Mid-day brings home the prestigious ‘Best Use of Audio’ Award at INMA 2022

Mid-day`s podcasts The Bombay Film Story and Mumbai Cricket Podcast won ‘Best Use of Audio’ award at the Global Media Awards

Mid-day has won the coveted ‘Best Use of Audio' award at the Global Media Awards for its entertainment and sports podcasts, The Bombay Film Story and Mumbai Cricket Podcast. Announced by the International Newspaper Marketing Association (INMA) on June 9, the legacy awards have been presented since 1937, and rewards best practices and innovation in news media. In 2022, INMA received 854 entries from 252 news brands (digital, radio, newspaper, magazine, and television media) across 46 countries.

Mid-day has been synonymous with Mumbai for over four decades and has been one of the most trusted and credible sources of journalism for the city. Keeping in line with Mid-day's tagline of ‘Made In Mumbai', cricket and Bollywood themed podcasts seemed to be the ideal themes to take on as they ventured into the arena of podcasts.

Hosted by film-critic, author, and Mid-day's entertainment editor, Mayank Shekhar, ‘The Bombay Film Story' is a podcast series that narrates stories about people, Bombay and cinema, from some of its old chroniclers along with people who have been on the side lines, or at the centre. They have observed it over several decades and have their own stories to tell. The guests range from old-timer journalists, producers, raconteurs, writers to actors, and extremely familiar but relatively forgotten names - Sham Kaushal, Ram Gopal Varma, Neena Gupta, Paintal, Ravi K. Chandran, Ranjeet, Kabir Bedi.

Sharing his experience of creating the podcast, Mayank Shekhar said, "I think we are a verbal, story-telling, more than a reading, culture. And I realised that with the podcast - not just with long conversations with the guests, but also the responses to it. And there's nothing like preserving people and places - the times they were in - for posterity. Which is what the Bombay Film Story intends to do. That it could even win an international award for it, was a pleasant shock for me!"

Mumbai Cricket Podcast with acclaimed sports journalist, author, and Mid-day's sports editor, Clayton Murzello traces the legacy of cricket in Mumbai through stories of those who have helped shaped it. The podcast series is the only one to focus solely on cricket in Mumbai, and has hosted guests ranging from coaches, selectors and experts who continue to follow the fortunes of Mumbai cricket from afar. Salil Ankola, Amol Muzumdar, Raju Kulkarni, Suru Nayak, Vighnesh Shahane, are Zubin Bharucha have shared unheard of anecdotes from their heydays. Expressing his joy on receiving the award, Clayton Murzello said, "I'm delighted to receive this honour and I'm sure the judges found something uniquely fascinating about Mumbai cricket. I can't thank my guests enough as well as the people behind this podcast."

Both these podcasts were launched in 2021 with the idea of using new technology in audio form, while doing what we do best - churning quality content about #AllThingsMumbai - in this case specifically for Bollywood, since Mumbai is the entertainment capital of the country, and also of cricket fanatics. Mumbai's rich cricketing history permeates the atmosphere every time a competitive match is played at its many maidans and gymkhanas. Its 41 Ranji Trophy titles are a testament to the city's love for the game and its prowess has managed to produce some of the most notable stars in Indian cricket. Through radio, print, website, and social media, The Bombay Film Story with Mayank Shekhar reached 351.8 million, while Mid-day's Mumbai Cricket Podcast with Clayton Murzello reached 311.4 million.

Commenting on the success of the podcasts, Rachna Kanwar, Chief Operating Officer, Digital Media - Radio City and Mid-day said, "Over the years, Mid-day has successfully built a loyal readership online which includes Bollywood and Sports fans; fans who trust us to deliver credible news and exclusive stories. When the lockdown forced us into our homes and online readership saw a big jump, we had to find newer ways to engage readers, and that's when the idea of Midday Podcasts germinated. Midday's seasoned Print team readily agreed to be a part of this new journey and the result was magical. We launched The Bombay Film Story with Mayank Shekhar first and the overwhelming response to it nudged us to launch Mid-day's Mumbai Cricket Podcast with Clayton Murzello soon after. The INMA award for ‘Best Use of Audio' is a testament that Mid-day has been successful in living up to our readers' expectations. We thank INMA and the jury for this honour. "