NZ commercial radio audience 3.4 million & NZME grows audience in latest GfK Survey

With 3.4 million Kiwis tuning in to New Zealand commercial radio stations each week, audio continues to be one of the most powerful media platforms in the country, as shown in the first GfK Commercial Radio survey for 2023, released today.

As well as celebrating overall commercial radio audience numbers across all networks growing since last survey, demonstrating the strength of radio across the country, New Zealand Media and Entertainment is also celebrating its own growth, with audience share across its radio network increasing from 37.7 percent of total audience to 38.1 percent.

Newstalk ZB remains the country’s number one commercial radio station for the fifteenth consecutive year*^, growing its overall share of audience to 15.7 percent, and The Mike Hosking Breakfast holding top spot once again, with close to half a million listeners and 23.3 percent share of the breakfast audience.

ZM’s Fletch, Vaughan and Hayley continued to go from strength to strength gaining their highest audience ever~. The Hits also continued its recent momentum, growing share and celebrating its biggest audience in its history, with 452,000 Kiwis tuning in.  

Jason Winstanley, NZME’s Chief Radio Officer, says the overall results for commercial radio demonstrate the power of the channel in New Zealand, and coupled with the huge expansion in digital audio including streaming and podcasting, the industry is at its strongest.

“Radio and digital audio are unique platforms in that they are able to be enjoyed no matter where people are and what they are doing.  Whether you’re at home, in your car, at the supermarket, the gym or work – you can enjoy news, music, sport or entertainment whether it be via radio, digital streaming or podcasts.  The range of content available across audio platforms, as well as the diversity of personalities means there is something for everyone,” says Winstanley.

Recent figures show NZME reaches 1.2 million digital audio listeners^** and more than 900,000 people via its podcast network each month^{^^}. There have been 29 million downloads of NZME podcasts already this year, and 3.6 million in April alone. More than 181,000 people listened to a ZM podcast in April, and Radio Hauraki podcasts have been enjoyed by 102,000 people over the same period ^#, presenting a fantastic opportunity for advertisers to reach a large, highly engaged audience.

Michael Boggs, NZME Chief Executive Officer, says today’s numbers are great for the industry overall, and NZME is pleased to be continuing its progress towards its 2023 strategic targets for its audio platforms.

“It’s fantastic to see commercial radio across the country performing so strongly, demonstrating the strength across New Zealand’s broadcast and digital platforms.

“NZME is pleased to continue our impressive reach across our radio frequencies.  We’re also constantly expanding iHeartRadio and our NZME podcast network, which remains the number one podcast network in the country. With the introduction of new podcasts over the past few months and more planned, increasing digital content output across our radio networks, our focus on youth audio and intensifying our sports entertainment offering, NZME has established an excellent foundation for future growth,” says Boggs.

ENDS

Source: GfK Commercial RAM, S1/23, Total NZ, Cume, AP10+, M-S 12mn-12mn (unless otherwise stated). *Share ^ historical information available on request ~M-F 6-9am S1 2022–S1 2023 ^**Adswizz AudioMetrix March 2023 ^^Triton NZ Podranker April 2023 ^#NZ Triton Metrics April 2023.