Anderson Cooper, Audie Cornish, Bowen Yang, Keke Palmer, Oprah Winfrey, Paul Giamatti, Penn Badgley, Sam Smith, Questlove & More Top The List For Third Annual Honors, In Addition to 99% Invisible, Death, Sex & Money, Diaries of the War on Gaza, Hysterical, In The Dark: The Runaway Princesses, On Being with Krista Tippett, Popcast, The Nightingale of Iran, The Paris Review & Numerous Other Series

Club Shay Shay, Carefully Reckless, Lovett or Leave It, What Now? with Trevor Noah, The Prof G Pod, She Pivots & More Mark First-Time Finalists For New Categories of Athletes, Artists & Designers, Comedians, Curators, Business People & Entrepreneurs Shaping Culture

All Podcast Fans Are Invited to Vote For Listener's Choice Awards in Every Category, Starting Today Through Oct 17th: https://vote.signalaward.com

Winners Announced Oct 29th, Winners Party Nov 12th

NEW YORK, October 2nd, 2024 – The Signal Awards has announced the Finalists for its Third Annual honors, recognizing the podcasts that define culture. As the only distinction that celebrates the most potent, meaningful and unprecedented audio projects being made today, The Signal Awards represents a diverse and discerning range of storytellers across both the content spectrum and creator ecosystem – mainstream and independent, underground and above the fold.

Leading the list of 2024 Finalists is on-mic talent such as Anderson Cooper, Audie Cornish, Bowen Yang, Esther Perel, Jess Hilarious, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Keke Palmer, Matt Rogers, Michele Norris, Oprah Winfrey, Paul Giamatti, Penn Badgley, Sam Smith, Shannon Sharpe, The Kid Mero, Trevor Noah, Questlove and Will Smith, as well as the newest generations of bingeable listens, audio documentaries, timely conversations and more from series like 99% Invisible (SiriusXM), Beyond All Repair (WBUR/ZSP), Broomgate: A Curling Scandal (CBC), Death, Sex & Money (Slate), Hysterical (Wondery), Diaries of the War on Gaza (Al Jazeera), Edge of Reason (The Atlantic), Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant (PBS), In The Dark: The Runaway Princesses (The New Yorker), Long Shadow: In Guns We Trust (Campside), Popcast (The New York Times), The Competition (Wondery), The Paris Review (The Paris Review) and Today, Explained (Vox), and independent productions including On Being with Krista Tippett, The Nightingale of Iran, Twenty Thousand Hertz, Voices in the River and more. 

See The Signal Awards' complete list of 2024 Finalists HERE, and find an overview of this year's highlights below

All Finalists are eligible to win two of the podcast industry's prestigious awards: a Signal Award and The Listener's Choice Award. With demarcations for Gold, Silver and Bronze, each Signal Award is selected by the Signal Awards Judging Academy, an esteemed and newly expanded cohort of the architects, instigators and trailblazers of the medium, who have together reviewed thousands of hours of audio submissions from the US, Australia, Canada, China, UAE, UK, Vietnam and beyond. Members include Jay Shetty (Host, On Purpose with Jay Shetty), Dan Taberski (Host, Hysterical), Leon Neyfakh (Co-Founder and President, Prologue Projects and Co-Creator of Slow Burn), Shima Oliaee (Co-Host, Dolly Parton's America and Founder, Shirazad Productions) and myriad other creators, in addition to Jonathan Hirsch (VP Global Podcasts, Sony Music), Chris Bannon (SVP, Head of Global Audio at Condé Nast), Jessica Cordova Kramer (CEO & Founder, Lemonada Media) and other industry leaders at Acast, CNN, KCRW, NPR, QCODE, Reductress, Vox Media, Stitcher and more.

The Listener's Choice Award is voted on by podcast fans from around the world, and drew more than 130,000 public votes in 2023. Voting for the 2024 Signal Listener's Choice Awards is open now at https://vote.signalaward.com, and will close on October 17, 2024, at 11:59pm PDT. All winners will be announced on October 29th, and then celebrated with a cocktail party at The Signal Awards' new venue of Public Records(Brooklyn, NY), on November 12th. 

