For the second consecutive year, CBC/Radio-Canada has been named New York Festivals Radio Awards Broadcaster of the Year, as Canada’s national public media operation was recognized for “consistently compelling and thought-provoking storytelling across its networks.”
Its audio work earned multiple top honors, including several Gold Towers and one of the competition’s prestigious 2026 Grand Awards.
CBC’s investigative podcast documentary series “Understood” was honored with a Gold Tower for its four-part series Understood: “Who Broke the Internet.” In the series, Cory Doctorow explores the concept of “enshittification,” tracing the internet’s decline from the optimism of 1990s tech utopianism to today’s more fragmented digital landscape.
“Mainstreet PEI: Kindergarten to Grade 12 – Lessons in Life” earned a Gold Tower for its long-term documentary series by CBC Radio One. Led by CBC reporter Sarah Keaveny Vos, the project began in 2013 and follows a group of students from their first day of kindergarten through their high school graduation in June 2025.
Additional Gold Tower winning work includes The Outlaw Ocean Podcast Season 2 (The Outlaw Ocean Project & CBC Podcasts). Silver Towers include The Current / Audio Doc Unit – Seven Months with Makayla, Pure Hell: How Cocaine Exploded in Fentanyl’s Shadow, Judd Apatow – Q with Tom Power and See You in Court.
Francophone service Radio-Canada took home Silver Tower for Céline Dion: l’amour à D’eux.
CBC also earned twelve Finalist Awards, and Radio-Canada earned six Finalist Awards, demonstrating the network’s ongoing excellence across multiple formats and themes.
“To be named Broadcaster of the Year once again by the prestigious New York Festivals Radio Awards is an immense honour and a great source of pride for everyone at CBC/Radio-Canada,” said Natacha Mercure, General Manager of Audio and Radio at Radio-Canada. “As Canada’s national public broadcaster, we’re committed to sharing the authentic stories of communities from across the country on all of our platforms. The wide range of our honoured audio productions, in both English and French, is a testament to our ability to speak to diverse audiences and to address a wide variety of subjects – from Céline Dion’s unifying music to complex and engaging stories like those explored in our podcasts Sea of Lies and The Outlaw Ocean. This distinction, along with all the individual award winners and finalists in different categories, also reflects the vitality and excellence of our audio and radio productions. Congratulations to all our teams whose exceptional talent is celebrated in this way.”
2026 Grand Awards
Sea of Lies, CBC, What’s the Story Sounds – Narrative/Documentary Podcast was awarded the Grand Tower. Sea of Lies tells the true story of Albert Walker, a Canadian con artist whose trail of destruction stretches from rural Canada to the far corners of coastal England. Hailed as “expertly produced and sound designed” by The New Yorker and “a masterclass in storytelling” by The Australian, the podcast unspools an almost unbelievable story of fraud, detective work, murder, and the human impact of deception. The series earned year-end recognition across the UK, including honors from The Times, Apple, Amazon Music, and Spotify.
Uncuffed Season 4, KALW Public Media – Social Issues Documentary was honored with the Grand Tower. Greg Eskridge was incarcerated for 30 years, most recently at the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. Uncuffed is a project by KALW Public Media in which incarcerated producers collaborate with professional journalists to create audio stories from start to finish. In January 2026, Greg Eskridge became co-program director of Uncuffed. The podcast traces his journey from a child who ran away from abuse and lived in a car to becoming a leader in one of the country’s preeminent prison journalism projects.
Wolf Valley, Almost Tangible – Entertainment: Drama Program was awarded the Grand Tower. Wolf Valley is a five-episode eco-thriller set in Norway, conceived and written by writer-director Charlotte Melén. This multi-layered series blends murder mystery, police procedural, and psychological drama, set against the dramatic Norwegian landscape and infused with Norse mythology.
New York Festivals announced the NYF Radio Awards winning entries at the Storytellers Gala on May 21 in a virtual event.
