Comedy podcast The Café on the edge of friendliness wins at the Ö3 Award!

Comedy podcast The Café on the edge of friendliness wins at the Ö3 Award!

Ö3-Wecker, Österreich - On April 2, 2025, the comedy podcast "The Café on the edge of friendliness" received first place in the 5th Ö3 podcast Award from Robin Limpek, Marco Johannes Wagner and Wolfram Felice. The event, which took place as part of the Ö3-Wecker, recorded a record interest with almost 60,000 nominations. A total of around 1,400 podcasts were nominated, and the top 20 were selected by a jury and the editorial team of Ö3. The results were announced in the Ö3 alarm clock on Wednesday and show the lively podcast landscape in Austria. https://www.ots.at/presseaus-sung/ots_20250402_ots0005/comedy-podcast-caf-am-rande- der-Freundlicht-winnt-den-oe3-podcast-Award-2025

After the winner, the jury also highlighted second and third place: "From nothing comes nothing" by Julian Friedl took second place, followed by "lovingly extreme" by Sarah and Stefan Ager in third place. Particularly noteworthy is the first award of a corporate podcast, "#laubandich" by Johannes Pracher/Sparkasse Upper Austria. The most popular newcomer podcast was awarded “Drama, Tea & Therapy” by Victoria Plank, Simon Öhler and Julia Staffler. The jury consisted of representatives of the domestic creator scene and subject experts, which underlines the quality of the reviews. https://oe3.orf.at/podcastaward/stories/3045973/

variety of podcast topics

This year's award ceremony reflects diversity and change in the podcaster world. The top 20 podcasts cover a wide range of topics, including society, health, business and especially comedy. This shows that the podcast trends develop towards humorous and talkative formats. In addition, a sports podcast managed to climb into the top 20 for the first time, which underlines the increasing influence of this division. https://www.ots.at/presseaus-sung/ots_20250402_ots0005/comedy-podcast-caf-am-rande- der-Freundlicht-winnt-den-oe3-podcast-Award-2025

interviews with the top 3 podcasts are available on ORF Sound, which gives listeners the opportunity to gain deeper insights into the content and the makers behind the successful formats. This development comes at a time when the global podcast market is growing rapidly and will soon have over 600 million listeners worldwide, which could attract even more readers and listeners in the future. https://thepodcasting.org/the-growth-of-podcasting-in-2025-stats-figures-and-futureinights/

A look into the future of podcasting

The numbers prove that the podcast market is in a constant upswing. The global podcast market is currently estimated at over $ 18 billion in 2023, with a forecast growth of approx. 27% in 2024. Podcasts are no longer just a niche medium, but have become a significant part of the media landscape, which is also reflected in the increasing number of listeners. https://thepodcasting.org/the-growth-of-podcasting-in-2025-stats-figures-and-futureinights/

The development of podcast formats is also promoted by technological innovations that improve both the production and the spread of content. Artificial intelligence plays an increasingly important role in this. In a dynamic media world in which creative and innovative approaches are required, podcasts are an effective means of addressing different target groups - be it through humorous entertainment or profound conversations.