NZME shines at 2017 Radio Awards as ZM takes out top prize

NZME stations have snared top prizes at the annual New Zealand Radio Awards - including the acclaimed Station of the Year title for ZM and a slew of awards for Newstalk ZB.

On the back of a ratings surge over the past 12 months, ZM took the prize for top network station from MediaWorks rivals The Edge and The Rock.

ZM's sister NZME station, Hauraki, took out the Blackie Award for the second year running - for its campaign in which hosts give sports broadcaster Scotty Stevenson an off-the-cuff phrase to use in his Sky rugby commentary each week.

The Hits' Dunedin duo Callum Procter and Patrina Roche (Callum and P) won best music breakfast in a single market.

NZME's Newstalk ZB and Radio Sport dominated the news and sport categories, with ZB night-time host Marcus Lush winning best talk presenter (other), Niva Retimanu winning best newsreader and Martin Devlin winning best sports reader/presenter.

ZB's Larry Williams Drive show won best daily or weekly feature.

Newstalk ZB Canterbury was recognised for its coverage of the devastating Kaikoura earthquake in November, winning the award for best team coverage of a news story.

And sister station Radio Sport won best team coverage of a sports story for its sensitive coverage of the death of former cricketer Martin Crowe.

NZME also featured strongly in the advertising and marketing categories at last night's awards, held at Shed 10 on Auckland's waterfront.

The company's trade marketing team won the associated craft prize; copywriter Chanelle Allen was named best new off-air broadcaster; and Hauraki and Coast were joint winners for best marketing campaign. The 'phone a friend' campaign that featured on ZB, The Hits, Hauraki and Radio Sport won most effective commercial and ZM won best digital campaign for its work with Friskies.

The Crazy Kiwi Christmas Kids' Show - produced by the Christian Broadcasting Association in association with NZME - won best children's programme.

NZME chief executive Michael Boggs said he was delighted with the outstanding results.

"The radio industry continues to be highly competitive, ensuring our teams deliver outstanding content to our listeners across both our talk and music brands. I congratulate all the finalists and winners for being recognised amongst the very best in New Zealand."

NZME is publisher of the New Zealand Herald, which last month won Newspaper of the Year and Website of the Year at the annual Canon Media Awards.