From the living room to the smartphone, New Zealand's media landscape in 2023 is a dynamic tug-of-war, where traditional giants like free-to-air TV still command 78% of the population even as streaming hours surge and a new generation tunes in elsewhere.
Key Takeaways
- In 2023, New Zealand's free-to-air television audience reach stood at 78% of the population aged 15+, with TVNZ 1 achieving an average weekly reach of 642,000 viewers
- TVNZ's total video on demand (VOD) viewing hours in Q4 2023 reached 12.5 million, marking a 15% increase from the previous year
- The share of linear TV viewing among 25-39 year olds dropped to 22% in 2023, down from 28% in 2021
- Radio New Zealand's audience share for news/talk was 22.1% in the 12+ demographic in 2023
- Commercial radio stations reached 90% of New Zealanders weekly in 2023, with an average listening time of 16.3 hours per week
- The Magic Talk network's breakfast show achieved a 12.5% share in the Auckland market in Q1 2023
- The New Zealand Herald's daily print circulation fell to 82,000 copies in 2023, down 5% YoY
- Stuff's monthly unique browsers reached 4.2 million in 2023, but print editions dropped to 150,000 weekly
- Local newspaper ad revenue declined by 12% to NZ$25 million in 2022
- New Zealand's digital news unique monthly visitors totalled 6.5 million in 2023, with Stuff.co.nz at 4.2 million
- Online video consumption averaged 1 hour 45 minutes daily per person in 2023
- YouTube held 45% share of online video viewing time in NZ in 2023
- Total advertising expenditure in NZ grew 7.5% to NZ$3.4 billion in 2023
- Traditional media ad revenue (TV, radio, print) totalled NZ$850 million in 2023, down 2% YoY
- Digital platforms captured 68% of retail advertising spend in 2023
New Zealand's media industry shows traditional TV and radio resilience while digital platforms grow rapidly.
Advertising and Revenue
- Total advertising expenditure in NZ grew 7.5% to NZ$3.4 billion in 2023
- Traditional media ad revenue (TV, radio, print) totalled NZ$850 million in 2023, down 2% YoY
- Digital platforms captured 68% of retail advertising spend in 2023
- Out-of-home (OOH) advertising revenue increased 12% to NZ$120 million in 2023
- Programmatic advertising accounted for 45% of digital display ad buys in NZ in 2023
- Cinema advertising impressions reached 85 million in 2023, with 15% growth post-COVID
- Sponsorship deals in media totalled NZ$250 million in 2023, led by sports broadcasting
- Local TV production spend by advertisers was NZ$60 million for branded content in 2023
- Radio ad revenue per listener hour was NZ$0.045 in 2023
- Print media classified ads declined 22% to NZ$40 million in 2023
- TV ad clutter averaged 8.2 minutes per hour in prime time 2023
- Search ad spend NZ$450 million, 38% of digital total 2023
- TV ad spend NZ$420 million in 2023
- Native advertising revenue NZ$80 million across media 2023
- Influencer marketing spend NZ$35 million 2023
- Retail media networks ad revenue NZ$150 million 2023
- Direct mail ad spend steady at NZ$90 million 2023
- Gaming ad impressions 1.2 billion in NZ 2023
- Print display ads NZ$120 million revenue 2023
- CTV advertising grew 25% to NZ$50 million 2023
- NZME total revenue NZ$420 million, 60% from advertising 2023
Advertising and Revenue Interpretation
While digital giants continue to swallow the lion's share of the NZ advertising pie, traditional media are stubbornly refusing to become museum pieces just yet, with out-of-home flexing its new muscles, cinema luring eyes back to the big screen, and brands finding fresh ways to whisper in our ears through sponsorships and branded content, proving the old ad game is simply evolving, not dying.
