FLETCH, VAUGHAN & MEGAN (ZM)

With impressive audience growth and a massive online presence, ZM’S Fletch Vaughan & Megan take the title of Hottest Radio Show.

In 2014, Polly Gillespie and Grant Kereama departed their ZM post after 20 years at the helm, making way for the younger trio of Fletch, Vaughan & Megan who were poached from The Edge’s drivetime show. Since then, the trio’s dynamic repartee and Vaughan’s enthralling series of family anecdotes have helped revitalise the station’s breakfast slot, with the first radio survey for the year showing that it grew by 12,700 to reach 273,000 listeners. Off air, the hosts regularly feature in NZME’S Watchme offerings, with several of their videos – such as their attempt to recruit Lorde as a babysitter –racking up thousands of views from their 100,000+ Facebook fans.

When speaking of the results, NZME group director of entertainment Dean Buchanan said he was particularly pleased with the performance of the show, which won the most listeners among 18- to 34-year-olds across the country.

Over on The Edge, the newly combined team of Jono, Ben & Sharyn have unleashed their witty approach to the station’s afternoon slot. However, the trio saw a drop in the recent survey to see 327,700 listeners tune in from 4-7pm. That’s despite a change up in talent with Jono and Ben joining earlier in the year to replace Guy Williams and Clint Roberts.

RNZ’S consistent Morning Report offering and its daring new 9th Floor series (both of which feature the excellent Guyon Espiner) also deserve a special mention, with the latter currently ranking as New Zealand’s 27th most popular podcast on itunes at the time of writing.