About the Signal Awards
The Signal Awards is mission-focused on uplifting the podcast medium by recognizing the most potent, meaningful and unprecedented audio projects being made today. Setting this standard of excellence is The Signal Awards Judging Academy, an esteemed collective made up of the architects, instigators and trailblazers of the medium. Once a year, The Academy collectively listens closely to thousands of hours of audio, selecting the strongest work to be elevated to the status of award-winning.
Signal accepts entries as Shows, Limited Series & Specials, Individual Episodes and Brand Storytelling across a broad spectrum of genre and craft categories including Best Host; Most Innovative Audio Experience; Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion; Best Video Podcast; News & Politics; Best Editing; and many more. You can find a detailed breakdown of our award categories here.
Each fall, The Signal Awards present Gold, Silver and Bronze Winners, and the listening public votes for their favorite Finalists to take home the additional coveted honor of Listener’s Choice Award in each category. Garnering more than 170,000 public votes in just two weeks from nearly 75,000 fans around the world, 2024’s Listener’s Choice Awards drew the largest voting body in The Signal Awards’ history, reaffirming the growing significance that podcasts and their creators have in listeners’ life patterns and daily routines.
Make Your Podcast Required Listening
Regardless of platform or production budget, we know that listeners are drawn to charismatic voices. Which is why this year at Signal, we are introducing new ways to honor the creators and personalities who have become synonymous with great podcasts.
New additions to Signal’s categories in 2025 include separate Best Host categories in News and Politics, Culture, and Documentary to reflect the skills required of hosts in these genres to capture and move audiences. We are opening more avenues for fiction podcasts, such as Best Voice Acting. We are also expanding our categories for Video Podcasts to include Best Editing for a Video Podcast, Most Innovative Video Podcast, as well as new honors for Thought Leadership and Local News. Enter the 4th Annual Signal Awards and Make Your Podcast Required Listening.
Our Partners
New this year, The Signal Awards has partnered with industry-leading platforms and publishers including YouTube, Dolby, TED, CBC, Good Tape, On Air Fest, AIR, The Podglomerate and Sounds Profitable. These organizations join a growing cohort of aligned organizations amplifying the award’s honors which include Max, Podcast Movement, The Podglomerate and Pod People.