BBC news presenters Jeremy Vine, Martha Kearney and Eddie Mair have been shortlisted with LBC’s James O’Brien for the title BPG Radio Broadcaster of the Year at this year’s Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, chosen by journalists who write about TV and radio.
And Eddie Mair’s PM programme will compete with Desert Island Discs, In Our Time and Today for BPG Radio Programme of the Year. The 43rd annual BPG awards, sponsored by Virgin TV, will be presented next month at a lunch in central London.
The nominations for BPG Radio Broadcaster of the Year are:
– Martha Kearney – The World at One, BBC Radio 4 – weekdays, 1pm to 1.45pm
– Eddie Mair – PM, BBC Radio 4 – weekdays, 5pm to 6pm
– Jeremy Vine – BBC Radio 2, weekdays 12 Noon to 2pm
– James O’Brien – LBC, weekdays, 10am to 1pm
The nominations for BPG Radio Programme of the Year are:
– Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4
– In Our Time, BBC Radio 4
– PM, BBC Radio 4
– Today, BBC Radio 4
The BPG Awards – given only for work commissioned in the UK – are highly prized by programme-makers because they are selected independently by TV and radio correspondents, critics and previewers.
Previous winners of the BPG Radio Broadcaster award include Alistair Cook, Sir Terry Wogan, Jane Garvey, Nick Ferrari, Eddie Mair, John Finnemore, Sue Lawley, Jonathan Ross, Evan Davis, Charlotte Green, Simon Mayo, Sean Rafferty, Kirsty Young, Brian Redhead, Mark Tully, Sandy Toksvig, Michael Buerk, Susannah Simons and Graham Seed (Nigel Pargetter).
The Awards lunch, at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on Friday March 17th 2017, will be sponsored for the first time by Virgin TV. The event will be attended by the winners, BPG members and leading broadcasting executives.
Further information from Torin Douglas, BPG, 07860 422992
Notes to editors:
- The winners will be announced at the 43rd BPG Awards lunch in the beautifully restored Theatre Royal Drury Lane on Friday March 17th 2017, sponsored by Virgin TV. The Harvey Lee Award for outstanding contribution to broadcasting, which is in the gift of the BPG Executive Committee, will be presented as well. Winners will be informed in advance and places at the lunch are by invitation only.
- Virgin TV is part of Virgin Media, which offers four multi award-winning services across the UK and Ireland: broadband, TV, mobile phone and landline. Its interactive TV service brings live programmes, thousands of hours of on-demand programming and the best apps and games in a set-top box, as well as on-the-go for tablets and smartphones. It launched the world’s first virtual mobile network and is also one of the largest fixed-line home phone providers in the UK and Ireland. Virgin Media is part of Liberty Global, the world’s largest international cable company, with operations in more than 30 countries. www.virginmedia.com/tv
- The television nominations for this year’s BPG Awards were announced on February 16th 2017. http://www.broadcastingpressguild.org/2017/02/broadcasting-press-guild-awards-2017-television-nominations/
- The Broadcasting Press Guild was founded in 1974 and has more than a hundred members. They are journalists who specialise in covering television, radio and the media, and include critics, previewers, media correspondents and feature writers from national newspapers, broadcasters and leading trade journals and websites.
