IHeartRadio Podcast Awards

The iHeartRadio Podcast Awards is a podcast awards show that celebrates podcasts heard throughout the year across iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide and on iHeartRadio, iHeartMedia's digital music platform. Founded by iHeartRadio in 2019, the event recognizes the most popular podcasters and podcasts over the past year. Winners are chosen in a few categories by judges, but the majority of categories are voted on by fans through the iHeart Podcast Awards website and social media. The inaugural event was held on January 18, 2019, at the iHeartRadio Theater in Los Angeles.^[1]

iHeartRadio Podcast Award
Current: 2020 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards
Awarded for	Performance on podcast platforms, popularity among fans, and recognition in the podcasting industry, recognizing podcasters and podcast providers
Country	United States
First award	2019
Website	https://www.iheart.com/podcast-awards/
Television/radio coverage
Network	iHeartRadio (2019–2021) LiveXLive (2020)

Most recent iHeartRadio Music Award winners

← 2019 January 17, 2020 2021 →

Award Podcast of the Year Best Branded Podcast Winner The Dropout (produced by ABC NewsZABC) Songland (produced by NBC) Award Best Overall Host – Male Best Overall Host – Female Winner Aaron Mahnke (host of Lore) Nora McInerny (host of Terrible, Thanks for Asking)

Previous Podcast of the Year "Slowburn" Podcast of the Year "The Dropout"

Overview

Fans vote on their favorite podcasts through the iHeart Podcast Awards website and social media over the course of a couple of months leading up to the ceremony. A panel of judges who are blue-ribbon podcast industry leaders determines the podcast winners of several of the categories.^[2][3][4]

List of ceremonies

Year	Date	Venue	Host city	Host(s)	Podcast of the Year winner	Broadcaster	Ref.
2019	January 18, 2019	iHeartRadio Theater	Los Angeles	Lenard McKelvey Holly Frey Bobby Bones Mario Lopez[5]	Slow Burn produced by Slate Magazine and hosted by Leon Neyfakh	iHeartRadio	[6][7]
2020	January 17, 2020	iHeartRadio Theater	Los Angeles	Will Ferrell	The Dropout produced by ABC News and hosted by Rebecca Jarvis	LiveXLive iHeartRadio	[8]
2021	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	[9]

Award categories

The categories cover an array of genres, including fiction, religion and spirituality, music, and political podcasts. Categories voted on by judges are indicated with a double dagger (‡).

Current award categories

• Best Podcast of the Year (2019–present) ‡
• Best Comedy Podcast (2019–present)
• Best Crime Podcast (2019–present)
• Best Music Podcast (2019–present)
• Best News Podcast (2019–present)
• Best Sports & Recreation Podcast (2020–present)
• Best Overall Host – Male (2020–present)
• Best Overall Host – Female (2020–present)
• Best Business & Finance Podcast (2020–present)
• Best Pop Culture Podcast (2020–present)
• Best Food Podcast (2019–present)
• Best Wellness & Fitness Podcast (2019–present)
• Best History Podcast (2019–present)
• Best Kids & Family Podcast (2019–present)
• Best Fiction Podcast (2020–present)
• Best Science Podcast (2020–present)
• Best Technology Podcast (2020–present)
• Best Ad Read (2020–present)
• Best Political Podcast (2020–present)
• Best TV & Film Podcast (2020–present)
• Best Spanish Language Podcast (2020–present)
• Best Advice/Inspirational Podcast (2020–present)
• Best Beauty & Fashion Podcast (2020–present)
• Best Travel Podcast (2020–present)
• Best Spirituality & Religion Podcast (2020–present)
• Best Green Podcast (2020–present)
• Best Branded Podcast (2019–present) ‡

Past award categories

• Best Business & Entrepreneurship Podcast (2019)
• Best Entertainment & TV Podcast (2019)
• Best Curiosity (2019)
• Best Health & Fitness Podcast (2019)
• Best LGBTQ Podcast (2019)
• Most Bingeable (2019)
• Best Multi-Cultural Podcast (2019)
• Best Scripted Podcast (2019)
• Best Sports Podcast (2019)
• Best Science & Tech Podcast (2019)
• Breakout Podcast (2019) ‡

Special awards

Podcast Innovator Award

• 2019: Marc Smerling^[10]
• 2020: Life Kit^[8]
• 2021: TBD

Podcast Pioneer Award

• 2019: NPR^[11]
• 2020: Tenderfoot TV's Payne Lindsey and Donald Albright^[8]
• 2021: TBD

Social Impact Award

• 2019: Ear Hustle^[6]
• 2020: 1619^[8]
• 2021: TBD

Multiple wins and nominations

Most wins (as of 2020)

Rank	1st – 3rd
Podcast	Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend	Reply All	The Breakfast Club
Total	2

Most nominations (as of 2020)

Rank	1st	2nd – 6th					7th & 8th
Podcast	Revisionist History	The Daily	The Joe Rogan Experience	Atlanta Monster	Slow Burn	Stuff You Should Know	Dirty John	The Ron Burgundy Podcast
Total	5	4					3

Performance

Year	Performers (chronologically)
2019	N/A
2020	Gavin DeGraw
2021	TBD

See also

• iHeartRadio Music Awards
• iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards
• iHeartRadio Music Festival