Breakfast pair toast success as radio award finalists

Tauranga's Will Johnston and Bridget Hastie are finalists in the New Zealand Radio Awards.

When Will Johnston and Bridget Hastie teamed up for their breakfast radio show they knew they had big shoes to fill.

About two years ago the duo took over the Classic Hits breakfast show from radio stalwart Brian Kelly.

Mr Kelly had been the voice of breakfast radio in Tauranga for more than 30 years and had the top-rated show in the market.

Mr Johnston and Ms Hastie knew replacing him would be a challenge but they say they have loved every minute of it.

This week the duo's breakfast show was named as a finalist in the New Zealand Radio Awards.

Mr Johnston said they were "pretty stoked" to have been named as finalists especially since this was the first time they had entered the awards.

"We have been doing the show together for less than two years and we are up against people who have been together for years," he said.

"The calibre of the people in our category is outstanding," Ms Hastie said.

The duo credit some of their success to appealing to a younger audience, helping to boost their ratings.

"Brian had been doing this for 30 years and he was No1 in the market," Ms Hastie said.

"We thought we could come in and freshen it up and try to attract some younger listeners."

The pair both love their job and said being able to get involved with the community was their highlight.