Twice winner of the Booker Prize Hilary Mantel and Neil MacGregor, the former director of the British Museum, have been shortlisted for their widely-acclaimed radio series in this year’s Broadcasting Press Guild (BPG) Awards, chosen by journalists who write about TV and radio.

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.The 44th annual BPG awards, sponsored by Virgin TV, will be held at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on Friday March 16th 2018.

Former Labour leader, Ed Miliband, is among the nominees for the BPG’s first ever award for Podcast of the Year, acknowledging the growth and quality of downloadable audio.

Hilary Mantel’s series of The Reith Lectures on BBC Radio 4 is nominated as BPG Radio Programme of the Year, alongside Neil MacGregor’s Living with the Gods (BBC Radio 4), the Steve Lamacq show (BBC 6 Music) and Classic FM’s Saturday Night at the Movies with Andrew Collins.

Comics Andy Hamilton (BBC Radio 4) and Frank Skinner (Absolute Radio) have been shortlisted as BPG Radio Broadcaster of the Year. The other nominees include A. Dot (aka Dotty), who presents the 1Xtra Breakfast Show, and Emma Barnett, for BBC Radio 5 Live’s The Emma Barnett Show and BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour.

The nominations for BPG Radio Programme of the Year are:

• Hilary Mantel’s The Reith Lectures, BBC Radio 4
• Living with the Gods with Neil MacGregor, BBC Radio 4
• Saturday Night At The Movies with Andrew Collins, Classic FM
• Steve Lamacq, BBC Radio 6 Music

The nominations for BPG Radio Broadcaster of the Year are:

• A. Dot aka Dotty, rapper & broadcaster – BBC 1Xtra Breakfast Show
• Andy Hamilton – Andy Hamilton Sort of Remembers – BBC Radio 4
• Emma Barnett – BBC Radio 5 Live The Emma Barnett Show, Radio 4 Woman’s Hour
• Frank Skinner – The Frank Skinner Show – Absolute Radio

Recognising the growth in popularity and quality of online audio productions, the BPG is introducing an award for Podcast of the Year.

The nominees for the first BPG Podcast of the Year award are:

• Hip Hop Saved My Life with Romesh Ranganathan (Audioboom, Mr Box Productions)
• Reasons to be Cheerful with Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd (Cheerful Podcast)
• Remainiacs (Podmasters)
• The Butterfly Effect with Jon Ronson (Audible)

Previous winners of the BPG Radio Broadcaster award include Alistair Cook, Sir Terry Wogan, Jane Garvey, Nick Ferrari, James O’Brien, Brian Redhead, Sandi Toksvig and Sir Mark Tully.

The 44th annual BPG Awards lunch, sponsored by Virgin TV, will be attended by the winners, BPG members and leading broadcasting executives on 16th March 2018.

Further information from Torin Douglas, BPG, 07860 422992

Notes to editors:

1. The winners will be announced at the 44th BPG Awards lunch in the beautifully restored Theatre Royal Drury Lane on Friday March 16th 2018, sponsored by Virgin TV. The Harvey Lee Award for outstanding contribution to broadcasting, which is in the gift of the BPG Executive Committee, will also be presented. Winners will be informed in advance and places at the lunch are by invitation only.
2. 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, connecting over 22 million customers through operations in 12 countries across Europe. www.virginmedia.com/tv
3. The television nominations for this year’s BPG Awards were announced on February 15th 2018. www.broadcastingpressguild.org/2018/02/broadcasting-press-guild-awards-2018-television-nominations.
4. 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.