The iHeartRadio Podcast Awards to return in January

Sept. 30 (UPI) -- iHeartRadio announced on Monday plans to hold the second annual Podcast Awards on Jan. 17 at the iHeartRadio Theater in Los Angeles.

The company made the announcement in celebration of International Podcast Day.

The Podcast Awards will be broadcast and live streamed across iHeartMedia stations nationwide. The event will honor the most entertaining and innovative podcasts of 2019, spanning 30 categories.

Slate's Slow Burn won Podcast of the Year last year, along with Dax Shepard and Monica Padman's Armchair Expert winning Breakout Podcast of the Year, Joe Rogan's The Joe Rogan Experience winning Best Comedy Podcast and Up and Vanished winning Best Crime Podcast.

NPR was also honored with the first-ever iHeartRadio Podcast Pioneer Award.

"When we introduced the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards last year, we knew we wanted to celebrate the most talented podcast creators out there - the key reason that podcasting continues to grow exponentially," President of the iHeartPodcast Network said in a statement.

"The response to last year's awards was amazing. This is the one time of the year that all the most popular podcasters come together to celebrate the community of podcasting truly as colleagues, not competitors. The iHeartRadio Podcast Awards bring everyone into one room - the biggest hosts, producers, and distributors - all committed to this amazing podcast medium and to seeing its incredible growth continue."

Questlove of Roots and Tonight Show fame announced recently a new partnership with iHeartMedia that will bring his podcast Questlove Supreme to the iHeartPodcast Network. Season 3 of the show will premiere on Nov. 6.