RNZ National to be accessed on iHeartRadio

Guyon Espiner and Susie Ferguson at the Morning Report studio, Radio NZ. Photo / Diego Opatowski

Government-owned stations on the Radio New Zealand network can now be accessed through internet radio platform iHeartRadio.

This means the state broadcaster's current affairs offerings like RNZ National's Morning Report and Checkpoint can be streamed via the iHeartRadio New Zealand website and mobile app, alongside content from radio stations like Newstalk ZB, Flava and Radio Hauraki as well as custom stations and podcasts.

It also means listeners can access to Radio New Zealand Concert and Radio New Zealand International. RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson said the move enabled the network's programming to be taken to a wider audience.

"iHeartRadio New Zealand has over 300,000 registered users, with 56 per cent of them being under 35 years of age.

"This provides Radio New Zealand access to a younger audience by delivering high quality content to new audiences," he said.

"We see adding our stations across multiple platforms as a significant enhancement of our services and partnerships such as this with iHeartRadio are a great way of distributing that content."

The iHeartRadio platform is part of media company NZME.'s portfolio which also includes the New Zealand Herald.

NZME. group strategy and operations director Carolyn Luey said Radio New Zealand was recognised for its high quality and diverse programming.

"Radio New Zealand provides a non-commercial offering which is very different to NZME's stations in the commercial market.

"The agreement includes live stations from three networks, Radio New Zealand National, Radio New Zealand Concert and Radio New Zealand International."

• iHeartRadio

- nzherald.co.nz