Unless otherwise noted, entries must be broadcast over-the-air by a Georgia Radio or TV station between January 1st, 2021 and December 31st, 2021. The station itself must be an active GAB member in good standing. Exceptions are made on a case-by-case basis. Please contact the GAB office at 770-395-7200 with any questions regarding membership status.
All entries must be submitted no later than Monday, April 11th, 2022 at 11:59 PM. Submissions received after this date will not be included in the judging process.
There is a small fee of $15 for each entry regardless of market size. This may be paid online via PayPal or you may request to be invoiced by calling our office at 770-395-7200.
Unless otherwise noted, categories are awarded to one radio and one TV station for both large and small markets. Market size is based on 2010 US Census data and is broken down as followed:
All TV Stations broadcasting from within the Atlanta DMA
All Radio Stations broadcasting from markets with populations over 50,000. This includes the following cities:
| Atlanta (City) | 420,003 |
| Augusta/Martinez/Evans | 260,650 |
| Columbus | 189,885 |
| Macon/Warner Robins | 157,939 |
| Savannah | 136,286 |
| Athens | 115,452 |
| Albany | 77,434 |
All TV Stations broadcasting from markets outside of the Atlanta DMA
All Radio Stations broadcasting from markets with populations under 50,000. This includes but is not limited to the following cities:
Valdosta- 54,518
Rome- 36,303
Gainesville- 33,804
Hinesville- 33,437
Dalton- 33,128
Newnan- 33,039
LaGrange- 29,588
Statesboro- 28,422
Carrollton- 24,388
Griffin- 23,643
Canton- 22,958
Cartersville- 19,731
Pooler- 19,140
Thomasville- 18,413
Brunswick- 15,383
** Radio and television stations in this category will be judged against one another, with the only dividing factor being market size.
Category Description: Recognizes a single, planned community service project that has had a significant impact on a station’s local area which can be measured by how the community benefited. Broadcasters are charged with identifying what local needs are and then meeting those needs by putting internal and external resources together. This award will honor that effort and acknowledge what broadcasters do best – serve their communities. Please enter an audio or video “montage” of your project.
Submission Requirements: Please submit a detailed narrative (maximum of two pages) that specifically correlates to tape/media file contents. The entire submission should describe how the project fulfilled a community need or improved the area’s quality of life. Describe the project, it’s goals and objectives and its results. Please also include one letter of endorsement from a project beneficiary.
Entry Requirements: Narrative – max of two pages. Audio or video file must not exceed 10 minutes
Based on previous submission trends, and judges feedback, it has been determined that the following radio and television categories can be judged against one another, with the only dividing factor being market size.
Category Description: Recognizes the best news story produced solely for a station’s digital platforms such as a website, social media accounts, and/or mobile app.
Judging Criteria: Writing, Use of video, sound, graphics or images, interactivity, and compelling delivery.
Entry Requirements: Maximum of 2 links (website, social media or a combination of both) that showcases the depth of reporting and effective delivery through digital platforms.
Category Description: Recognizes the best breaking news coverage originally delivered on station’s digital platforms such as a website, social media accounts, and/or mobile app. The entry can be digital only in nature or be in conjunction with or in support of a regular newscast.
Judging Criteria: Writing, Use of video, sound, graphics or images, interactivity, compelling delivery, and demonstration of cohesive continuing coverage and updates.
Entry Requirements: Maximum of 2 links (website, social media or a combination of both) that showcases the depth of reporting and effective delivery through digital platforms.
Category Description: Recognizes the best multi-episode podcast series produced by a Georgia radio or tv station. The series must be easily accessible via the station website and be supported by broadcast, social, or other digital promotion. Only original content created for the podcast format will be considered. Recordings of broadcasts will be disqualified. Format may be video or audio in nature.
Judging Criteria: Writing, use of sound and/or video, and compelling delivery
Entry Requirements: Maximum of 3 sample clips, from the same series. Each clip should be 30 minutes or less. Include the link to your podcast’s webpage, which live on your station’s website.