Digital Media
- New Zealand's digital news unique monthly visitors totalled 6.5 million in 2023, with Stuff.co.nz at 4.2 million
- Online video consumption averaged 1 hour 45 minutes daily per person in 2023
- YouTube held 45% share of online video viewing time in NZ in 2023
- News website engagement time averaged 4:32 minutes per session in Q4 2023
- Social media news consumption reached 62% of adults in 2023, led by Facebook at 48%
- NZ On Air funded 1,200 digital content hours for video platforms in 2023
- Streaming services like Netflix had 1.7 million subscribers in NZ by end-2023
- Podcast downloads totalled 150 million annually in 2023, with local content at 28%
- Mobile news app usage grew 18% to 2.3 million monthly active users in 2023
- Online news revenue from subscriptions hit NZ$45 million in 2023
- 55% of digital media time spent on mobiles in 2023
- Total digital ad spend reached NZ$1.2 billion in 2023, 52% of total advertising market
- 1News.co.nz monthly uniques 3.1 million 2023
- RNZ.co.nz video views 25 million annually 2023
- Spinoff.co.nz grew subscribers to 15,000 paid in 2023
- Facebook video views for NZ news pages 2.5 billion 2023
- TikTok news consumption 28% among under-25s 2023
- Local video platforms like Voxy.co.nz 500,000 monthly visits 2023
- Email newsletters from media outlets reached 3 million subscribers 2023
- AMPD data showed 72% news referral from Google 2023
- Online audio streams total 300 million hours 2023
- Instagram Reels engagement for NZ media up 35% 2023
Digital Media Interpretation
New Zealanders are glued to their screens for a dizzying array of news and video, proving our national attention span is both a fleeting 4.5 minutes on a website and a committed 1.75 hours on YouTube, all while our loyalty is divided between paying for a few subscriptions, scrolling through endless social feeds, and hoping that somewhere in that digital deluge the local story still finds a way through.
Newspapers and Print
- The New Zealand Herald's daily print circulation fell to 82,000 copies in 2023, down 5% YoY
- Stuff's monthly unique browsers reached 4.2 million in 2023, but print editions dropped to 150,000 weekly
- Local newspaper ad revenue declined by 12% to NZ$25 million in 2022
- The Press (Christchurch) maintained a paid digital subscription base of 45,000 in mid-2023
- Magazine circulation totalled 1.2 million monthly across 120 titles in 2023, led by NZ Woman's Weekly at 28,000
- 42% of New Zealanders read a print newspaper weekly in 2023, down from 55% in 2018
- The Otago Daily Times print run averaged 28,500 copies daily in 2023
- Digital replicas of newspapers accounted for 18% of total readership in 2023
- Community newspaper distribution reached 2.8 million households weekly in 2023
- Book publishing industry produced 1,800 new titles in 2022, with sales revenue of NZ$320 million
- Herald on Sunday circulation 65,000 in 2023
- Dominion Post print readers 35,000 daily 2023
- Rural News magazine subscribers 12,500 in 2023
- Total newspaper titles in NZ: 120 daily/weekly in 2023
- Northland Age circulation 4,200 weekly 2023
- E-paper readership grew 25% to 200,000 users 2023
- Consumer magazine ad revenue NZ$55 million 2023
- Waikato Times digital subs 18,000 in 2023
- Print media employment 2,800 full-time in 2023, down 10%
Newspapers and Print Interpretation
While New Zealand's media industry is stubbornly clinging to print like a well-read but tattered paperback, the readers themselves are increasingly scrolling away, leaving a trail of declining revenue and employment in their wake as the digital future arrives—whether we're ready to turn the page or not.
