NZ Radio Awards 2023 - NZME celebrates big wins including six premier awards

A week on from the release of figures showing overall radio audience numbers have grown with 3.4 million Kiwis tuning in each week, New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME) is celebrating winning a swag of awards at this evening’s 2023 NZ Radio Awards, including six of the eight premier awards.

Jason Winstanley, NZME Chief Radio Officer, says the Awards celebrate the best of the best in New Zealand radio, and the scale of talent across the country’s networks and stations demonstrates the strength of the radio industry.

“This is a fantastic time for radio and for digital audio and shows the industry is at its strongest point. So much hard work goes into keeping a radio station going 24/7, and it’s awesome to celebrate those who are putting in the hard yards, all of whom have a passion for this much-loved media platform that we live and breathe every day,” says Winstanley.

Newstalk ZB had a cracker of an evening, winning the most awards of any station including Station of the Year – Network. Mike Hosking was named the Sir Paul Holmes Broadcaster of the Year and won Best Talk Presenter - Breakfast or Drive. Marcus Lush was awarded Best Talk Presenter – Non-Breakfast or Drive and Senior Political Correspondent Barry Soper was honoured for his Outstanding Contribution to Radio.

Newstalk ZB’s other awards included Niva Retimanu - Best Newsreader, Phil Quinney - Services to Broadcasting, Jason Pine - Best Sports Reader, Presenter or Commentator, new ZB Political Editor Jason Walls was joint winner of Best New Broadcaster – Journalist and the team behind Heather du Plessis-Allan’s Drive won Best Show Producer or Producing Team - Talk Show. Newstalk ZB and GOLD Sport were awarded Best Sports Story - Team Coverage for coverage of the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

ZM’s Fletch, Vaughan & Hayley once again took out the hotly contested Best Music Breakfast Show – Network Award.

The Hits Breakfast with Jono & Ben took out Best Marketing Campaign for their epic Kids Call The Shots campaign, and Best Client Promotion/Activation for their $10,000 Chip Pic promotion. The Hits Rotorua team also celebrated success with Best Community Campaign for Fill The Bus. Meg Wyatt, who works across both The Hits and ZM won Best New Broadcaster – On Air.

Radio Hauraki’s Rocktober Campaign, which saw its hosts transform into rock legends, also proved to be a big hit, winning Best Video – Short Form. Showcasing NZME’s growing strength and focus on digital audio and sports entertainment, the Alternative Commentary Collective’s Agenda Podcast won Best Entertainment Podcast – Episodic.

In other awards, NZME’s small but mighty sales team in Christchurch took out Sales Team of the Year, and NZME Video Producer Josh Hubbard won Best New Broadcaster – Off Air. NZME’s Creative Team also took out Best Effective Commercial Campaign for Does it do what a Daikin does?

NZME Chief Executive Michael Boggs congratulated all winners across all categories and networks.

“It was fantastic to come together as an industry tonight to celebrate the very best in radio in this country. I’m especially proud of our NZME team a lot of mahi goes into operating a successful radio and digital audio network that spans multiple stations covering news, sport, music and entertainment. It was awesome to see our talented teams and individuals recognised this evening.

Boggs also thanked NZME’s audiences and customers: “We simply couldn’t do what we do without our valued audiences engaging with our radio stations, digital streaming platforms and podcasts, as well as our publishing, digital and OneRoof property platforms, all of which see us reach 3.6 million Kiwis. We also say a huge thanks to our advertising clients – thank you for your ongoing support,” he says.

ENDS