Page 37 - AIB | The Chanel | Issue 1 2012

Best science programme
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2012 | 37
Another new category for the 2011 AIBs is our award
for the best science programme. AIB has seen a
dramatic increase in the amount of science
programming on TV in many markets globally, and so
this is a natural addition to the factual programming
that the AIB awards celebrate.
Five very different entries made it to the shortlist
and the final decision saw the top entries separated
by only one point.
The winner of the inaugural AIB award for science
programming is BSkyB and Atlantic Productions for
3D Flying Monsters. This programme was, said the
judges, excellent in every way: the editing, the
animation, the interviews were all world class. With
excellent presentation by Sir David Attenborough, the
programme was engaging and entertaining while
delivering a significant yet palatable dose of
education. The judges singled out the scene where Sir
David is in a glider alongside a pterosaur as of
particular note. Judges commented that it worked as
well in 2D as it did in 3D, with superb visuals that
cause viewers to say "wow".
Highly commended
KBS
Exploring Human Memory
This excellent programme investigating the way
memory makes us who we are, and recounting what
happens when it fails, had great writing, editing,
visuals and narration, along with highly creative use of
animation. Intellectually stimulating, one judge
commented.
RTG TV
The Volcanoes of Kamchatka
A beautifully shot programme that is highly accessible
to viewers, excellently explaining the beauty and the
brutality of nature.
Carefully crafted radio features can paint pictures in
listeners' minds, taking them to new destinations and
letting them experience new ideas. It's an art to get
this right, and the six short-listed entries all
demonstrated that their producers have what's
needed.
The winner of the AIB best creative radio feature
award is Ireland's public broadcaster, RTE, for Don't
Go Far.
This is a great story that unfolds and builds up the
listener's interest as the tale of two boys who
unintentionally set off on a journey half way round the
world is recounted. The excellent use of music and
sounds from the 1980s when the story is set helps to
take the listener along for the ride. One judge said
that this programme represented radio story-telling
at its best, as the listener was carried all the way to
the end of this wonderfully crafted programme.
Highly commended
Société Radio-Canada
The Spirit of Places
A very personal radio journey commissioned by a
radio station that's prepared to take risks. Exploring
that strange and sometimes forbidding space under
the bed, the programme was both intimate and
inviting, and very well crafted.
Voice of Nigeria
Early Marriage - the Bane of the Girl Child
A very powerful story explaining the significant issue
of young girls being given away in childhood marriage
to old men. It is well told, using interviews
interspersed with drama to explain and confront this
difficult, sometimes harrowing, subject.
BSkyB
Best radio creative
feature
RTE