The British Podcast Awards are an annual awards ceremony intended to celebrate outstanding content within the British podcast scene. The British Podcast Awards are owned and operated by Haymarket Media Group, which also owns several media businesses, including Campaign and PRWeek.

History

The British Podcast Awards was cofounded in 2017 by Matt Hill, managing director of production company Rethink Audio, and Matt Deegan, creative director of audio content firm Folder Media. Deegan and Hill assumed control of the Australian Podcast Awards in 2020 and launched the Irish Podcasts Awards in 2021.

In 2022, Podcast Awards Ltd, the company that runs the British Podcast Awards, was acquired by Haymarket Media Group. The British Podcast Awards will initially sit within Haymarket Business Media's marketing communications portfolio, with plans to launch more podcast events internationally in 2023.

PodPod, a publication about the craft and business of podcasting launched the previous year, was announced as media partner of the British Podcast Awards in 2023, before responsibility for overseeing the awards was transferred to Campaign.

2017 Chaired by Helen Zaltzman, the judging panel contained more than 50 independent members representing podcast creators, publishers, the press, listeners and audio industry executives. The awards received over 400 entries, spanning genres including TV, film, sport, comedy, true crime, and current affairs. The award ceremony, hosted by Olly Mann, took place in London on 29 April 2017 with presenters including Edith Bowman, Grace Dent, and James Cooper from My Dad Wrote a Porno.

2017 Nominees and Winners Winners in bold

{| class="wikitable defaulttop" role="presentation" | style="width:50%;"| Fathers And Sons – Radio Wolfgang with Mr. Porter| style="width:50%;"| Kermode and Mayo's Film Review – Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo for BBC Sounds|- | style="width:50%;"| Fathers And Sons – Radio Wolfgang with Mr. Porter Glyndebourne – Katherine Godfrey and Whistledown Productions Mountain – Christopher Sleight The National Trust Gardens Podcast – Fresh Air Productions for The National Trust Sound Matters – Third Ear and Quincey Sound for B&O Play | style="width:50%;"| Beef and Dairy Network Podcast – Benjamin Partridge The Adam Buxton Podcast – Adam Buxton Do The Right Thing – Fuzz Productions Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast – Fuzz Productions The Scummy Mummies Podcast – Scummy Mummies |- | style="width:50%;"| The Inquiry – BBC Radio Current Affairs for BBC World Service The Economist asks – The Economist The New Statesman Podcast – New Statesman ShoutOut – ShoutOut Radio Weekly Economics Podcast – New Economics Foundation | style="width:50%;"| Hip Hop Saved My Life with Romesh Ranganathan – AudioBoom The Distraction Pieces Podcast – Distraction Pieces Network A Gay & A Non Gay – James Barr and Dan Hudson Probably True - Scott Flashheart Elliott Soundtracking – Edith Bowman |- | style="width:50%;"| Tracks – BBC Radio Beef and Dairy Network Podcast – Benjamin Partridge Wooden Overcoats – David K. Barnes, Andy Goddard and John Wakefield for Wooden Overcoats Ltd | style="width:50%;"| Scientists not the Science – Stuart Higgins Getting Better Acquainted – Dave Pickering Shoot First Talk Later: The Photoshoot Podcast – Robert Gershinson What Goes On Here – Sam Walker |- | style="width:50%;"| Song by Song – Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay The Penguin Podcast – Somethin' Else for Penguin Random House Soundtracking – Edith Bowman Spoiler – Joe Shmo SRSLY – New Statesman | style="width:50%;"| Fight Disciples Podcast – Fight Disciples The Big Interview With Graham Hunter – Neil White The Cycling Podcast – Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe Hornet Heaven – Olly Wicken How2Wrestling – Podcrabs |- | style="width:50%;"| They Walk Among Us – Benjamin Fitton and Rosanna Fitton Body On The Moor – BBC Radio Untold: the Daniel Morgan Murder – Peter Jukes and Deeivya Meir | style="width:50%;"| Between the Ears – BBC Radio Mountain – Christopher Sleight Weird Tales and the Unexplainable – Bob Shoy |- | style="width:50%;"| Short Cuts – Falling Tree Productions for BBC Radio 50 Things That Changed The Modern Economy – BBC Radio Current Affairs for BBC World Service Ollie & Si – Ollie Gallant and Simon Alexander for Quidem Radio Kermode and Mayo's Film Review – Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo for BBC Sounds Radiomoments Conversations – David Lloyd Media Services | style="width:50%;"| The Cinemile – Dave Corkery and Cathy Cullen Everyone Else – Eva Krysiak Say Why To Drugs – Distraction Pieces Network Soundtracking – Edith Bowman The Untold – BBC Radio 4 |- | style="width:50%;"| Coffee Break Italian – Radio Lingua Network Chips With Everything – The Guardian The National Trust Gardens Podcast – Fresh Air Productions for The National Trust Scienceish – Radio Wolfgang Sound Matters – Third Ear and Quincey Sound for B&O Play | style="width:50%;"| Farmerama – Jo Barratt and Abby Rose Lunar Poetry Podcasts – David Turner Melanin Millennials – The ShoutOut Network|- | colspan="2" style="width:50%;"| Adam Buxton|}

