Dying for Sex won the Podcast of the Year award at the inaugural Ambies Awards, produced by The Podcast Academy. The Wondery-produced show posted its final episode 14 months ago, perhaps demonstrating how evergreen podcasts retain their currency. Dying for Sex is a show about a woman, Molly, who when diagnosed with breast cancer leaves her unhappy marriage and embarks on a series of sexual adventures to help her feel alive. The interview format is conducted by Molly’s best friend Nikki Boyer, who accepted the award.
The ceremony was live-streamed Sunday evening. The Ambies were sponsored by Amazon Music with additional support from IMDb (Gold sponsor), PRX (Silver sponsor), Tenderfoot TV (Silver sponsor) and Wondery (Silver sponsor).
The first annual ceremony was streamed live from Los Angeles, CA and hosted by standup comic, actor and writer Cameron Esposito. The evening featured awards in 23 categories and honored WTF with Marc Maron with the Governors Award which recognizes a podcast or individual for the compelling impact they’ve had on the industry; and Teenager Therapy received the Audio Impact Award which recognizes an individual or podcast that has made a significant, positive impact on its listeners.
We wondered to what extent indie podcasts and small networks might be represented in the winners list (see below). If The Podcast Academy represents podcast creators at all levels, we might expect upstart networks or unaffiliated wins. We compared the 23 winning networks (some networks won multiple awards) to the most recent Podtrac and Triton Digital ranking of top podcast publishers. In the table below, we marked (X) next to publishers which appear in either list. There are 13 of them, and 10 publishers which don’t appear in the rankers.
(In the graph above, we assign Wind of Change to Audacy, which owns Pineapple Street Studios — but that is an arguable decision considering the co-networks Crooked Media and Spotify, also listed. We also assign Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend to Stitcher, a top publisher and parent to Earwolf and Team Coco.)
Here is the entire winner list:
Podcast of The Year
Dying for Sex
Wondery
Best Business Podcast
The Heist
Center for Public Integrity
Best Comedy Podcast
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Team Coco & Earwolf
Best Documentary Podcast
I’m Not A Monster
BBC Sounds / Panorama / FRONTLINE PBS
Best Entertainment Podcast
Even the Rich
Wondery
Best Fiction Podcast
Blood Ties (Season 2)
Wondery
Best History Podcast
Driving the Green Book
Macmillan Podcasts
Best Interview Podcast
Death, Sex & Money
WNYC Studios
Best Knowledge, Science or Tech Podcast
Short Wave
NPR
Best News Podcast
Today, Explained
Vox Media Podcast Network
Best Original Score and Music Supervision
Jacked: Rise of New Jack Sound – Marcelino Villalpando
Wondery & Universal Music Group
Best Performer in Audio Fiction
The Left Right Game – Tessa Thompson
QCode
Best Personal Growth / Spirituality Podcast
On Being with Krista Tippett
On Being Studios
Best Podcast Host
Wind of Change – Patrick Radden Keefe
Pineapple Street Studios, Crooked Media, Spotify
Best Politics or Opinion Podcast
Gaining Ground: The New Georgia
Tenderfoot TV and Crooked Media
Best Production and Sound Design
The Left Right Game – Ryan Walsh, Matt Yocum, Will Files, Ryan Sullivan
QCode
Best Reporting
Wind of Change – Patrick Radden Keefe
Pineapple Street Studios, Crooked Media, Spotify
Best Scriptwriting, Fiction
Dirty Diana – Shana Feste, Jen Besser
QCode
Best Scriptwriting, Nonfiction
Wind of Change – Patrick Radden Keefe
Pineapple Street Studios, Crooked Media, Spotify
Best Society and Culture Podcast
Code Switch
NPR
Best Sports Podcast
Whistleblower
Tenderfoot TV and Whistleblower Media
Best True Crime Podcast
Dr. Death Season 2: Dr. Fata
Wondery
Best Wellness or Relationships Podcast
Therapy for Black Girls
iHeartRadio
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