RNZ has been recognised with six awards - including two golds - at the prestigious New York Festival Radio Awards.

Photo: RNZ

Podcast series The Lost won a gold award for excellence for its presenter Paloma Migone at the awards announced in New York this morning.

Morning Report presenter Guyon Espiner received a gold award for best interview for his unforgettable conversation with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters during last year's election campaign.

The New York Festival Grand Jury presented RNZ with a total of six awards - two gold, one silver and three bronze.

This equals the previous best performance by RNZ in any international competition.

Three RNZ submissions were also recognised as finalists in their respective categories in the awards, which have entries from more than 30 countries.

RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson acknowledged the importance of international recognition.

"We are all very proud of RNZ's performance at the New York Festivals, to have the talents of our radio and podcast teams recognised so warmly by a panel of international judges in the world's largest radio awards contest is a tremendous vote of confidence in the quality, professionalism and skill of what we produce."

Photo: RNZ

Produced and presented by Paloma Migone, 'The Lost' looks at true stories of New Zealand's missing people, exploring the cold cases of those who never came home.

In September last year New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joined Guyon Espiner on Morning Report for an extended interview as part of its Election 2017 special interview series.

A New York Festival silver award was presented to The Panel host, Jim Mora, and bronze awards were received by Kim Hill and Kathryn Ryan for on-air presentation, and by Melody Thomas for her ground-breaking podcast series Bang!

RNZ Award Winners

Gold Radio Winner, Best Interview : Guyon Espiner Winston Peters MP

Gold Radio Winner, Audio Podcast Series : Paloma Migone The Lost

Silver Award, On-Air Talent Best Talk Show Host, Jim Mora

Bronze Award, On-Air Talent Best Radio Personality : Kim Hill

Bronze Award, On-Air Talent Best Talk Show Host : Kathryn Ryan

Bronze Award, Audio Podcasts : Melody Thomas Bang!

RNZ Finalists : John Campbell - On-Air Talent Best News Anchor; Graham Kennedy - NZSO Aotearoa plus Best Live Sound; Simon Morton / Alison Ballance - Documentary

The Science of Sweat.