NZME's NZ Herald celebrates highest brand audience in 158-year history

NZME chief executive Michael Boggs. Photo / Michael Craig

The NZ Herald has achieved the biggest brand audience in its 158-year history - with more than 2.26 million Kiwis engaging with its print and digital content each week.

NZ Herald owner New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME) now reaches 3.4 million Kiwis across its print, digital and audio platforms, according to news readership results released by Nielsen today.

The NZ Herald now reaches 598,000 readers each issue on average, while the Weekend Herald and Herald on Sunday reach 740,000 and 346,000 respectively.

NZME's daily newspaper stable - the NZ Herald, Hawke's Bay Today, Bay of Plenty Times, Rotorua Daily Post, Northern Advocate and Whanganui Chronicle - now reach 320,000 more people per week than all other daily competitor newspapers combined.

Regional papers The Northern Advocate, Rotorua Daily Post and Whanganui Chronicle all saw growth in readership.

NZME's digital-only subscription numbers have also reached a significant milestone of 100,000 in June, while publishing subscriptions (digital and print) are now at more than 206,000.

NZME managing editor Shayne Currie said the readership results topped a stellar week for the company.

"To be celebrating our biggest brand audience in the Herald's long history is huge for us - it really shows that our digital transformation strategy is delivering results and increasing our brand presence, whilst we also continue to serve our traditional print audiences," Currie said.

"This is the cherry on top of a fantastic week which has seen NZME win a haul of awards at the Voyagers on Saturday night, the relaunch of the Herald on Sunday, and the release of our half-year financial results that showed growth in profit and revenue.

"Our 300 editorial staff in newsrooms across the country are focused on providing our readers with quality, trusted content and we're pleased that Kiwis continue to support our journalism, even after the peak of Covid when news readership and listenership was very high."

The Herald's food, lifestyle and entertainment magazines also saw increases in reader numbers, with Canvas, Viva, Travel, Spy and BeWell all increasing in readership compared to the last survey.

NZME's quarterly Viva Magazine also saw an increase - up 12,000 readers to 150,000.

Meanwhile readership of NZME's property news and listing destination platform, OneRoof, has grown by 6 per cent year-on-year across both its commercial and residential print platforms, now reaching 368,000 people.

NZME chief executive Michael Boggs said the latest readership survey showed that Kiwis continued to flock to NZME's multiple platforms for the best journalism and editorial content – be it news, business, sport, lifestyle or entertainment.

"As a business we are now 18 months into our three-year strategy, which is entirely focused on growing our publishing, audio and OneRoof platforms. Our digital transformation focus as part of our strategy is clearly paying off, with our brand audience for the Herald at its highest," Boggs said.

"A huge thanks once again to the 3.4 million Kiwis across the country who choose NZME for their news and entertainment."