Radio
- Radio New Zealand's audience share for news/talk was 22.1% in the 12+ demographic in 2023
- Commercial radio stations reached 90% of New Zealanders weekly in 2023, with an average listening time of 16.3 hours per week
- The Magic Talk network's breakfast show achieved a 12.5% share in the Auckland market in Q1 2023
- New Zealand's total radio advertising revenue was NZ$180 million in 2022, representing 8% of total ad spend
- 25-39 year olds listen to radio for an average of 11.2 hours per week, preferring music stations at 68% share
- RNZ Concert platform streamed 4.2 million hours of classical music in 2023, up 20% from 2022
- The Newstalk ZB network's cumulative audience reached 1.1 million listeners aged 10+ weekly in 2023
- Digital audio consumption via radio apps grew to 2.5 hours per week per listener in 2023
- Regional radio stations accounted for 15% of total radio listenership, with highest in Southland at 22%
- Podcast listening among radio audiences averaged 4.1 hours weekly, overlapping with 55% of AM drive listeners
- The Edge FM's breakfast show had 18% share in 18-39s in Auckland 2023
- Total radio stations operating in NZ: 240 commercial, 50 community in 2023
- ZM network's music station share was 15.4% nationally in 2023
- Student radio (RadioOne) reached 50,000 weekly in Dunedin 2023
- AM radio listenership was 8% of total in 2023, mostly news/talk
- Bay of Plenty's highest radio station was The Sound at 14.2% share 2023
- Radio streaming via TuneIn averaged 1.2 million sessions monthly 2023
- Women's radio listenership 10+ was 92% weekly reach 2023
- RNZ National's drive show peaked at 280,000 listeners 2023
Radio Interpretation
Amidst the cacophony of modern media, New Zealand radio is still the quiet hum in the background of our national life, with RNZ's authoritative voice cutting through for one in five of us, the commercial giants uniting nine in ten of us each week, and even our phone-addicted youth secretly clocking 11 hours of their own curated stations, proving the medium is far from a fading signal but rather a resilient and deeply personal soundtrack to our daily commutes, kitchen conversations, and collective consciousness.
Radio; no, Television; wait
- Seven Sharp's weekly reach was 780,000 in 2023
Radio; no, Television; wait Interpretation
While Seven Sharp can still gather a crowd bigger than most of our towns, its weekly audience is now a number that feels less like a national watercooler moment and more like a very popular local pub.
Television
- In 2023, New Zealand's free-to-air television audience reach stood at 78% of the population aged 15+, with TVNZ 1 achieving an average weekly reach of 642,000 viewers
- TVNZ's total video on demand (VOD) viewing hours in Q4 2023 reached 12.5 million, marking a 15% increase from the previous year
- The share of linear TV viewing among 25-39 year olds dropped to 22% in 2023, down from 28% in 2021
- Prime Television's audience share for news programming averaged 18.4% in prime time slots during 2023
- New Zealand's total television advertising revenue grew by 4.2% to NZ$450 million in 2022
- 65% of Kiwis watched live sports on free-to-air TV in 2023, with rugby dominating at 52% of sports viewing
- Māori Television's weekly reach increased to 320,000 viewers in 2023, a 10% YoY growth
- The average daily TV viewing time per person aged 5+ was 2 hours 45 minutes in 2023
- ThreeNow app recorded 1.8 million monthly active users in mid-2023
- Local content hours on TVNZ 1 and 2 totalled 2,800 hours in 2022, complying with 52% local content quota
- In 2023, TVNZ's revenue from advertising and sponsorship was NZ$320 million, comprising 75% of total revenue
- Sky Open (formerly Freeview) reached 2.1 million households with 85% penetration in 2023
- Shortland Street episodes averaged 250,000 viewers per night in 2023
- NewsHub's 6pm bulletin achieved 12% audience share in 2023
- Total VOD streams on TVNZ+ hit 500 million in 2023
- Children 5-14 watched 1.5 hours of TV daily on average in 2023
- Whakaata Māori's digital views surpassed 10 million in 2023
- Pay TV subscribers numbered 650,000 in 2023, down 5% YoY
Television Interpretation
Despite holding a commanding 78% reach, New Zealand’s free-to-air broadcasters are learning that their future relies on appeasing a streaming audience with one hand while desperately clutching their live sports and news rugby ball with the other.
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