The 2025 competition deadline is January 31, 2025.

ENTRY FEES

Radio Program, Documentary and Report/Feature:

Single – $320 USD

Series – $450 USD

On-Air Talent & Craft:

Single – $320 USD

Series – $450 USD

Programming Format:

Single – $320 USD

Series – $450 USD

Radio Promotion/Open and ID:

Single - $320 USD

Series - $450 USD

Digital:

Single - $320 USD

Series - $450 USD

Audio Book:

Single – $320 USD

Series – $450 USD

Podcast:

Single - $320 USD

Series - $450 USD

Student:

Single - $100 USD

A separate fee is applicable for each category selection. If you are submitting more than one entry, send only one payment for the total amount of all of your entry fees. Our preferred payment is by VISA, MasterCard, and Amex. Bank/Credit Card Processing Fees – Visa/MasterCard 3% of total order and American Express 3.2% of the total order. Currency must be in US dollars made payable to INTERNATIONAL AWARDS GROUP, LLC.

INTERNATIONAL AWARDS GROUP must receive information entry fee payment within 7 business days following the completion of your online entry submission in order to process your entries, otherwise, the entries may be withdrawn from the competition.

PROCESSING FEES:

For wire (or bank) transfer payments, all bank charges must be prepaid by you and an additional $150 US dollars will be added to the total amount on your invoice to cover intermediary bank fees. You must include your invoice number on your bank transfer Instruction forms so we can match your payments to your order. You must send the financial contact information for all wire transfers and any purchase order requests or tax information requirements along with your invoice to accounting@newyorkfestivals.com.

Your invoice number and our bank transfer information will be available to you just prior to checkout. You will be able to print your invoice for your accounting department so they can execute the transfer. If you have any questions about your invoice forward it to accounting@newyorkfestivals.com. Do not reply to invoice@newyorkfestivals.com

We do not charge media handling fees, sales tax, or VAT taxes.

Late Entry Fee: Any entry submitted after the official Final Deadline may be subject to a 10 % Late Entry Processing Fee.

Refund Policy: Refunds of entry fees will only be granted if a request is made within 14 days of submitting entries and then a $100 fee will be charged to cover additional administrative costs. After 14 days, because entries will have been processed and entered into the system, no refunds will be granted but we will be able to block the entries from the judging schedule. No refunds will be made once the judging begins.

All professional radio programs, features, audiobooks, and spots are eligible for entry in the 2025 awards competition, provided that they were produced, issued, published or broadcast from January 1, 2024, until the deadline of January 31, 2025, and were not awarded a trophy in the same category in the 2024 Radio Awards.

SINGLE ENTRY:

An individual episode or "one-off"

2 File Maximum

1 Episode/piece and one supplemental case study file

SERIES ENTRY:

A program series or campaign

4 File Maximum

3 Episodes/pieces and one supplemental case study file 

Select the category that most closely relates to your submission's type of program, primary purpose, content, or target audience. You may enter the same production or program in multiple categories, including program categories and craft categories. There is an entry fee for each category you enter. Categories have Single entry and Series entry options. Submissions may be either full episodes or excerpts. All entries may submit a file as a case study piece with supplemental information in the form of MP3, url, or PDF.

A performer/on-air personality may enter multiple achievements in a performance or on-air category if the achievements are for different programs constituting a body of work. Craft category submissions may enter multiple achievements constituting a body of work.

The categories for New York Festivals® Radio Awards are divided into fourteen groups. They are News Program, News Reports/Features, Documentary, Entertainment, Talk Program, On-Air Talent, Programming Format, Morning Drive/Afternoon Programming, Promotion/Program Open & ID, Digital, Audio Book, Podcast, and Student.

See Categories listing for additional explanations.

Individual entries are evaluated for their intrinsic merits - without comparing them with others. There is no numerical limit for the number of finalists in any category. The number of entries in a category has no bearing on how each entry is scored by the jury. One, none, or more than one award may be given in any category. Each entry is, in effect, in competition with itself, and is measured by our international award-winning jury of experts using an industry-accepted standard of excellence. 

Broadcaster of the Year will be awarded to the network with the highest scores for entries and largest medal count across all categories submitted by the network.

Production Company of the Year will be awarded to the production company with the highest scores for entries and largest medal count across all categories submitted by the production company.
 

The Shortlist will be announced in advance of the gala. Entry payment must be received for results status. The Grand, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Finalist Diploma winners will be announced at the 2025 Storytellers Gala. Laurels will be sent to winning contacts the day before the awards ceremony. Student winners will receive Diplomas. The Industry Awards of Broadcaster of the Year and Production Company of the Year will be announced at that time. Press releases will be sent to international wire service outlets, to the trades, across our social media platforms. New York Festivals winners may refer in advertising and publicity that they are a New York Festivals winner.

Awards are to be processed, shipped, and delivered within six weeks of the Winners' Announcement.

The National Press Club is the World’s Leading Professional Organization for Journalists™ and has partnered with New York Festivals to create an exclusive award. The National Press Award will be awarded the highest scoring news program across the Breaking News Story Coverage, Continuing News Story Coverage, Nonfiction Series, Investigative Journalism Podcast, and News Podcast categories. The winner will be announced during the 2025 Storytellers Gala. 

Formed to promote justice through the arts and public engagement, JusticeAid has partnered with New York Festivals to create an exclusive new award. The JusticeAid Award will be awarded to the highest scoring submission across all Social Justice categories in the NYF TV & Film and Radio competitions. The winner will be announced during the 2025 Storytellers Gala.

The written background summary is required during the online entry process. There is a maximum of 800 words. Please include the purpose of your entry, the audience for your entry and any other pertinent information about content and context. This is your opportunity to address the grand jury members and explain what is special about your submission. You may submit a case study with a supplementary MP3 file, url, or PDF for performers or press.