The following categories for radio will be judged based on market size. Please reference the market size reference in this packet prior to submitting your entries.
Category Description: Recognize the best short-form “spot,”promoting a station. The entrant stations must have had total conceptual and creative control of the locally produced announcements which must have been designed for the local community/audience. Spots containing music must have used music in the public domain or used copyrighted music with permission.
Judging Criteria: Original writing, production, use of sound and compelling delivery.
Entry Limit: Entry must not exceed 1 minute.
Category Description: Recognizes a locally produced feature story that is not part of a series, franchise, breaking news or general assignment reporting.
Judging Criteria: Writing, production, use of sound, and compelling delivery
Entry Limit: Entry must not exceed 10 minutes.
Category Description: Recognizes the best reporting of news, which is not considered breaking, feature, or investigative. Entries should feature general news stories generated daily, not ongoing coverage that might be considered in another category.
Judging Criteria: Writing, production, use of video and sound as well as compelling delivery.
Entry Requirements: Entry must not exceed 5 minutes.
Category Description: Recognizes the most outstanding political coverage during the 2020 Election Cycle (Note: Entries may include coverage of either the US Presidential Election or the Georgia Special Election. Because the latter ended on January 6th, we will consider content that aired through that date, but not beyond).
Judging Criteria: Writing, production, use of sound, and compelling delivery.
Entry Limit: Entry must not exceed 10 minutes.
Category Description: Recognizes the most outstanding team weather coverage broadcast predominantly to a Georgia audience.
Judging Criteria: Compelling delivery, use of technology, and usefulness of the forecast to the audience.
Entry Requirements: Entry must not exceed 10 minutes.
Category Description: Recognizes the best regularly scheduled newscast airing between January 1st, 2020 and December 31st, 2020. Entrants are encouraged to pick a newscast from an ordinary day and avoid those newscasts that are heavy in breaking news or severe weather coverage.
Judging Criteria: Content, performance, technical aspects, opening and style.
Entry Requirements: Entry must not exceed 30 minutes.
Category Description: Recognizes locally produced programs on the station outside of news and sports coverage. Entries can be of a one-off production or part of a regularly scheduled or multi-part series.
Judging Criteria: Writing, use of sound, and compelling delivery.
Entry Limit: Entry must not exceed 30 minutes.
Category Description: Recognizes locally produced sports programs. Entries can be of a one-off production or part of a regularly scheduled or multi-part series.
Judging Criteria: Writing, use of sound, and compelling delivery.
Entry Limit: Entry must not exceed 30 minutes.
Category Description: Recognizes the best sports play by play, by market size. Entries may be of a one time event or from a regular scheduled series of sports events.
Judging Criteria: Compelling delivery, production quality, and informative nature of the submission relative to the event covered.
Entry Limit: Entry must not exceed 10 minutes
Category Description: This category will recognize the most outstanding Georgia-based on-air talent. Nominated talent must be a station employee or contract employee aired on the submitting station.
Judging Criteria: Entertainment value, compelling delivery, variety of skill set, and community involvement of the talent.
Entry Requirements: Entry must be a compilation of work that best represents the talent’s capabilities. Entry must not exceed 10 minutes.
Category Description: This award recognizes the best performance by an individual reporter of local news events or stories. Entry must have been developed for the local community/audience. Entrants must submit an audio montage representative of the their on-air performance.
Judging Criteria: Significance, presentation of facts, delivery and/or creativity, entertainment value, and effective use of audio.
Entry Limit: Entry must not exceed 10 minutes
Category Description: Recognizes a Radio Station that demonstrates overall excellence in their local communities, regardless of market size.
Judging Criteria: Judges will consider programming, promotions, community relations and service, public affairs/public service programming, and station awards and recognition. It is recommended that entries include a list of boards/organizations in which station personnel are actively engaged; estimates of how much money was raised for charitable purposes; estimates of how many hours of public service were performed by personnel and how many public service campaigns aired on the station.
Entry Requirements:
Documents can be uploaded as you complete each individual entry. You may include photos and/or video (upload online) to support your entry.
