
Joe Lycett unveiled as host of inaugural Sky Arts Awards on 17 SeptemberThursday 5 September 2024
It has today been revealed that comedian, activist, presenter, painter and the nation's appointed Mummy, Joe Lycett, will be the host of the inaugural Sky Arts Awards, taking place on Tuesday 17 September at The Roundhouse and airing at 9pm on Sky Arts and Freeview.
Over the last two weeks, a series of Stop the Arts' protests have been occurring at renowned cultural hotspots across the UK, including Shakespeare's Globe on London's Southbank, sparking confusion and much consternation amongst the public as the mysterious group declared that art is complete' and a waste of time.
We can now reveal that behind these stunts was none other than master-puppeteer, Joe Lycett and his team, who, as he steps into his new role as host, wants to send a message to the nation about the state of the arts industry amidst funding cuts, rising unemployment and growing disparity.
Speaking on social media today [WATCH HERE], Thursday 5 September, Joe Lycett announced the Manifesto for the Arts. The Manifesto is packed with cost neutral proposals that the Government could immediately action to improve conditions for people working across the arts and culture sector in Britain, even amidst trying economic times. Joe's manifesto will be delivered to the nation during the Sky Arts Awards ceremony on Tuesday 17 September.
Host of the Sky Arts Awards, Joe Lycett said: Over the last few weeks Ive been meeting with arts organisations, venues and artists to devise my Manifesto for the Arts, with clear and actionable points the Government can do right now to improve conditions for everyone working in Britain's cultural industries.
The Sky Arts Awards builds on the fantastic legacy of the South Bank Sky Arts Awards, which Lord Melvyn Bragg served as patron and host of since its inception. The Awards is the only event in the world that recognises the full spectrum of artistic genres, including classical music, comedy, dance, film, literature, poetry, opera, popular music, television, theatre and visual art.
Each of the Sky Arts Awards nominees has been selected by a group of more than 50 jurors across the arts and media industry, including the likes of Michael Sheen, Jesse Armstrong, Oti Mabuse, Josh Widdicombe, Edith Bowman, Myleene Klass, Nitin Sawhney, Caitlin Moran, Elizabeth Day, Lemn Sissay, David Morrissey and Beverley Knight.
The winners of each of the 14 awards categories will be revealed during the ceremony, including Lifetime Achievement and The Times Breakthrough, as well as the recently announced Art's Hero Award, which includes a shortlist of five peer-nominated behind-the-scenes champions of the arts from across the country. The full list of Sky Arts Awards nominees can be found here.
Joe Lycett continued: I'm very much looking forward to dragging this highbrow event down into the gutter.
The Sky Arts Awards takes place at The Roundhouse in London on Tuesday September 17 and will air at 9pm on Sky Arts and Freeview.
For more information please contact: Molly Wyatt (PR Manager, Sky) molly.wyatt@sky.uk
Notes to Editors
Visit the Sky Arts Awards website here: https://skyartsawards.sky/
Full list of jurors for each of the main Sky Arts Awards categories:
Classical Music: Myleene Klass, YolanDa Brown, Fiona Maddocks, Richard Morrison, Abigail Pogson, Nitin Sawhney and Errollyn Wallen
Comedy: Shane Allen, Jordan Gray, Shaparak Khorsandi, Steve Lock, Pax Lowey Nicole Vassell and Josh Widdicombe
Dance: Alistair Spalding, Jonzi D, Shobana Jayasingh, Oti Mabuse, Cassa Pancho, Eckhard Thiemann and Lyndsey Winship
Film: Bonnie Greer, Baz Bamigboye, Emma Freud, Ian Nathan, Michael Sheen and Anna Smith.
Literature: Elizabeth Day, Emma Dabiri, Denise Mina, Joel Rochester, Simon Savidge, and Johanna Thomas-Corr
Opera: Ed Gardner, Ross Ramgobin Nicky Spense and Flora Willson
Poetry: Lemn Sissay, Lisa Allardice, Suli Breaks, Nikita Gill, Laura Hackett, Asif Khan, and Lisa Mead
Popular Music: Edith Bowman, Kitty Empire, Nadia Jae, Kanya King, Lauren Layfield, and Huw Stephens
Television: Caitlin Moran, Jesse Armstrong, Julie Fernandez, Boyd Hilton, Jim Moir, and David Olusoga
Theatre: Alistair Smith, Daniel Evans, Beverley Knight, David Morrissey Toni Racklin, and Roy Williams
Visual Arts: Waldemar Januszczak, Kate Bryan, Nancy Medina, Bob and Roberta Smith Alastair Sooke, Gillian Wearing and Zo Whitley
About Sky Arts AwardsA new, one-of-a-kind, world class event, rewarding and celebrating the best of British arts and culture, taking place on 17th September at The Roundhouse. Awards categories include Classical Music, Comedy, Dance, Film, Literature, Poetry, Opera, Popular Music, Television, Theatre, Visual Art. Plus, the new Arts Hero Award. The Sky Arts Awards were commissioned by Phil Edgar-Jones, Director of Sky Arts and Entertainment, for Zai Bennett, Managing Director of Content for Sky UK and Ireland. The Commissioning Editor for Sky is Leanne Cosby, and the Project Manager is Vanessa Woodard. T The Awards are produced by Somethin' Else TV, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. Ian Sharpe serves as Executive Producer, with Rocio Cano serving as Showrunner, Freya Dolby serving as Producer and Steve Youll as Head of Production Joe Lycett is produced by Rumpus Media with Emily Hudd and Iain Wimbush serving as Executive Producers, Chris Sawyer and Lucy McQuade serving as Producers and Lisa Kirk as Senior Live Producer.
