The winners of the 2026 NZ Radio & Podcast Awards were announced on June 4 at a ceremony at the NZ International Convention Centre in Auckland, hosted by Jeremy Corbett.
RBA Chief Executive & Awards Chair Clare Bradley said the 636 entries were all examples of the
outstanding radio & podcasts produced in New Zealand in 2025:
“It is great to be able celebrate the work of so many talented people across the industry tonight.
These teams work really hard and with a huge amount of passion for what they produce. New
Zealand is one of the most diverse and competitive radio landscapes in the world. The ability to
engage with everyone is why radio remains so much a part of our daily lives. The whole sector
deserves credit for that strength, especially tonight’s winners.”
New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME) nabbed 22 awards including Station of the Year Network Award for the sixth consecutive year and Heather du Plessis-Allan again being awarded Sir Paul Holmes Broadcaster of the Year. Mike Hosking was Best Talk Presenter Breakfast or Drive, Marcus Lush won Best Talk Presenter Non-Breakfast or Drive and Raylene Ramsay, in her 40 years at NZME, was recognised as
Best News or Sports Reader.
It was 18 awards for MediaWorks. More FM had an outstanding night, winning Best Music Network Breakfast Show for The Breakfast Club with Si & Lana, More FM Northland for Local Station of the Year and Rotorua’s Jack Girling as Best Local Music Host.
Podcast of the Year was awarded to the Between Two Beers podcast and its mighty team of Steven Holloway, Seamus Marten, Adam Pomana, Marcus Logan and Sam Kennedy (pictured main).
The full list of winners are below.
