NZME has captured several top spots in Northland's competitive radio market

Coast host Lorna Subritzky. The easy listening radio station is Northland's favourite.

NZME has captured several top spots in Northland's competitive radio market, according to the results of an independent survey.

Coast is the number one radio station in the region and Mike Hosking Breakfast is the number one news breakfast show.

Fledgling NZME radio station Mix, which plays hits from the 80s and 90s, has made a grand entrance with 3200 listeners while New Zealand's original pirate radio station, Radio Hauraki, has grown listenership since last year, across all times of the day, according to the latest 2017 GfK independent radio survey.

Mike Hosking Breakfast host Mike Hosking, left, and Jeremy Wells, from Radio Hauraki, at a NZ Radio Awards event.

Greg Alexander, commercial manager Northland, said he was thrilled with the results, the third consecutive survey NZME Northland radio stations had increased audience numbers and station share.

"NZME recognised Northland as a significant market over the past 18 months building and investing in a new state of the art radio studio [in Whangarei], introducing the very popular Mix station, 89.2 FM, and expanding the reach of our Coast brand into the Bay of Islands with an additional frequency.

"That vision, commitment and capital investment by NZME in Northland is reflected in our continued improved survey outcomes, along with the integrated relationship with NZME publishing assets including the New Zealand Herald, Northern Advocate, Northland Age, Whangarei Report and wider networks, NZME Northland is excited about the potential media solutions we can provide our current and future customers," Mr Alexander said.

NZME Northland is the region's largest media company with publishing, digital, Grab One, radio and events under its umbrella, in a typical month 86 per cent of Northlanders will be engaging with its brands.

Nationally, NZME radio stations have all gained more new listeners.

NZME's chief commercial officer Laura Maxwell said the company and its partners have added an additional 150,000 new listeners, an overall market share increase of 1.9 per cent.

NZME music brand Coast gained the most listeners of any station in New Zealand (up over 47,500), with ZM in second place increasing by 41,000.

The changes in strategy are paying dividends, with more listeners than last year across The Hits, Hauraki, Flava and Mix.

Newstalk ZB continues its dominance as the most listened to radio station .
iHeartRADIO registered users have increased by 31 per cent year on year to 603,605, with average listening hours of over 2,132,000 each month.

This is the third consecutive survey where the number of people listening to commercial radio in New Zealand has increased, now up 130,400 to a total audience of 3,302,500 people.

"NZME advertisers have the advantage of being able to also reach target audiences across digital and newspaper offerings, all of which are growing," Ms Maxwell said. "Being able to provide connections to a total audience of 3.2 million is a pretty exciting opportunity."