NPR Will Receive the Podcast Pioneer Award at the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards Presented By Capital One® on January 18!

Podcast lovers, join us in congratulating NPR, the recipient of our iHeartRadio Podcast Pioneer Award! We can’t wait to honor you at the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards Presented By Capital One® on January 18!

NPR has been a driving, innovative force in the creation of the podcasting industry— we’re honored to pay tribute to the renowned non-profit multimedia organization’s groundbreaking contributions to podcasting’s expanding role in today’s popular culture.

NPR launched its first digital-only podcasting predecessor, All Songs Considered, in April 2000 and officially debuted NPR Podcasts in August 2005 with a full slate of 174 programs, including 17 original podcasts. In less than a year, they surpassed 13 million podcast downloads and expanded their reach to 80 million downloads by February 2007. Today, NPR remains a leading podcasting publisher with over 40 active podcasts on topics ranging from the day’s news to arts, culture, and science, that reach over 16 million unique monthly listeners.

We’ll be presenting the Pioneer Award to NPR at our upcoming iHeartRadio Podcast Awards Presented By Capital One®, the first-ever major podcast awards show! Every genre will be represented, with categories ranging from Health & Fitness to Most Bingeable. And, get ready to pick your favorites, because fans get to choose 17 of the 22 winning podcasts by voting on Instagram, Twitter or via the website iHeartPodcastAwards.com.

The winners of the remaining five categories, Podcast of the Year, Breakout Podcast, Best Branded Podcast, Best Social Impact from Podcast/Host and Podcast Innovator Award, will be chosen by a panel of podcast industry leaders, including Holly Frey from Stuff You Missed in History Class, Josh Clark host of Stuff You Should Know, Marc Smerling host of Crimetown, Jake Brennan, host of Disgraceland and more!

The show’s coming to the iHeartRadio Theater Los Angeles on January 18, so mark your calendars! Check out the full list of nominees at iHeartRadio.com/PodcastAwards, listen up, and Go VOTE! Users that vote through iHeartPodcastAwards.com are automatically entered to win a trip to attend the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards Presented By Capital One®!

Can’t make it to LA? Catch the live stream hosted by Mario Lopez.

Congratulations again, NPR! We’ll see you in January.