Radio New Zealand Audiences 2006

Tuesday, 12 September 2006, 3:36 pm
Press Release: Radio New Zealand

Radio New Zealand Audiences 2006

Radio New Zealand audience survey results published today have once again reinforced the strong position of public service broadcasting in a highly competitive and rapidly changing New Zealand radio market.

Network Services

Results from the latest Research International survey of New Zealanders on their radio listening habits show that about one in five people aged 15 and over continue to listen to live broadcasts from either National Radio and / or Concert FM in an average week.
National Radio with a cumulative audience of 474,700 has maintained its station share position at No.2 nationwide.

The Research International survey was carried out from mid May to late June 2006 and is one of a number of methods used to measure Radio New Zealand network audiences and compliance with Radio New Zealand Charter obligations.

Website Services

While the Research International audience survey shows some decline in traditional listenership for National Radio and Concert FM since the last survey, it does not reflect the rapid growth in audio on demand and podcast listening via Radio New Zealand’s new website services.

There have been significant changes in the way some New Zealanders access Radio New Zealand programming with the introduction of web based audio on demand, live streaming and podcast services over the past twelve months.

Commenting on changing listenership opportunities, Radio New Zealand Chief Executive, Peter Cavanagh, said New Zealand audiences were rapidly embracing the new world of time-shifted listening.

“New technology such as audio-on-demand and podcasting frees our listeners from the tyranny of the fixed live broadcasting schedule and this is reflected in website access data. “

Public demand for services from the Radio New Zealand website www.radionz.co.nz has exceeded all expectations. Requests for audio-on-demand items had topped one million after only nine months of the new service and demand continues to increase with an average of 4,000 items now served to listeners every day. Demand for podcast feeds of key programmes and interviews has also exceeded expectations with downloads now reaching 15,000 a day.

Peter Cavanagh emphasised the importance of extending public access to Radio New Zealand’s broadcasting services:

“Radio New Zealand is now a platform-neutral broadcaster providing programme content to listeners wherever, whenever and however they want to receive it.

“While traditional radio listening will continue to make up the bulk of our audience numbers for some time, New Zealanders are increasingly accessing our programmes through a broad range of other electronic devices such as their computers, MP3 players, cell phones and television sets.

Cavanagh said digital broadcasting via the internet meant that Radio New Zealand was no longer restricted to being a national broadcaster.

“A huge volume of our online listening now comes from New Zealanders living and working overseas and by leading the way in digital broadcasting, Radio New Zealand has effectively become a global broadcaster to all New Zealanders - wherever they are in the world.”

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A summary of the 2006 Research International All New Zealand Radio Survey accompanies this release.

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MEDIA INFORMATION
RADIO NEW ZEALAND AUDIENCES 2006

Results from the latest Research International survey of New Zealanders on their radio listening habits show that National Radio and Concert FM together are listened to by almost one in five people aged 15 years and over in an average week.

The survey was carried out from mid May to late June 2006 and is designed to measure Radio New Zealand network audiences and the company compliance with Radio New Zealand Charter obligations.

Radio New Zealand Audiences

Results show that National Radio and Concert FM together attract 540,900 listeners aged 15 years and over in an average week. (Monday to Sunday, midnight to midnight.) This represents 19% of the total population aged 15 years and over.

National Radio Audiences

The traditional ‘live’ radio audience for the National Radio network in 2006 is statistically unchanged compared to that of 2005. Actual weekly radio audiences for National Radio are 474,700 listeners aged 15 years and over. This represents 16% of the total population 15 years and over. The comparable figure in 2005 was 517,400 listeners.

Station Share

National Radio is the number two station in 2006 in terms of station share nationwide among people aged 15 years and over.

Concert FM Audiences

Concert FM has an audience of 127,100 listeners aged 15 years and over. This compares with a figure of 159,300 listeners in 2005.

Network Programming Performance

Radio New Zealand has achieved excellent listener satisfaction results.

84% of National Radio listeners are satisfied with programming on the network. Only 4% are dissatisfied. (The remainder are neutral in their opinion ).

Results for Concert FM show 78% are satisfied with programming and just 3% dissatisfied.

22% of National Radio listeners believe programming has improved over the last twelve months and 12% think it has got worse.

For Concert FM programmes 12% of listeners think the station has improved and 6% believe it has got worse.

Notes:

Details of the Radio New Zealand audience survey will be included in the Radio New Zealand Annual Report to be published in November.

Research International data excludes details of listener access to Radio New Zealand programming via audio on demand and podcast downloads.

Source:
Research International All NZ Radio Surveys 2005 and 2006
*Cumulative Audience, All 15+
# National Share, All 15+

ENDS

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