CBC/Radio-Canada wins broadcaster of the year at 2026 New York Festivals Radio Awards

By AI, Created 5:20 PM UTC, May 22, 2026, /AGP/ – CBC/Radio-Canada was named Broadcaster of the Year for the second straight year as New York Festivals announced its 2026 Radio Awards winners on May 21 during a virtual Storytellers Gala. The top honors went to Sea of Lies, Uncuffed Season 4 and Wolf Valley, while Stephen Capus received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Why it matters: - The New York Festivals Radio Awards remain a key industry benchmark for radio and podcast storytelling across formats, from documentaries and news to drama and entertainment. - CBC/Radio-Canada’s repeat win signals broad recognition for English- and French-language public media work across Canada and beyond. - The top awards highlight where audio audiences and judges are rewarding craft, reporting and narrative ambition.

What happened: - New York Festivals announced the 2026 Radio Awards winners at the Storytellers Gala on May 21 in a virtual event. - CBC/Radio-Canada was named Broadcaster of the Year for the second consecutive year. - The competition’s Grand Awards went to Sea of Lies, Uncuffed Season 4 and Wolf Valley. - Stephen Capus, president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and former president of NBC News, received the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award. - Dear Rachelle won the 2026 National Press Club Award.

The details: - CBC/Radio-Canada’s top honors included Gold Towers for Understood: Who Broke the Internet and Mainstreet PEI: Kindergarten to Grade 12 – Lessons in Life. - CBC and CBC Podcasts also picked up Gold for The Outlaw Ocean Podcast Season 2. - CBC and Radio-Canada earned multiple Silver Towers, including for The Current / Audio Doc Unit – Seven Months with Makayla, Pure Hell: How Cocaine Exploded in Fentanyl’s Shadow, Judd Apatow – Q with Tom Power, See You in Court and Céline Dion: l’amour à D’eux. - CBC earned 12 finalist awards, and Radio-Canada earned six finalist awards. - Sea of Lies, from CBC and What’s the Story Sounds, won the Grand Tower in the Narrative/Documentary Podcast category. - The podcast tells the story of Albert Walker, a Canadian con artist whose crimes stretched from rural Canada to coastal England. - The series also drew year-end recognition in the U.K. from The Times, Apple, Amazon Music and Spotify. - Uncuffed Season 4, from KALW Public Media, won the Grand Tower in Social Issues Documentary. - The project pairs incarcerated producers with professional journalists to create audio stories from start to finish. - Greg Eskridge, who spent 30 years incarcerated and was most recently at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, became co-program director of Uncuffed in January 2026. - Wolf Valley, from Almost Tangible, won the Grand Tower in Entertainment: Drama Program. - The five-episode eco-thriller is set in Norway and was conceived and written by Charlotte Melén. - The competition also recognized strong showings in Entertainment, Documentary, Podcast and Craft categories. - Gold winners in Entertainment included The Skewer, Waiting for Waiting For Godot and VOX. - Documentary Gold winners included Paul McCartney: Beatles And Beyond, Searching for a German Soldier Father – Riitta’s Story, Fantasy Park: Fifty Years On, Looking for No Man’s Land, The Network, Les Enfermé.es, Le loro prigioni – Their prisons and Division Street Revisited. - Podcast Gold winners included ESPN’s Chasing Basketball Heaven, Kate Moss presents “David Bowie: Changeling,” Eras: Phil Collins, Folk on Foot: Goblin Band in the City of London, Expanse: Nowhere Man, The Indo Daily and The Poppy Day Bomb. - Craft Gold Towers went to Chicago Kinfolk: The Juke Joint Blues, The Skewer, The Pack and Into the Sun. - Journalist Marc Fennell won a Gold Tower for On-Air Talent / Program Host for Corked by Audible. - The awards were judged online by an international Grand Jury of more than 200 producers, directors, writers and other creative media professionals. - Entries were scored on production values, creativity, content presentation, direction, writing, achievement of purpose and audience suitability.

Between the lines: - CBC/Radio-Canada’s repeat broadcaster win suggests the organization is succeeding across formats, not just in one marquee category. - The list of winners points to a strong year for narrative podcasts and long-form audio journalism, especially stories built around investigation, social issues and serialized reporting. - The Grand Jury structure and broad category mix show how radio awards increasingly function as a wider audio-industry contest, not just a broadcast competition.

What’s next: - New York Festivals will continue showcasing the 2026 winners through its Radio Awards Winners’ Showcase at the winners’ showcase. - Broadcasters, podcast studios and independent creators will use the results as an industry signal heading into future awards cycles and commissioning decisions. - CBC/Radio-Canada and other major winners now have another round of recognition to support distribution, promotion and audience growth.

The bottom line: - CBC/Radio-Canada dominated a broad 2026 field, while Sea of Lies, Uncuffed Season 4 and Wolf Valley stood out as the year’s top audio productions.