Bringing the Radio Broadcasters Association’s annual Radio Awards back from a ‘locked down’ virtual event to a revived live event with elements of hybrid.
The New Zealand Radio Awards (RAs) have been running for 43 years, and for the 6th year running Because NZ once again had the honour of ensuring it was back to being a LIVE night to remember – somewhat different to the streamed event of the previous year.
This year the RAs were celebrating the milestone of radio conception – 100 years of broadcasting in New Zealand. Our challenge was to bring the show to life with stellar production design and noteworthy scripts and presentations. It needed to be punchy and exceptionally well organised, professional and entertaining, and have enough flair to ensure all those being recognised really felt celebrated.
Using 100 years of NZ radio broadcasting as our foundation, we themed the event “Radio is Iconic”. To launch the show, we used geometric designs to create an opening sequence that set the stage for the night. To create a unique stage design we used nostalgic elements from the past, but put a future spin on them using scattered LED screens, a mixing desk, and a unique neon emoji icon for each of the award categories.
We partnered with the three major radio networks in NZ to provide entertaining, well-versed hosts for the evening. This ensured we had a diverse, inclusive show, representative of each of the networks. NZME nominated The Hits Network Drive show host – Mike Puru, MediaWorks nominated Mai FM Network Breakfast show host – Tegan Yorwarth, and Radio NZ nominated RNZ Nationals – Charlotte Ryan.
Not only did we entertain a theatre of over 600 high-profile, industry-based attendees, we also live streamed the event virtually to the industry’s hubs across New Zealand so that everyone could be part of the celebration.
The running of the event was short and sweet. As briefed, the event went for 1hr 15mins – a compact event presents its own challenges. It needs to be well organised, to keep a good pace, but not rushed to ensure nominees and winners have enough time in the spotlight to be celebrated. All event timings were strict, and all production needed to be executed perfectly to ensure that the event ran to perfection, which, we’re proud to say, it did.
The New Zealand Broadcasting Association’s annual awards is always one of our highlight events to work on. Although we loved the challenge of last year’s awesome streamed event, we’re incredibly excited to have once again been able to put the industry’s best and brightest under a real spotlight. Congratulations once again to all the nominees and winners. Until next year…
Ready to crush your next event? We’d love to partner up to make it a showcase of success with a side benefit of sustainability. Start by giving us a shout here.
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