Two Tauranga radio presenters are celebrating a big win in the latest GfK NZ Commercial Radio Ratings survey.
NZME radio stations ZM, Coast and The Hits have been ranked the top three radio stations in the city by number of listeners in the latest survey. ZM is No 1, Coast No 2 and The Hits scored the third place spot.
Coast's Tauranga morning show is hosted locally by Brian "BK" Kelly, and Will Johnston hosts The Hits' daytime show.
NZME Bay of Plenty general manager Greg Murphy said Tauranga's survey results were some of the best nationally and he was excited to see NZME dominating the top three spots in Tauranga.
"We're thrilled that not only do we have the top three stations with the most listeners, we also have the top three Breakfast shows," Murphy said.
"It's the fourth growth survey in a row," he said.
Murphy said BK's and Johnston's relationship with the Bay of Plenty Times had helped grow their profiles.
"It's great to have Brian Kelly back in Tauranga with his new local Breakfast show, and it's fantastic to see it performing so strongly from the get-go. With Will Johnston, on The Hits Days, also increasing his market share, {it is a] great day in the NZME Tauranga office."
BK's morning show is the second-most listened to breakfast show in Tauranga, nipping close on the heels of Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking Breakfast.
BK returned to Tauranga airwaves on January 15. He started his breakfast radio career in Tauranga and has split his time over the past six years between Tauranga and Auckland, where he hosted the Radio Network's national breakfast show.
"I'm just thrilled, number one to be back doing a local breakfast show again, which Tauranga hasn't had on Coast and two, it's working bringing in lots of new listeners," BK said.
"We've got lots of exciting things planned in future and it's great being back as part of the community."
The Hits has doubled its listeners aged between 18 to 34 and Johnston's show has grown by about 2500 listeners per week.
Johnston said he was happy with the results, particularly with growing the younger end of the audience.
"It means people are engaging with our events we are running, the music we are playing and the things we are talking about on air.
"If we get an audience at a younger end, hopefully they like what we are doing and stay with us for years to come."
The HIts' new national breakfast hosts Sarah Gandy, Sam Wallace and Toni Street were proving popular in the local market and listeners were staying tuned throughout the day, Johnston said.