The winners Of The "Slushno" Award Have Been Announced: The Best Ukrainian Podcasts Of 2024

On October 2, in the innovative space of Kyiv MacPaw Space, 13 winners of the fourth annual award for podcasters "Slushno" from MEGOGO AUDIO of the MEGOGO media service were announced. The event became an important cultural event for the podcast industry and fans. The presenter of the evening was Zhenya Yanovych, the author and host of the late-night show "20:23".

This year's "Slushno" award gathered 183 nominees in the long lists, as well as 72 podcasts in the short lists. The most popular category was "Health, Relationships and Self-Development", where 41 podcasts competed. The category "Podcasts about sports" turned out to be the least competitive, where only 10 applicants were presented.

The evaluation system and results were formed from the scores from the listeners and the expert jury: 50/50. The jury included 20 experts from various fields, including Anna Khayetska, Valentina Klymenko, Valeriya Tolochyna, Vadym Skichko, Volodymyr Degtyarev, Volodymyr Landa, Dmytro Volkovynskyi, Ilona Stankevich, Kateryna Kotvitska, Kornii Hrytsyuk, Lena Chichenina, Lilia Galka, Natalia Mykolska, Nataliya Samoilenko, Oleg Shcherbakov, Svitlana Stretovych, Sofiya Telehina, Tetiana Vodotika, Timofey Brik, Yuriy Marchenko.

During the voting, listeners cast more than 17,000 votes, which indicates the high activity of the audience and the ever-increasing interest in Ukrainian podcasting. For comparison, last year this figure was more than 15 thousand.

"Slushno Award is not only about recognizing the best, but also about the development of the podcast community, which is becoming an important part of the media landscape. Every year, the MEGOGO team invests significant resources in the popularization of podcasts in Ukraine, and also actively engages partners and media to support the industry. This year, in addition to traditional promotion tools, we placed advertisements for the winning podcasts on Europe's largest screen in the center of Kyiv, at the Gulliver Shopping Center. In this way, we want to emphasize their importance and attract the attention of an even larger audience," said Valeriya Tolochyna, Global Chief Marketing Officer of MEGOGO.

According to the results of the online audience voting and evaluation by the jury, the awards were given to:

• The best podcast about health and self-improvement — Don't have trouble girls
• The best podcast about science and technology — You will have science
• The best sports podcast is F1Podcast
• The best independent podcast is chumaky®
• The best podcast about business — Unrecorded
• Best entertainment podcast - Financial Therapy
• The best podcast about literature and reading is High Shelf
• The best culture and arts podcast is Unzip
• The best history podcast is Unzip
• The best podcast about professions is On Level
• The best interview podcast is The Blue Eyed Podcast
• The best informational podcast is Morning Post

The winner of the grand prize by the decision of the editors of MEGOGO AUDIO was the "Repainted Fox" podcast. The authors received UAH 45,000 for the development of the podcast from the MEGOGO media service. In addition, the winner won a special gift from the award's friendly partner Bolt, who provided them with 365 days of free taxi rides.

This year, Goethe-Institut Ukraine and MacPaw Space also supported 2 nominations and allocated grants in the amount of 1,000 euros:

• The best culture and arts podcast is Unzip
• The best podcast about science and technology — You will have science

Media partners of the award are 1+1 media, one of the largest media businesses in Eastern Europe, TET TV channel is a family entertainment channel that creates and broadcasts quality Ukrainian content and makes people fall in love with life. Information partners - Cosmopolitan Ukraine, a women's magazine about fashion, beauty, self-development, relationships, career and news from the lives of celebrities, media about the life of the capital - TyKyiv. Also, Mediamaker became a partner - media for and about those who work in the media and strive to do it honestly, balanced and beneficial for the audience.

As a reminder, the "Slushno" award was founded in 2021 by the MEGOGO AUDIO team and became an important event for podcasters, providing an opportunity to gain recognition and find new fans. Its purpose is to support Ukrainian creators and the development of the podcast industry, to stimulate its growth and to form a professional community.