Productions in any language, from any nation, may be entered. If your entry is in a language other than English, you MUST provide a translation of at least the first 10 minutes and the last 10 minutes. The translation must be submitted digitally either in the translation box provided on the online entry or as a PDF in the case study field. Translations may only be edited after your entry is submitted by contacting NYF Processing. 

When submitting your credits, be aware that if your entry is a trophy winner, your Tower trophy will list only the year of the competition, the name of the entering company, name of the network/brand (if any), the title of the entry, and name of the category. The Winners Gallery on our website can feature up to twenty names and corresponding job titles. Customized Diplomas with up to ten names and titles will be available for purchase through our store following the Storytellers Gala.

Finalist Diploma winners will receive a Diploma listing the year of the competition, the name of the entering company, name of the network/brand (if any), the title of the entry, name of the category, and ten names with corresponding job titles. All Student winners will receive a Diploma.

Shortlisted entries when notified will be given the opportunity to update and correct credits and shipping addresses. However, if no corrections are made, credits and shipping information listed during the entry process will be considered the credits of record.

New York Festivals will send one award for each winning entry only once. Winning trophies will be shipped to the entering contact shipping address only. Any return and re-shipping costs will be paid for by the entrant. Following the gala, you may purchase personalized trophies for the individuals involved in the creation of the work. Any shipping costs and customs duties are paid by the winning entrant.

All entries must use the following standard for text formatting. These standards allow us to better judge and showcase your work.

Title of Entry Format:

Proper Case (all first letters capitalized) must be used in the title and brand name. Do not use all capital or all lower-case letters. Do not enclose the entry title in quotes or angle brackets

Performance Categories:

Include the name of the performer followed by the title of the program.

Example: Actor First and Last Name, Program Title

The character limit for Entry Titles is 40 characters including spaces.

Series entries must be named with a singles series title or with individual program titles separated by slashes.

Single Entry Example: Title Of Entry

Series Example: Title One / Title Two

Series Example with overall title: Series Title of Entry

Translation & Background Summary:

Include text in Sentence Case (first letter of each sentence capitalized). Do not use all capital or all lowercase letters.

Please do not use quote marks or arrow marks or angle brackets or parenthetical marks of any kind within the translation or summary - this will give an error message and you will not be able to complete your submission.

Example: This entry is a children's program. It is targeted towards ages 8 to 14.

Brands and Co-productions:

The character limit for Brands and Co-Productions is 40 characters including spaces. Please separate partners with slashes.

Credits:

Please list individual credits in order of importance with the highest credit first. Production and Talent names and job titles must be in Proper Case (all first letters capitalized). Do not use all capital or all lower-case letters. There is a separate field for each name and each title. The character limit for each line of Credits is 80 characters including spaces.

Delivery Requirements Overview: 

New York Festivals® plays your entries in an encoded format to Grand Jury members to judge online. Access is password protected. No other entrants can listen to your uploaded submissions. 

All entries can be uploaded through our online entry process. We no longer use FTP as a means of delivery. Remember, if you are submitting a series entry with multiple pieces, each piece must be uploaded separately. 

If you wish, you may request a dropbox link for your convenience. 

If you have additional questions, please contact our Processing and IT departments at processing@newyorkfestivals.com 

We strongly urge uploading MP3 files. Entries must be submitted using one of the following formats: 

- MP3 Upload 

- URL for Online/Digital Radio or Audio Podcast 

MP3 Specifications: 

Standard MP3 format. Stereo or mono, 44.1 kHz, 16 bits, MPEG layer 3 audio. A typical 1-minute recording will be 1.4 MB. 

How to Upload your entries: 

After you receive your confirmation email for your closed cart, you will need to input the piece details including title, entry format, background summary, and translation (if not in English). Then you will be able to upload your entries by clicking the upload box next to each entry. Please make sure that you upload (attach) all pieces of your entries. Please upload them in the order you wish the judges to evaluate them.

All entries can upload a case study piece to accompany the submission.

Series entries may consist of up to three pieces (either complete episodes or segments) that best represent the entire series. If your series entry has three pieces, you will have three files to upload. Please upload them in the order you wish the judges to evaluate them.

If you are submitting an entry in multiple categories within the same order and all information (title, credits, background summary, translation, asset files) is the same, our system allows you to upload only one time for all categories. Otherwise, you will need to enter, input, and upload each submission separately.

Please see our Entry Process Guide sections on Confirmation Number and Piece Details.

If your entries are URL/links: 

If you use this option, we recommend that you follow the file size and formats above. You must keep the links active through the entire process and we will need MP3 files for the Storytellers Gala and winners gallery. 

ENTRIES SUBMITTED BY POST OR BY COURIER  

We no longer accept this form of delivery. It is costly for entrants. Entrants must upload their submissions. Uploading gives entrants maximum control over their submissions and ensures better quality for the jury’s evaluation. If you are unable to upload, please contact processing for additional assistance.  

Entries and materials submitted will not be returned and may be displayed, shown, duplicated, published or reproduced for educational and/or promotional purposes as New York Festivals®  deems appropriate. By entering, the entrant agrees to hold New York Festivals and any of its affiliated companies exempt from any costs or expenses of any claim arising out of any such use. 

Entrants have the option to not have their entry available in its entirety on our websites by exercising the option listed on the online entry form. Entrants who exercise that option may upload trailers once judging has concluded if they desire to showcase their winning entries. 

New York Festivals assumes no responsibility for the acts or omissions of those individuals or entities submitting entries pursuant to this notice. By entering, entrants guarantee they have obtained the permission of the rights-holder for any submission. All submitting entities and/or individuals are advised to review submissions with respect to correct name credits and other information.