"With more and more incredible shows being made, listeners and the industry are looking for a standard-bearer of excellence," said Jemma Rose Brown, General Manager of The Signal Awards. "Our Judging Academy's discerning selections this year represent the most renowned artists, organizations and storytellers shaping the podcast medium today. It is an honor to celebrate their work."

"I loved how the Signal Awards exposed me to shows that weren't on my radar," added Lauren González, Senior Manager of Programming at NPR, and member of the Signal Awards Judging Academy. "It's a great way for growing shows to gain more visibility in the industry."

In 2024, The Signal Awards is placing special focus on the podcasts that define culture. Through a new slate of categories – Athletes Shaping Culture, Artists & Designers Shaping Culture, Business People & Entrepreneurs Shaping Culture, Curators Shaping Culture, Comedians Shaping Culture – this year's Awards shine a spotlight on the people and shows that have changed habits, rewritten the script or sculpted new perspectives. Notable finalists for these fist-time honors range from Club Shay Shay, hosted by Super Bowl Champion Shannon Sharpe, to Carefully Reckless with Jess Hilarious, Crooked Media's Lovett or Leave It and What Now? with Trevor Noah, to Clever, Talkhouse Podcast, The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway, She Pivots and numerous others. 

About The Signal Awards

The Signal Awards are mission-focused on uplifting the podcast medium by recognizing the most potent, meaningful and unprecedented audio projects being made today. Now in its third year, entrants to The Signal Awards are reviewed by The Signal Awards Judging Academy, an esteemed collective made up of the architects, instigators and trailblazers of the medium. The Signal Awards set a standard for editorial excellence by honoring the organizations, artists, mavericks, brands and storytellers who are shaping the podcast industry. 2024 Signal Award Winners will be announced October 29th, 2024.

Find The Signal Awards Online

Website: signalaward.com

Facebook: facebook.com/signalawards

Twitter: twitter.com/signalawards

Instagram: instagram.com/signalawards

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/signal-awards

2024 Finalist Highlights

Finalists for Best Host (Shows):

The Assignment with Audie Cornish, from CNN

Apple News Today, from Apple News

Your Mama's Kitchen, from Audible and Higher Ground

Dark History, from Audioboom Studios and Align PR

Latinos Out Loud, from Latinos Out Loud

How to Fail with Elizabeth Day, from Sony Music Entertainment

Oprah's Super Soul, from Warner Bros. Discovery and OWN

Reality with The King, from QCODE

Tosh Show, from iHeartPodcasts

Finalists for Best Documentary (Shows):

Monumental, from PRX

Finally! A Show About Women That Isn't a Thinly Veiled Aspirational Nightmare, from Bradley Cooper's Lea Pictures, iHeartPodcasts and Little Everywhere

Classic Black, from Crewest Studio

Criminal, from Vox Media Podcast Network

The Pirate of Prague, from Apple TV+

Magnificent Jerk, from Apple TV+

A Field Guide To Gay Animals, from Canadaland

HUMO: Murder and Silence in El Salvador, from Sonoro

Face-Off: The U.S. vs China, from Airwave

Pretendians, from Canadaland

Finalists for Best Interview Podcast (Individual Episodes):

Death, Sex & Money, from Slate

The Lede: On the Ground in Gaza With Arwa Damon, from New Lines Magazine

All There Is with Anderson Cooper, from CNN

Podcrushed, from Lemonada Media

Apple News in Conversation, from Apple News

Your Mama's Kitchen, from Audible and Higher Ground

Time Sensitive, from The Slowdown

Marc Summers Unwraps, from Believe Limited

Finalists for Best News and Politics Podcast (Limited Series):

Uncounted Millions, from MSNBC Audio

Chameleon: The Michigan Plot, from Campside Media

Master Plan, from The Lever 

The True Story of America's Supremely Messed-Up Immigration System, from Freakonomics Radio

90 Days with Ana Marie Cox, from Loud Tree Media

The Modi Raj, from The Economist

If All Else Fails, from North Country Public Radio and Zach Hirsch

Finalists for Best Writing (Limited Series & Shows):

