Mediaworks Radio Records Highest Ever Listenership

Mediaworks Radio Records Highest Ever Listenership,
Overall New Zealand Commercial Radio Listenership Increases

The first GfK Total New Zealand Commercial Radio Survey results for 2018 have delivered MediaWorks radio its highest ever audience with a total of 2,417,600 listeners, an increase of 100,800 from December 2017. Total commercial radio listenership also grew to 3,390,200, an increase of approximately 67,400.

MediaWorks radio stations remain the home of the 25-54 audience with 58% share in the commercially important demographic, nearly double its nearest competitor. The Rock leads the pack for share in 25-54, with More FM, The Breeze, The Sound and Mai FM rounding out the top five.

More FM is New Zealand’s most listened-to music station, increasing its cumulative listenership to 543,400 this survey period. Nationally, More FM’s Breakfast attracts the most listeners of any music station, as well as being the nation’s outright favourite radio station at Drive time. More FM increased in NZ Major Markets**, posting its highest ever result in Auckland since 2002, on the back of Si & Gary increasing to number two music Breakfast on 6.9%+.

Leon Wratt, Group Content Director - Music, MediaWorks Radio said: “We’re thrilled that MediaWorks remains New Zealand’s leading radio network and I’m particularly pleased with our results in Major Markets** where we lead across the board. We’ve had significant increases in listeners in Auckland and Wellington as well as Christchurch where our 25-54 share is now 72.1%. It’s hard to pick out a star performer this survey among More FM, The Breeze, Mai FM and The Sound, but Magic was outstanding having recorded the highest share increase of all stations nationally, up 0.8 percentage points since last survey.”

In addition to recording its highest ever share nationally, Magic is also the number one station for share in Rotorua, Hawkes Bay and Nelson, with the highest time spent listening of any New Zealand radio station.

The Edge’s new line-up is a hit and the station is still New Zealand’s most popular with 639,800 listeners. The Edge increased its national audience, and the new Breakfast^^ lineup of Dom, Meg and Randell grew by 22,700 listeners, while The Edge Drive^ with Jono, Ben and Sharyn is second equal with The Rock’s Thane and Dunc in audience share.

The Breeze grew by 52,100 listeners, the biggest audience increase of any station in the latest survey results making it the number two music station after The Edge. Auckland’s Breakfast team^^, Robert and Jeanette, had a strong survey result in our largest city, holding the number two spot for total listenership for a music station.

Mai FM remains a powerhouse in Auckland, retaining its spot as the favourite music station and increasing its listenership by 17,700 to 246,500 overall. The source for the hottest hip hop and RnB in New Zealand also boasts a whopping 154,200 listeners at Breakfast^^^ in Auckland, beating its nearest competitor by 13,500 people.

The Sound has increased its national share by 0.4 percentage points and overall cumulative audience by 28,900 to become the number three music station for all people 10+***. The Sound also had a great result in Auckland reaching its highest ever share result with 4.8%, and Christchurch increasing by 3.7 percentage points to 10.9%.

George FM had large gains in Wellington where it nearly doubled its share and cumulative audience in the capital and also grew by 1,100 listeners in Auckland. RadioLIVE also saw increases in its Auckland share as well as share and cume in Dunedin.

MediaWorks CEO Michael Anderson said: “The latest GfK survey results highlight the power of radio and its ability to reach New Zealanders with engaging content. Furthermore, the latest ASA results demonstrate radios ability as a platform to consistently deliver strong return on investment for advertisers. Whether it’s on air, via digital, social media or through events, radio in its many forms is undeniably a media juggernaut in New Zealand.”

More radio lovers are choosing to get their digital listening fix through Rova which has tripled its downloads to 300,000 since since May 2017 with 14.9 million streams served~. Development is underway on an update for Rova which will have a number of new features. The updated platform will be released later this year.
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