{"id":182290,"date":"2025-10-01T10:21:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T10:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/182290\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T10:21:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T10:21:16","slug":"celebrating-radios-biggest-acra-winners-of-all-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/182290\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating radio’s biggest ACRA winners of all time"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRay Hadley at the ACRAs. Image: CRA\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Who are the biggest ACRA winners of all time?<\/p>\n

Brisbane radio host Liam Renton has done the math.<\/p>\n

As we mourn the demise of radio\u2019s night of nights, today we single out some exceptional long-term achievements.<\/p>\n

The idea to put together this list stemmed from Liam\u2019s admiration for ACE Radio Metro Content Director Jon Vertigan and his amazing ACRAs haul.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a big fan of his work,\u201d Liam tells Radio Today.<\/p>\n

Liam \u2013 a four-time ACRA finalist himself \u2013 says \u201cIt\u2019s a little disappointing when you don\u2019t win, but on my night Olivia Newton John came and said hi to our table. We were all starstruck.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also got to see Taxi Ride play live and their songs were on 90 minute rotations that year so we at least all knew the words and had a big singalong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just an amazingly fun night.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to who has won the most ACRA awards, Ray Hadley is the undisputed king.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The former Sydney talkback giant has snared a total of 33 ACRAs in a broadcasting career spanning more than four decades.<\/p>\n

2017 was a standout year for Hadley, who became the most celebrated announcer in ACRAs history, awarded Best Talk Presenter, Best Sports Event Coverage and Best Metro AM On-Air Team (as part of the Continuous Call Team).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hadley was also inducted into the ACRAs Hall of Fame that year.<\/p>\n

Fair effort, that.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Former long-time SCA Imaging Director Michael \u2018Sidey\u2019 Anderson\u00a0won 22 ACRAs.<\/p>\n

Sidey started working at Triple M Sydney when he was 21.<\/p>\n

In March this year his job finished and he departed the station<\/a>, just a couple of weeks shy of his 51st birthday.<\/p>\n

Sidey said he lived and breathed Triple M:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cAll I ever wanted to do was work at Triple M. Not in radio \u2013 at Triple M.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Legendary newsreader and 40 year radio veteran Steve Blanda has 18 ACRAs to his name.<\/p>\n

That makes him the most awarded newsreader in Australian history.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Veteran radio host Jon Vertigan \u2013 as we mentioned \u2013 has an impressive swag of ACRAs, having won 15 awards. Or was it 16? There\u2019s apparently some conjecture online.<\/p>\n

Jon tells Radio Today the ACRAs will be sadly missed.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a glamorous industry like ours, it\u2019s hard to believe we won\u2019t be gathering together anymore to celebrate success.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur network has pivoted this year to launch the Ace Awards \u2014 21 categories across our group to highlight and reward excellence within our organisation. Not quite the same as standing next to Kyle at the urinal (yes, that actually happened one year \u2014 I was petrified), but it\u2019s the next best thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I read Radio Today\u2019s article about the biggest ACRA winners of all time, I noticed my name in there with 15 wins (possibly 16). Out of curiosity, I asked my trusty friend ChatGPT, \u201cHow many ACRAs have I won?\u201d At first, he replied: \u201cMate, unless you\u2019ve been sneaking off to Sydney on the quiet, I don\u2019t believe you\u2019ve won any.\u201d After a little digging, he came back with the right answer: 15.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly one of those awards is on display in my home studio; the rest are boxed away \u2014 including one of the original pyramid RAWARDs, my very first from 1994.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ACRAs might be gone, but for those of us lucky enough to have been part of them, the memories remain priceless.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Former Triple M host Luke Bradnam\u00a0is the proud owner of 10 ACRAs.<\/p>\n

In 2019, Luke won the ACRA for his radio comedy segment, but it was his twin brother and fellow radio host Ash who swooped up to the stage to claim the trophy.<\/p>\n

Ash later explained that he\u2019d been sitting closer to the stage than Luke and thought it would be funny to steal the limelight, so he did.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kyle & Jackie O are also no strangers to ACRAs glory, having won 8 awards.<\/p>\n

In 2022, the KIIS duo were inducted into the ACRAs Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jonesy & Amanda have five ACRAs.<\/p>\n

In 2019, the Gold 101.7 duo beat\u00a0Nova\u2019s\u00a0Kate, Tim and Marty, KIIS FM\u2019s\u00a0Kyle and Jackie O, Fox FM\u2019s\u00a0Fifi, Fev and Byron, Nova\u2019s\u00a0Chrissie, Sam & Brownyand Triple M\u2019s\u00a0Kennedy Molloy to be crowned radio\u2019s Best On-Air Team (Metro).<\/p>\n

They went on to win the same award four more times.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Many more in our industry can proudly lay claim to being nominated for an ACRA.<\/p>\n

Special mention goes to audio producer and voiceover artist Cassie Aldridge, who was a finalist eighteen times before she took home the top prize.<\/p>\n

*Images: CRA, ACE Radio Network, LinkedIn and Instagram<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ray Hadley at the ACRAs. Image: CRA Who are the biggest ACRA winners of all time? Brisbane radio…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182291,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,134,136],"class_list":["post-182290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}