Baird Media wins Podcast of the Year at the 2026 South African Podcast Awards

Baird Media has won Podcast of the Year at the 2026 South African Podcast Awards, presented by the South African Podcasters Guild. The company took home ten awards in total, including gold and silver medals in six categories.

Blood in the Dust: The Wolwefontein Murder, a South African noir murder mystery from Baird Media, was named Podcast of the Year. The award goes to the genre gold winner with the highest average score. The awards received entries from more than 200 podcasts and presented 108 awards across 38 categories. Each show was scored by three of the 15 judges.

Awards won by Baird Media

• Podcast of the Year: Blood in the Dust: The Wolwefontein Murder
• Best Fiction: Gold, Blood in the Dust: The Wolwefontein Murder; Silver, STRIPPED: An Audio Drama Podcast
• Best Scripted Podcast: Gold, STRIPPED: An Audio Drama Podcast
• Best Sound Design: Gold, Blood in the Dust: The Wolwefontein Murder
• Best Editing: Gold, Blood in the Dust: The Wolwefontein Murder; Silver, STRIPPED: An Audio Drama Podcast
• Best Production: Gold, Blood in the Dust: The Wolwefontein Murder; Silver, STRIPPED: An Audio Drama Podcast
• Best Writing: Gold, Blood in the Dust: The Wolwefontein Murder

STRIPPED: An Audio Drama Podcast is produced by Baird Media with StartLivingMy.Life.

Quotes

"The idea for Blood in the Dust came to me close to midnight while at a gest house in KwaZulu/Natal. The first of the three seasons that make up the trilogy deals with a policeman solving a murder in the Karoo. We are the only fiction podcast producers in the country at present, and winning Podcast of the Year proves not only our technical expertise, but also that there is value in this format. I am now motivated to produce the next two seasons. Winning Podcast of the Year means our work was heard and judged on its merits." — Hendrik Baird, Co-Founder and Content Director, Baird Media

"Crafting sound design and editing complex productions like STRIPPED and Blood in the Dust takes time and a certain skill. Seeing the production craft recognized across editing, production and sound design is the best feedback we could get." — Ethan Baird, Co-Founder and Production Director, Baird Media

Hendrik Baird and Ethan Baird also served as judges at the 2026 awards, their second year judging.

About Baird Media

Baird Media is a production-first audio and video company based in Pretoria, South Africa. It produces audio and video for corporate clients and media organisations, and its work includes the award-winning Blood in the Dust and STRIPPED.

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