Golden Globes set to introduce Best Podcast award category

The Golden Globes are adding a ‘Best Podcast of the year’ category to their awards show for January 2026.

The ground-breaking award will hope to “adapt to contemporary entertainment trends and audience interests” by platforming “the extraordinary and diverse talents in podcasting” in the 83^rd annual Golden Globes award ceremony.

The Golden Globes statement says: “Comprehensive eligibility criteria and additional details about Best Podcast will be announced in the coming weeks.” 25 podcasts will qualify for the award, with six advancing to final nominations.

“Podcasts have emerged as a profound medium for sharing narratives and building communities across global borders and generations”

Helen Hoehne

With global audiences of podcasts expected to exceed 600 million next year, the Golden Globes are looking to recognise this growth and “make room for new voices and formats to be heard”, according to Golden Globes President Helen Hoehne. They are the first major awards body to recognise the medium of podcasts.

“As the world of entertainment continues to evolve, we are excited to recognize new forms of storytelling,” said Hoehne. “Podcasts have emerged as a profound medium for sharing narratives and building communities across global borders and generations.”

The category will look to “salute” podcasts that have made a “significant impact” worldwide, with the Globes citing the importance of their “creativity” and “influence”.

With eligibility requirements yet to be announced, audiences can speculate as to whether the ‘creativity’ or ‘influence’ of the podcasts nominated will be a greater deciding factor

The addition comes after two new categories were added in 2024, ‘Best Cinematic and Box Office Achievement – Motion Picture’ and ‘Best Stand-Up Comedy Performance – Television’.

The Oscars announced a similar ‘Box Office’ category in 2018 called ‘Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film’ to great criticism. Fans and creators alike were concerned at how the introduction of this category was unnecessary, diluted the awards’ quality, and could also provide barriers for large blockbusters like that year’s Black Panther to win in traditional categories such as ‘Best Picture’.

With eligibility requirements yet to be announced, audiences can speculate as to whether the ‘creativity’ or ‘influence’ of the podcasts nominated will be a greater deciding factor. The Hollywood Reporter has questioned whether the Globes will “avoid politics and stick to nominating journalistic programs” and if “right-wing successes” will “break into the ranks”.

It’s possible that popular celebrity podcasts may inundate the nominations, or those with major media backers. Given the sheer volume of podcasts – an estimated active three million – the already-scrutinised voting process of award shows will require a significantly streamlined process, which increases the likelihood of ‘snubs’.