Media Insider: Mike Hosking and Newstalk ZB snare biggest audience in almost three years; The Breeze is top music station
Breakfast host Mike Hosking and Newstalk ZB have thrown down the gauntlet to RNZ, with a sizeable jump in audience numbers, according to the latest commercial radio ratings released today.
ZB has recorded its highest cumulative audience in almost three years: an increase of 53,800 listeners since the last survey at the end of 2025, to a total audience today of 657,400.
At breakfast, Hosking’s audience has similarly jumped to its highest number since mid-2023: from 424,300 at the end of 2025 to 458,500 today.
RNZ’s radio numbers are set to be released next week. The industry likes to keep commercial ratings separate from the public broadcaster’s results.
The GFK numbers released today confirm ZB as the country’s biggest commercial radio station, followed by MediaWorks’ The Breeze as the top music station.
ZB’s increase comes during a renewed battle for morning news audiences, with a refreshed RNZ Morning Report and TVNZ Breakfast, and the expansion of the Herald’s Ryan Bridge show to ThreeNow and, shortly, Three’s linear channel.
TVNZ and the Herald have also launched half-hour business shows.
RNZ, which had a cumulative audience of 500,300 at the end of 2025, has itself enjoyed audience increases over the past two surveys.
It will likely be buoyed by ZB’s result in the sense that Kiwis appear to be engaging more heavily in the news agenda, with a pending election and turmoil in the Middle East.
RNZ will also be waiting keenly to see whether its audio changes are helping to continue its audience momentum.
RNZ’s Morning Report has been broadcasting sharper, shorter interviews, but the biggest change has been behind the microphone.
Broadcaster John Campbell started as Morning Report co-host on April 13. He has been in the hot seat for three weeks of a rolling 48-week ratings period - we won’t start seeing the impact of his arrival until later survey results.*
*RNZ has been in touch to point out that the full impact of the change in presenter won’t be known until a full 48-week rolling sample is complete – by survey 2 2027. Results for metro areas will be able to be measured by survey 3, 2026. This story has been updated and corrected to reflect this.
Music radio battle
When it comes to commercial share, ZB and MediaWorks’ The Breeze continue to dominate. ZB’s overall share is 14.4 (down 0.4), and The Breeze is 9.5 (no change).
Three other MediaWorks music stations, The Rock (7.9), More FM (7.1), and Breeze Classic (6.5), fill out the rest of the top five stations by commercial share.
At breakfast, Hosking’s commercial share is 20.4 (up 0.7) and second-placed The Breeze is 8.7 (down 0.2).
The Breeze, Mediaworks’ The Edge, NZME’s The Hits and ZB all recorded cumulative audience increases of more than 50,000 people.
NZME chief audio officer Jason Winstanley said he was proud of the ZB result, and of the NZME results overall.
“For Newstalk ZB to record its strongest result in recent times is a reminder of what the station means to Kiwis.
“We’re currently in one of the most news-intensive periods in recent memory with major geopolitical events, a volatile global environment and an upcoming New Zealand general election. We know that people turn to well-known and trusted voices in times like these ...”
Top 10 stations by audience
Top 10 stations by share (mix of audience and time spent listening)
And then in 7th equal place: The Hits and The Sound 5.4; 9th: Coast 5.3 and 10th: ZM 5.1
Newstalk ZB is owned by NZME, publisher of the NZ Herald.
Industry reaction
Radio industry leaders said in a joint statement that today’s results had been “highly anticipated”. They celebrated a 5% increase in cumulative commercial radio audience overall, to 3.496 million listeners per week.
The Radio Bureau CEO Alistair Jamison said: “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...”
NZME chief executive Michael Boggs noted 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..."
MediaWorks chief executive Wendy Palmer said: “Audio continues to deliver for both audiences and advertisers across New Zealand. Driving real business outcomes has always been the focus for audio.”
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME, including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.