2018 The second British Podcast Awards saw the 50-strong judging panel, chaired by Nish Kumar, listening to over 1,000 hours of entries, with new categories created to recognise comedy, family and innovation. The 2018 awards were supported by acast, Radioplayer, Twitter, Muddy Knees Media, Podiant, Whistledown, IPDTL, Hindenburg Systems, Create Productions and Audible and Sony Music’s 4th Floor Creative. The British Podcast Awards also partnered with The Guardian to create a five-part podcast series to showcase the nominees.

The ceremony, hosted again by Olly Mann, took place in London on 19 May 2018 and was attended by some of the biggest names in audio, including Simon Mayo, Mark Kermode, Jake Wood, Fi Glover, Josh Widdicombe and Fearne Cotton. The Listeners' Choice Award, won by Kermode and Mayo's Film Review, saw over 110,000 votes cast by the public.

2018 Nominees and Winners Winners in bold{| class="wikitable defaulttop" role="presentation" | style="width:50%;"| Griefcast – Cariad Lloyd| style="width:50%;"| Kermode and Mayo's Film Review – Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo for BBC Sounds|- | style="width:50%;"| The Discovery Adventures – Land Rover Irreplaceable: A History of England in 100 Places – Fresh Air Productions for Historic England Parliament Explained – Fresh Air Productions for UK Parliament The Penguin Podcast – Somethin' Else for Penguin Random House Women in Business – NatWest, Pixiu, Acast and ZenithOptimedia | style="width:50%;"| Beef and Dairy Network Podcast – Benjamin Partridge A Gay & A Non Gay – James Barr and Dan Hudson Babysitting Trevor – Dot Dot Dot Productions The Political Party – Matt Forde This Paranormal Life – Rory Powers and Kit Grier |- | style="width:50%;"| The Two Shot Podcast – Thomas Griffin and Craig Parkinson Literary Friction – Carrie Plitt and Octavia Bright Soundtracking – Edith Bowman The Invisible College – Cathy FitzGerald for BBC Radio 4 Writer's Routine – Dan Simpson | style="width:50%;"| The Foreign Desk – Bill Leuty, Joleen Goffin and Andrew Mueller for Monocle Brexitcast – BBC News and BBC Radio 5 Live Reasons To Be Cheerful – Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd Stop and Search – Jason Reed Weekly Economics Podcast – New Economics Foundation |- | style="width:50%;"| Griefcast – Cariad Lloyd Nothing To Declare Podcast – Unedited Probably True – Scott Flashheart The Butterfly Effect – Jon Ronson The It's Nice That Podcast – It's Nice That and Radio Wolfgang | style="width:50%;"| Once Upon a Time in Zombieville – Bigmouth Audio for BBC Radio Scotland Dirty Mother Pukka – Mother Pukka Fun Kids Science Weekly – Fun Kids The Adoption – The World at One for BBC Radio 4 The Discovery Adventures – Land Rover |- | style="width:50%;"| Imaginary Advice – Ross Sutherland Blood Culture – Resonance Five Minute Folklore – Bob Shoy Once Upon a Time in Zombieville – Bigmouth Audio for BBC Radio Scotland The Discovery Adventures – Land Rover | style="width:50%;"| Griefcast – Cariad Lloyd Homo Sapiens – Will Young and Christopher Sweeney Perfume Pioneers – Jo Barratt for Somerset House The Allusionist – Helen Zaltzman The Comedian's Comedian Podcast – Stuart Goldsmith |- | style="width:50%;"| Fight Disciples Podcast – Fight Disciples Brian Moore's Full Contact – Brian Moore for Telegraph Media Group Quickly Kevin, Will He Score? – Chris Scull, Michael Marden and Josh Widdicombe The Cycling Podcast – Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe Who Are Ya? – Ben Cartwright and David Cowlishaw | style="width:50%;"| The Assassination – Owen Bennett-Jones and Neal Razzell for BBC World Service Beyond Reasonable Doubt? – Wisebuddah for BBC Radio 5 Live Murder Mile – Michael J. Buchanan-Dunne S'laughter – Lucy and Emma They Walk Among Us – Benjamin Fitton and Rosanna Fitton |- | style="width:50%;"| The Discovery Adventures – Land Rover Once Upon a Time in Zombieville – Bigmouth Audio for BBC Radio Scotland Quake – BBC Radio Drama North Radio Atlas – Eleanor McDowall The Poetry Exchange – Fiona Lesley Bennett, Michael Shaeffer and Ben Hales | style="width:50%;"| Short Cuts – Falling Tree Productions for BBC Radio 4 Elis James and John Robins Podcast – Radio X Fun Kids Science Weekly – Fun Kids Russell Brand Podcast – Radio X The Listening Service – Tom Service and The Listening Service Team for BBC Radio 3 |- | style="width:50%;"| The Tip Off – Maeve McClenaghan Adrift – Geoff Lloyd and Annabel Port My First Time – Sam Bonham for VICE Radio Atlas – Eleanor McDowall Reasons To Be Cheerful – Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd | style="width:50%;"| The Allusionist – Helen Zaltzman Blue Planet II: The Podcast – Emily Knight and Becky Ripley for the BBC Stop and Search – Jason Reed That Classical Podcast – Kelly Harlock and Chris Bland The Tip Off – Maeve McClenaghan |- | style="width:50%;"| Carousel Radio'' – Davot, Fran, Ewan, Jonny and Sam I Hear Voices – BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat Mostly Lit – Alex Reads, Rai and Derek Owusu Stance Podcast – Chrystal Genesis and Heta Fell The Backstory - Claire Mutimer and Suzy Coulson | style="width:50%;"| Helen Zaltzman

2019 Entering its third year, the 2019 British Podcast Awards saw brand new categories, including acast Moment of the Year, Best Sex and Relationships podcast and the Bullseye Award supported by Podiant, alongside returning categories true crime, entertainment, interview, fiction and current affairs. The Bullseye Award honoured the podcasts that produce exceptional listening experiences for niche audiences and those under-represented in other British media.

On 8 April 2019, the nominations for the British Podcast Awards powered by DAX were streamed live on Twitter, with the podcasting stars of No Such Thing as a Fish revealing the top six podcasts nominated in each of the 15 categories.

The ceremony, hosted by Cariad Lloyd, took place at Kings Place in London on 18 May 2019, with guests and presenters including Michael Sheen, Fearne Cotton, Julia Davis, Vicki Pepperdine, Elizabeth Day, Giovanna Fletcher, Alice Levine, Jane Garvey, Hussain Manawer, Katie Piper and Anna Whitehouse. The ceremony was recorded and available to watch on YouTube 48 hours after the event.

George the Poet, who entered his Have You Heard George's Podcast? declaring under 5,000 listeners per episode, was the stand-out winner of the night, walking away with five awards, including Smartest, Best Arts & Culture, Best Fiction, Best New Podcast, and was named Audioboom's Podcast of the Year. Brexitcast, presented by Laura Kuenssberg, Chris Mason, Katya Adler and Adam Fleming, won the Listeners' Choice award with 190,000 public votes cast.

2019 Nominees and Winners Winners in bold

Have You Heard George's Podcast? – George the Poet Brexitcast – BBC News and BBC Radio 5 Live|- | style="width:50%;"|