NZ radio and audio audience growth driven by younger listeners

The first GfK Commercial Radio Survey of 2026 has been released by the NZ Commercial Radio Industry.

The survey shows significant audience growth across the first few months of 2026, with total commercial cumulative audience growth of 5% compared with the final survey of 2025, reaching 3.496 million listeners per week.

Long-term future

The Radio Bureau CEO Alistair Jamison says: “It is great to see the continued strength of the total audio market. Linear radio consistently reaches more than 70% of NZ every week, and with 43% of those listeners also consuming a podcast on a weekly basis, we are continuing to grow our audience opportunities and the range of platforms through which brands can engage with that audience.”

NZME chief executive officer Michael Boggs says: “It’s fantastic to see momentum across total audio audiences with 5% growth in listeners and strong growth among younger demographics – 11% among 10-24 year olds and 10% in the 18-39 age group.

“Youth are also the heaviest consumers of podcasts and digital audio, meaning the next generation is already deeply engaged with audio platforms and content. That’s a really exciting signal for the long-term future of audio.”

Driver of real business outcomes

Wendy Palmer, MediaWorks CEO adds: “This latest survey highlights what we already knew, that audio continues to deliver for both audiences and advertisers across New Zealand.

“Driving real business outcomes has always been the focus for audio, and with a 5% growth in cume for our channel, New Zealand really is listening to us. The audio listening audience offers direct access to real business results for our partners and that’s as strong a story as we could hope for.”

Jamison says: “Audio is the leading format across the New Zealand media landscape with 94% of the country consuming an audio format each week*. In addition, they are spending a huge amount of time listening to our content. In the coming weeks we’ll release a new Share of Ear study that shows that Kiwis spend 4 hours 25 minutes a day with audio at home, in the car, at work and across a mix of linear radio, digital audio and podcasts.

“The audio ecosystem is growing and it’s creating powerful moments that advertisers can tap into. I’d encourage advertisers to think carefully about how they’re making the most of the opportunities to engage with our audio audiences.”

* Infinite Dial 2025

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