NZME continues to dominate New Zealand media and news landscape

New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME) is today celebrating a suite of recent results across its publishing division, reinforcing its position as New Zealand's leading news provider and media company.

From the continued dominance of the NZ Herald to the ongoing success of Ryan Bridge TODAY and Herald NOW Business with Garth Bray, NZME's publishing brands are reaching more Kiwis than ever. NZME also featured heavily in the recently released 2026 Voyager Media Awards finalist list, underscoring the talent, quality and innovation driving those numbers.

The NZ Herald app has been the number one news app in New Zealand for over two years, with more than 14.3 million launches in March 2026 alone - one million more than its nearest competitor. NZME's publishing brands now reach 2.5 million Kiwis, up more than 70,000 on last year. The Herald on Sunday remains New Zealand's number one Sunday newspaper, 129,000 more readers than its nearest competitor.

The NZ Herald is once again a finalist for Digital News Provider of the Year in this year’s Voyager Media Awards - a testament to the strength of its web and app offerings, alongside nominations for Metropolitan Newspaper of the Year, with the Herald on Sunday up for Weekly Newspaper of the Year and the Rotorua Daily Post for Regional Newspaper of the Year.

Less than a year since its launch in May 2025, Herald NOW, comprising of Ryan Bridge TODAY and Herald NOW Business with Garth Bray, recorded more than 3.2 million views in March alone - a 360% increase on the previous month and has attracted more than 2.2 million unique viewers since launch. Its social media reach has been equally impressive. Across TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, Ryan Bridge TODAY generated 12.4 million views in March 2026, demonstrating the power of the format in reaching audiences wherever they consume news.

The show is also a Voyager Media Awards finalist for Best Innovation in Digital Storytelling, with Sarah Bristow, NZME Head of Content & Strategy (Video/Audio) also a finalist for Editorial Leader of the Year.

Herald NOW Business with Garth Bray has hit the ground running in its first month since launch. The half-hour weekday morning programme, which airs from 6.30am immediately before Ryan Bridge TODAY, drew 1.2 million views across TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. Together the two shows delivered a combined social media reach of 13.6 million views in March.

Furthermore, trust in NZME’s news brands is also on the rise with the Herald, BusinessDesk and Newstalk ZB all recording improved individual trust scores in the recently released AUT Trust in News Report 2026. The report also saw the Herald claiming top spot as the country’s most popular news source, with 52% of respondents using the Herald in the previous week, up 10 percentage points from the last report.

NZ Herald Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness says the suite of positive results reflects the quality and consistency of NZME's journalism across all platforms.

"These results reflect the ambition and talent we have right across NZME. We're reaching Kiwis in more ways than ever, whether that's through the Herald, through Ryan Bridge TODAY's fresh approach to daily news, or through Herald NOW Business giving our audiences the business coverage they need to start their day. New Zealand’s media landscape is rapidly changing, and we're proud to be leading that change.

"Our journalists work incredibly hard every day to inform, to investigate and to hold the powerful to account. To see that reflected in our audience numbers and recognised with multiple Voyager Media Awards nominations is something our whole team can be proud of."

ENDS

Source: Nielsen DCR March 2026; Nielsen CMI Q1 25 – Q4 25 AP15+; Herald NOW: Clips - Brightcove, Livestream - Google Analytics 4, YouTube - YouTube Studio