Commercial Radio Ratings: Newstalk ZB and ZM Reach Highest Audiences Ever

Newstalk ZB and ZM are the big winners in the latest radio ratings, reaching their highest audiences.

Newstalk increased its general audience by nearly 74,000 listeners in GfK’s latest commercial radio audience survey, a reflection of the high levels of interest in news during the Covid-19 period.

On the entertainment side, the ZM music network now has the most listeners in the key audience groups aged 25-44 and 25-54, both highly rated by advertisers.

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Newstalk ZB and ZM, both owned by NZME, grew their breakfast audience and are now the two most popular commercial breakfast radio stations in New Zealand’s major radio markets.

The latest increase in Newstalk ZB’s national audience brings the news and interview network’s audience to more than 610,300 listeners, the largest audience for ZB since its launch in 1987.

The Mike Hosking Breakfast further established its place as New Zealand’s favorite morning radio show, with a growth of 33,100 listeners.

“It is incredibly humiliating that so many New Zealanders looking for news and information they can trust have turned to Newstalk ZB in such large numbers during the Covid crisis and beyond,” said Jason Winstanley, Head of Talks at NZME.

“We’ve had audience growth throughout the day, with listeners looking for the latest news, as well as connection, camaraderie and conversations on our talk shows.”

Newstalk ZB’s listener growth reflects increased audience engagement across all NZME news platforms during 2020. The number of Kiwis reading the New Zealand Herald newspaper on an average day soared to 546,000 in the 12 months until June 30, 16 percent more than on the same date. year.

With its unique audience of 1,838,000 in September, NZME’S nzherald.co.nz is now New Zealand’s number one digital news provider.

“The fact that so many New Zealanders have turned to NZME radio networks, our newspapers and websites during such an incredible time of uncertainty is a reflection of the tireless work of all our people at NZME,” said NZME CEO, Michael Boggs.

NZME made significant changes to many of its radio networks in the run-up to this radio polling period, including launching Jono & Ben Breakfast on The Hits, a new breakfast show on Coast with Jase, Toni & Sam, which features a new “Old School” music format on Flava’s Hip Hop and RnB network, as well as the launch of a new “Gold” network in July.

“All of the changes we have rolled out this year are part of a strategy aimed at generating sustainable audience growth by ensuring we have a relentless focus on our listeners,” said NZME Radio and Commercial Director Wendy Palmer.

“This means having the best New Zealand radio hosts on the best networks.

Palmer highlighted the strong performance of the entertainment brand ZM.

“The continued growth in popularity of ZM reflects the incredible dedication of its broadcast, production and promotional teams to its audience,” said Palmer.

“ZM continues to grow larger and larger, now with 523,600 listeners nationwide, a new record for the network.”

NZME’s streaming audience growth has been reflected in its iHeartRadio digital audio platform, which recently garnered more than one million registered users. Listening data shows that since the lockdown began, iHeartRadio listening has grown: last week there was a peak of nearly two million streams and 1.18 million total listening hours.

New Zealanders also turned to podcasts in large numbers during the Covid lockdown periods. In March this year, iHeartRadio podcast listeners increased by 25 percent compared to February. Downloads and listens now total nearly 1.6 million each month. The top three podcasts are Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking Breakfast, The Fletch, ZM’s Vaughan and Megan Show, and Radio Hauraki’s The Matt & Jerry show.

Boggs said these results reflect the confidence New Zealanders have in these radio brands.

“Kiwis trust us to deliver the news and information and connections they need to all the devices they choose to listen to.

“It is an incredible privilege and responsibility to continue to earn the trust that New Zealanders place in us to keep them informed.”

NZME shares are currently trading at 64 cents, up from 40 cents on September 1 this year.