The Nightingale of Iran, from PRX 

Foundering: The OpenAI Story, from Bloomberg

Searching for Hobey Baker, from ESPN

SNAFU with Ed Helms, from FilmNation Entertainment

Landslide, from Nuance Tales

Master Plan, from The Lever

The Digital Sisterhood, from The Digital Sisterhood

Finalists for Best Sound Design (Shows):

The Story of Hind Rajab, from Al Jazeera Digital

Ominous Thrill, from Jeff Schmidt Productions

Moriarity: The Silent Order, from Audible and Treefort Media

Weight for It, from ohitsBigRon Studios

Who's the A**, from Spiked Eggs Productions

Finalists for Best Indie Podcast (Limited Series): 

Aisha, from Silver Sound

The Unmarked Graveyard: Stories from Hart Island, from Radio Diaries

The Loud Family, from The Loud Family

Ice Cold Case, from Tenderfoot TV

Back Fires, from Alex Vincent Blumberg

Finalists for Best History Podcast (Limited Series):

Pack One Bag, from LAist Studios

The 99% Invisible Breakdown: The Power Broker, from 99 Percent Invisible

Road to Rickwood, from The MLB

Inheriting, from LAist Studios

Who Killed JFK?, from iHeartPodcasts

Finalists for Athletes Shaping Culture (Shows): 

The Other 3 Years, from Bright Sighted Podcast

Club Shay Shay, from DraftKings

Podcast P with Paul George, from Wave Sports + Entertainment

Finalists for Artists & Designers Shaping Culture (Shows):

On Creativity with Paula Wallace, from Savannah College of Art and Design

The Artist Pivot Podcast, from Boundless Audio Network

Sounds Current: Angel Island, from The Creative Imposter Studios

Finalists for Comedians Shaping Culture (Shows):

What Now? with Trevor Noah, from Spotify Studios and DayZero Productions

Carefully Reckless with Jess Hilarious, from iHeartPodcasts

Lovett or Leave It, from Crooked Media

Seek Treatment with Cat & Pat, from Headgum

Finalists for Curators Shaping Culture (Shows):

Clever, from Clever

The Stoop: Black, Queer and Free, from The Stoop

Finally! A Show About Women That Isn't a Thinly Veiled Aspirational Nightmare, from Bradley Cooper's Lea Pictures, iHeartPodcasts and Little Everywhere

Critics at Large, from CoBusinendé Nast

The GAUDS Show, from Ray Daniels Presents

Talkhouse Podcast, from Talkhouse

Belonging to Blackness, from Belonging to Blackness

Finalists for Business People & Entrepreneurs Shaping Culture (Shows):

The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway, from Vox Media Podcast Network

Masters of Scale, from WaitWhat

She Pivots, from She Pivots

Bísness School, from NBCUniversal

That Moment with Daymond John, from iHeartPodcasts

Mind the Business, from Ruby, iHeartMedia

Finalists for Best Scripted Fiction (Limited Series):

George Orwell's 1984, from Audible

The Seneschal, from Netflix

Kerri: Starring Pauline Chalamet, from Meet Cute

OMINOUS THRILL, from Jeff Schmidt Productions

Witness, from Audible

Safe Society, from Christopher Shimojima

Gripped: Second Son, from LiSTNR

Finalists for Best Kids Podcasts (Shows):

Ready, Set, Ride with Elmo, from Audible

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, from Rebel Girls

Dora's Recipe for Adventure, from Paramount

Kaboom: An Audio Adventure Podcast, from BYUradio

Grimm, Grimmer, Grimmest, from Realm

Little Kids, Big Hearts, from Sparkler Learning

Blippi & Meekah's Road Trip Podcast, from Moonbug Entertainment

Story Pirates Podcast, from Story Pirates

Finalists for Best Arts & Culture Podcast (Branded Shows & Advertising):

Samsung x Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, from SiriusXM Media and Samsung

Chanel Connects, from Sony Music Entertainment

Edge of Reason, from The Atlantic and Hauser & Wirth

Roundabout, from Acast and Nissan

About the Journey, from AT WILL MEDIA and Marriott

For more information, please contact Greg Jakubik at Shore Fire Media, (718) 522-7171