Category Description: Recognizes the most outstanding team coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2020 calendar year. Entries should include a compilation of newscasts and reporting that best showcases your station’s coverage of the government response to the pandemic at one or more levels (national, state, county, city, or a combination), as well as the impact of the virus on local businesses, non-profits, and citizens.
Judging Criteria: Writing, production, use of sound, variety of storytelling, and compelling delivery
Entry Limit: Entry must not exceed 20 minutes
The following categories for television will be judged based on market size. Please reference the market size reference in this packet prior to submitting your entries.
Category Description: Recognize the best short-form “spot,”promoting a station. The entrant stations must have had total conceptual and creative control of the locally produced announcements which must have been designed for the local community/audience. Spots containing music must have used music in the public domain or used copyrighted music with permission.
Judging Criteria: Original writing, production, use of video and sound as well as compelling delivery.
Entry Limit: Entry must not exceed 1 minute.
Category Description: Recognizes a locally produced feature story that is not part of a series, franchise, breaking news or general assignment reporting.
Judging Criteria: Writing, production, use of video, pictures, graphics and sound, as well as compelling delivery.
Entry Limit: Entry must not exceed 5 minutes.
Category Description: Recognizes the best reporting of news, which is not considered breaking, feature, or investigative. Entries should feature general news stories generated daily, not ongoing coverage that might be considered in another category.
Judging Criteria: Writing, production, use of video and sound as well as compelling delivery.
Entry Requirements: Entry must not exceed 5 minutes.
Category Description: Recognizes the best investigative reporting series aired by the station between January 1 and December 31, 2020.
Judging Criteria: Writing, production, use of video and sound, compelling delivery, cohesiveness between each aired segment, and a demonstrated commitment by the reporter(s) to see the story through to the end.
Entry Limit: Entry must not exceed 15 minutes.
Category Description: Recognizes the most outstanding political coverage during the 2020 Election Cycle (Note: Entries may include coverage of either the US Presidential Election or the Georgia Special Election. Because the latter ended on January 6th, we will consider content that aired through that date, but not beyond).
Judging Criteria: Writing, production, use of sound, and compelling delivery.
Entry Limit: Entry must not exceed 10 minutes.
Category Description: Recognizes the most outstanding team weather coverage broadcast predominantly to a Georgia audience.
Judging Criteria: Compelling delivery, use of technology, and usefulness of the forecast to the audience.
Entry Requirements: Entry must not exceed 10 minutes.
Category Description: Recognizes the best regularly scheduled newscast airing between January 1st, 2020 and December 31st, 2020. Entrants are encouraged to pick a newscast from an ordinary day and avoid those newscasts that are heavy in breaking news or severe weather coverage.
Judging Criteria: Content, performance, technical aspects, opening and style.
Entry Limit: Entry must not exceed 30 minutes.
Category Description: Recognizes locally produced programs on the station outside of news and sports coverage. Entries can be of a one-off production or part of a regularly scheduled or multi-part series.
Judging Criteria: Writing, use of sound, and compelling delivery.
Entry Limit: Entry must not exceed 30 minutes.
Category Description: Recognizes locally produced sports programs. Entries can be of a one-off production or part of a regularly scheduled or multi-part series.
Judging Criteria: Writing, use of video and sound, as well as compelling delivery.
Entry Limit: Entry must not exceed 30 minutes.
Category Description: Recognizes the best Georgia-based television news anchor. Talent must be a station employee or contract employee aired on the submitting station. Judges will consider entertainment value, compelling delivery, and community involvement of the talent.
Judging Criteria: Compelling delivery, Ability to juggle anchor responsibilities while also getting out in the field to produce features, series and general assignment reporting, and overall community involvement of the talent.
Entry Limit: Entry must not exceed 10 minutes
Category Description: Recognizes the best performance by an individual television news anchor. Entry must have been developed for the local community/audience. Entrants must submit a video montage representative of the their on-air performance.
