action | Galway Bay FM Radiothon – Making a Difference – Galway Bay FM |
| Category D2 On-Air Competition | The Drop – Spin 103.8 |
| Category D3 Station Imaging | FM104 |
| Category D4 Entertainment Inserts | Gift Grub – The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show – Today FM |
| Category D5 Innovation | The Feed – RTÉ Radio 1 Extra |
| Category E1 Music Presenter of the Year | Dara Quilty – 98FM |
| Category E2 Radio DJ | Steve K – Spin 103.8 |
| Category E3 Specialist Music Broadcaster of the Year | Stephen McCauley – BBC Radio Foyle |
| Category E4 News Broadcaster of the Year | Richard Crowley – RTÉ Radio 1 |
| Category E5 News Reporter of the Year | Jordan Moates – Downtown Radio |
| Category E6 Sports Broadcaster of the Year | Joe Molloy – Newstalk |
| Category E7 Speech Broadcaster of the Year | Damien O’Reilly – RTÉ Radio 1 |
| Category E8 Newcomer Award | Luke O’Faolain – Beat 102-103 |
Outstanding Achievement Awards were presented to RTÉ Radio 1 for The Road to the Rising & 98FM for The Naked Breakfast with The Ray Foley Show.