Coast Northland celebrates beating More FM for the first time ever

The team at Coast Northland is celebrating after winning over Northland listeners in a recent survey.

The radio station overtook its opposition More FM Northland for the first time ever, with the biggest share of audience; 15.4 per cent for Coast compared to More FM’s 13.6 per cent.

The results, which came out last Thursday, were from an independent GFK Commercial Radio Survey.

Coast FM’s Toni Street – who cohosts Feel Good Breakfast with Jason Reeves and Sam Wallace weekdays from 6-9am – said being number one in Northland was “a real celebration”.

“Northland is a region we really target at Coast.

“To beat More FM is really exciting for us.

“Our whole musical strategy is to have songs that make you feel good.

“At the moment times are tough for a lot of people ... having an uplifting station which people are flipping to is nice.”

Street said she and her co-hosts regularly spend time in Northland; Wallace owns a side-by-side buggy and often goes on trips North with his dad.

The trio hosted a live show at the Duke of Marlborough in Russell a few years ago, where Street convinced Wallace to have his wedding to Sarah.

They had “a glorious three days” when they returned to the Duke in 2022, despite fears they may have had to pull the plug on the big day as the latest Covid variant Omicron raged through the country.

Street said “there have been talks” to have a reunion.

“It seems to have become the team’s getaway spot.

“We’ve fallen in love with the place, we love the people and the vibe.

“We went up to Whangārei earlier this year to host an event at the art centre ... every time we go we have the most fabulous time.

“I hope that means that passion for the region comes through across the airways.”

Coast - whose other shows include Days with Lorna Riley, Drive with Jon Dunstan, Nights with Jason Tikao, and Weekends with Grant Kareama - has the number one share of all stations in the highly important ‘at work’ category from 9am to 3pm for people aged over 10.

Coast also has a commanding lead for 40-plus-year-old females with a quarter of the audience, 25.2 per cent Monday to Sunday, ahead of Newstalk ZB on 18.1 per cent and More FM on 16.8 per cent.

NZME grew its share of audience and listener numbers across several commercial radio stations, according to the survey.

Newstalk ZB continued its unrivalled run at the top, remaining the country’s number one commercial radio station for the 16th year.

The Mike Hosking Breakfast remains the number one breakfast show with 445,300 listeners, and ZM grew its audience to 537,400.

The Hits celebrated its biggest audience and growing audience share for the eighth consecutive survey, and Radio Hauraki celebrated its biggest audience.

NZME chief audio officer Jason Winstanley said the results show NZME continues to make excellent progress towards its strategic goal to be number one in audio.

“NZME has put a huge amount of energy and resource into delivering the most loved and listened to content, investing in attracting the best radio hosts in the country and complementing our on air offering with strong digital platforms that are an extension of our much-loved radio brands.”

This article was written by Jenny Ling for the Northern Advocate and is republished here with permission.

Jenny Ling is a news reporter and features writer for the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering roading, lifestyle, business, and animal welfare issues.