Awards were virtually handed out to broadcast radio and television stations in nineteen categories at the Sound Bites Awards sponsored by the Massachusetts Broadcasters Association between Monday November 16 and Thursday November 19.
During an hour-long streamed program on Thursday Executive Director Jordan Walton, outgoing MBA Chairman and WBZ-TV President and General Manager Mark Lund, Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Murphy of the Massachusetts Army National Guard, National Association of Broadcasters CEO Gordon Smith, and Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey addressed the association’s radio and television members. The full program can be found at MBASoundBites.com. 2015 MBA Broadcaster of the Year Candy O’Terry emceed the event.
The winners of the night in the Station of the Year category were MyFM 101.3 WMRC-AM and 22News WWLP-TV for radio and television, respectively. 95.9 WATD-FM and Springfield’s Western Mass News WGGB/WSHM-TV were runners up in the Station of the Year category.
Highlighting broadcaster’s commitment to their communities, 97-7 ACK-FM (WAZK-FM) won the radio Sound Bites Award for best Public Service Announcement for their “School Kids for the Environment, Public Safety, and Recycling” PSA. WBZ-TV won the Public Service Announcement award for their “Boston Resiliency Fund” PSA asking for Bostonians to donate to help their neighbors in need.
The MBA recognized stations in the new “Critical Coverage” category which highlighted stations efforts to inform about the ongoing pandemic and fight for racial equality. Recognized for Merit Awards were MVY Radio (WMVY-FM) and 22News WWLP-TV. In first place was 95.9 WATD-FM their piece on Black Lives Matter and WCVB-TV Channel 5 for their coverage of Black Lives Matter protests in Massachusetts.
Now in its ninth year, the Sound Bites Awards received a record 229 award entries, highlighting the excellent work done in the previous twelve months by local broadcasters. See a complete list of winners at massbroadcasters.org/winners.
