NZ Herald’s The Front Page celebrates more than 1 million downloads in its first year

Producer Shaun D Wilson, host Damien Venuto and executive producer Ethan Sills. Photo / NZME

The Front Page, the New Zealand Herald’s marquee daily news podcast, has reached two major milestones.

The podcast, which is released every weekday at 5am, recently surpassed one million podcast downloads and also today celebrates its first anniversary with host Damien Venuto.

This strong upward trajectory saw The Front Page secure fourth place in the latest NZ Triton Podcast ranker, its highest position so far.

Reaching more than 88,000 listeners in February alone, The Front Page has quickly built a reputation as a place where listeners can get up to speed with the biggest stories of the day.

New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME) acting managing editor Murray Kirkness says The Front Page has successfully positioned itself as the country’s top podcast destination for daily, digestible and trustworthy news content.

“Podcasting is one of the fastest growing digital media platforms in the world and the NZ Herald and The Front Page have been proud to play a huge part in New Zealand’s podcast industry expansion,” Kirkness said.

“The Front Page has been a great addition to the NZ Herald and NZME Podcast Network, strengthening NZME’s news offering with its topical local and international content that resonates, informs and sparks debate with our audiences.”

Damien Venuto, an award-winning NZ Herald journalist and host of The Front Page, says he is thrilled with what the podcast has achieved in its first year.

“It’s been a privilege to go behind the scenes of the biggest news headlines every weekday, sharing the thoughts and opinions of various journalists and experts. We’ve reached listeners in more than 190 countries and territories and last month we celebrated our highest audience yet, with more than 88,000 Kiwis downloading more than a combined 140,000 episodes,” Venuto said.

“We’re determined to keep this momentum going well into the future.”

James Butcher, NZME head of digital audio, says the success The Front Page has seen within its first year speaks to the exponential growth the digital audio industry is experiencing both globally and in New Zealand.

“NZME is actively investing in the expansion of our podcast network, ensuring we have a diverse range of podcasts that appeal to everyone – no matter their background, age or interests. Podcasts present a fantastic opportunity for advertisers to get in front of an ever-growing audience,” he said.

“As the largest podcast network in the country, NZME can offer unique and specialised advertising opportunities for New Zealand businesses to connect directly with their desired audience.”

Listen to The Front Page from 5am each weekday via the NZ Herald website, through iHeartRadio, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.