Judging Criteria: Compelling delivery, entertainment value, ability to juggle anchor responsibilities while also getting out in the field to produce features, series and general assignment reporting, and overall community involvement of the talent.
Entry Limit: Entry must not exceed 10 minutes
Category Description: Recognizes the best performance by an individual reporter of local news events or stories. Entry must have been developed for the local community/audience. Entrants must submit a video montage representative of the their on-air performance.
Judging Criteria: Significance, presentation of facts, delivery and/or creativity, entertainment value, and effective use of video and audio.
Entry Limit: Entry must not exceed 10 minutes
Category Description: Recognizes the most outstanding local meteorologist presenting daily weather segments, severe weather coverage and weather related stories.
Judging Criteria: Compelling delivery, use of technology, and ease of translating technical meteorology terms and concepts to a general audience.
Entry Limit: Entry must not exceed 10 minutes
Category Description: Recognizes the most outstanding videographer in their ability to convey news in a visual form as demonstrated in a compilation video.
Judging Criteria: Creativity, continuity, lighting, and technical production.
Entry Requirements: Entry must be a compilation of work that best represents the talent’s capabilities. Entry must not exceed 10 minutes.
Category Description: Recognizes a TV Station that demonstrates overall excellence in their local communities, regardless of market size.
Judging Criteria: Judges will consider programming, promotions, community relations and service, public affairs/public service programming, and station awards and recognition. It is recommended that entries include a list of boards/organizations in which station personnel are actively engaged; estimates of how much money was raised for charitable purposes; estimates of how many hours of public service were performed by personnel and how many public service campaigns aired on the station.
Entry Requirements:
Documents can be uploaded as you complete each individual entry. You may include photos and/or video (upload online) to support your entry.
Category Description: Recognizes the most outstanding team coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2020 calendar year. Entries should include a compilation of newscasts and reporting that best showcases your station’s coverage of the government response to the pandemic at one or more levels (national, state, county, city, or a combination), as well as the impact of the virus on local businesses, non-profits, and citizens.
Judging Criteria: Writing, production, use of sound, variety of storytelling, and compelling delivery
Entry Limit: Entry must not exceed 20 minutes
The following categories are awarded outside of the GABBY Awards ceremony unless time permits them to be included.
Category Description: Recognizes the most outstanding broadcaster based on their involvement in the industry and support of the Georgia Association of Broadcasters and as determined by the GAB Board of Directors.
Category Description: Recognizes the most outstanding radio and television stations (both large and small markets) based on their support and promotion of the Georgia Army National Guard through the GAB’s Public Education Partnership (PEP) program.
Category Description: Recognizes broadcast engineers who over their careers have displayed outstanding leadership and contributed significantly to Georgia’s broadcast industry. Nominations are accepted prior to GABCON with honorees being selected by a committee of previous award recipients.
Category Description: Recognizes those individuals who, through their efforts and support of broadcasting and have made a lasting impact on the GAB and Georgia’s broadcasting industry as a whole. Recipients are nominated and selected by the GAB Board of Directors.
Category Description: Established in 1964, this award recognizes a single industry leader, public servant or established organization with a strong connection to the State of Georgia. Recipients must have a connection to the state, where they have either lived, been educated or have worked in Georgia or performed a direct benefit to our citizens. To nominate an individual or organization, please contact GAB President, Bob Houghton at 770-395-7200.
If you do not already have a profile, you can create one by clicking the “Register” button at the top of the homepage, or you can simply log in. Complete the information, click submit and you’ll be taken to the Georgia Association of Broadcasters using the form homepage.
From the homepage, you can review GABBY Awards rules, submit an entry, view and edit an entry, or edit your station’s information.
To enter a category, click the “Submit Entry” button at the top of the GAB homepage. Then fill in the necessary entry information.
Important notes:
You can then view your entry, view all your entries, or submit a new entry.
The 2022 GABBY Awards will take place on Saturday, October 22nd at the Grant Hyatt Buckhead in Atlanta as part of the GAB’s annual convention, GABCON. Details of the entire weekend along with ticket opportunities can be found online at www.gab.org/gabcon