About Sky ArtsA new, one-of-a-kind, world class event, rewarding and celebrating the best of British arts and culture, taking place on 17th September at The Roundhouse. Awards categories include Classical Music, Comedy, Dance, Film, Literature, Poetry, Opera, Popular Music, Television, Theatre, Visual Art. Plus, the new Arts Hero Award
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
19/05/2026
Actus Digital, a LiveU company, and a leading provider of intelligent media monitoring and broadcast compliance platforms, announced today that METEO CONSULT ha...
19/05/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of managed services for the broadcast and media industry, today announced the completion of a major renovation of its Singapore fa...
19/05/2026
Following a major upgrade to its Connecticut remote production centre with the installation of three 60-fader Argo S consoles in 2023, RPS has switched one of t...
19/05/2026
PlayBox Technology today announced the launch of Celebro Play, a browser-based media orchestration platform designed specifically for broadcast facilities and p...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
LYNX Technik, provider of modular signal processing solutions for broadcast, post, and professional AV will showcase its latest signal processing solutions at B...
19/05/2026
Media Links, a leading developer and manufacturer of IP media transport solutions, has announced the integration of its Xscend platform with Skyline Communicat...
19/05/2026
Collaboration expands regional partner ecosystem as Media Links showcases IP media transport solutions on stand 4M4-4 and alongside Clearcast Asia on stand
Me...
19/05/2026
Company Highlights Labor-Saving Control and Custom Branding Opportunities Designed to Increase Integrator Profitability
LynTec, a leading manufacturer of ele...
19/05/2026
Mago Studio Moves AI Video Beyond Prompts with New Production-Focused Tools
Brie Clayton May 18, 2026
0 Comments
New Capabilities Bring Controllable, ...
19/05/2026
It May be Time to Stop and Take an AI Breather
Brie Clayton May 19, 2026
0 Comments
If the rock you stay on starts to roll, jump clean. Or you'll...
18/05/2026
Despite a bumpy start to the year, the provider of event-production support and ...
18/05/2026
Daktronics has partnered with the University of North Carolina to manufacture and install 11 LED displays totaling more than 10,000 square feet and more than 14...
18/05/2026
CBS LA has announced a multi-year partnership with the Los Angeles Rams, covering exclusive local broadcasts of Rams preseason games, weekly year-round programm...
18/05/2026
Skyline Communications has announced an integration between its DataMiner xOps p...
18/05/2026
eCLUTCH, the hybrid esports platform powered by iKOMG, has announced an expansion of its distribution across Europe, MENA, Africa, and Asia, along with new cont...
18/05/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/05/2026
With 22 games this season, the production team looks forward to tweaking and enhancing the coverage
After 8,660 days off the air, the WNBA returned to NBC yest...
18/05/2026
(L-R) Midori Francis and Natalie Erika James attend the Saccharine premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 22, 2026, in ...
18/05/2026
Last night, the Spotify Podcast Awards in Mexico returned to the country's capital. Now in its second year, the evening honors creators whose voices are hel...
18/05/2026
ZEN-Core synth goes mobile
Roland's powerful ZEN-Core software synthesizer has just been introduced to the iPad, offering a convenient entry point into ...
18/05/2026
Versatile new limiter plug-in announced
Based in Sheffield, UK, fedDSP offer a range of plug-ins that span the music production, live sound and high-end med...
18/05/2026
A new use for convolution?
Viiri Audio's debut plug-in aims to do something a little different with convolution processing, allowing users to adjust all...
18/05/2026
Delta Goodrem shines for SBS as more than 3.27 million Australians tune in for E...
18/05/2026
The Australian Defence Force uses L3Harris T4 and T7 robots for explosive ordnan...
18/05/2026
Continued investment across Europe and Germany is expanding local teams and improving access to stock, regional expertise, and specialist broadcast support.
CV...
18/05/2026
Agentic AI inference at one-tenth the cost per token with NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL7...
18/05/2026
18 May 2026
Dubai and New York, May 18, 2026 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a glob...
18/05/2026
Monday 18 May 2026
Sky News offers ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes for just...
18/05/2026
Comscore March 2026 Consumer AI Chatbot Usage Rankings Show Claude Gaining Share OpenAI's ChatGPT maintains lead while Anthropic's Claude continues to c...
17/05/2026
Delta Goodrem's Eurovision Eclipse marks end of a stellar run
17 May, 2026
Media releases
Bulgaria wins Eurovision 2026
Relive every spellbinding mome...
17/05/2026
Back to All News
Oasis Premieres on Netflix June 19
Entertainment
17 May 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Summer, sunshine, the beach, parties. T...
16/05/2026
Helps to deliver a clean, balanced midrange
Developed alongside Newfangled Audio, the latest plug-in in Eventide's software collection has been designed...
16/05/2026
Brings onboard stem rendering to RANE System One
Engine DJ have just released Engine DJ 5.0, a free update for their Engine DJ OS embedded hardware and Engi...
16/05/2026
Boris FX Continuum Pairs AI Precision and Advanced Creative Controls
Jessie Electa Petrov May 16, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic de...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Seattle Sounders FC and Seattle Reign FC, in partnership with RAVE Foundation an...
15/05/2026
Dan Brumm has served as sound designer on Bluey, the Australian children's t...
15/05/2026
The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) and Shure Incorporated are accepting applications for the 6th annual Mark Brunner Professional Audio Schola...