The NZ Commercial Radio Industry today released the second GfK Radio Survey of 2026. Survey 2 2026 consolidates the growth seen in the first survey of 2026, with weekly reach remaining strong at 3.43m listeners per week.

This represents 1% growth over the equivalent second survey of 2025. The Radio Bureau CEO Alistair Jamison says: “Once again the audio market as a whole is demonstrating its stability and consistency of audience. Over a period of constant change across the media landscape, audio has continued to reach and engage New Zealand audiences based on content that connects with listeners.”

Wendy Palmer, MediaWorks CEO adds: “These results reinforce the enduring power of audio to connect with New Zealanders every day. Our audiences aren’t just reaching for radio – they’re spending significant time with radio brands across live and digital audio. For advertisers, that attention creates a powerful opportunity to build familiarity, relevance and lasting connections with consumers.”

Chief Executive Officer of NZME, Michael Boggs says: “At a time when outcomes count, audio is also continuing to demonstrate its ability to drive tangible outcomes for New Zealand business. The latest survey reinforces our ability to deliver mass reach, with both live radio and our suite of digital audio products providing trusted environments to reach New Zealand and support their businesses’ growth.”

In closing Alistair Jamison says: “In recent weeks we have seen a number of the world’s leading marketing thinkers talking about the unique strengths of audio for advertisers and encouraging greater use of audio as a channel. Mark Ritson for example shared his latest data demonstrating that when used correctly, audio can create catalytic business impacts for advertisers and grow business across a wide range of metrics including profit and trust. Audio provides the perfect mix of audience and outcomes and is therefore highly effective in helping brands grow.”