More and more Kiwis appreciate the company of radio on their daily commutes, a trend which has seen growth across the entire medium.
The second GfK Total New Zealand Commercial Radio survey for 2018 has shown another jump in New Zealand's radio listenership, which has increased by almost 16,000 since May's results.
The upsurge of radio listeners in general has seen MediaWorks grow its audience by 18,200, meaning 2.43 million people are now tuning in each week across the company's stations. MediaWorks also owns Newshub and Three.
Competitor NZME has also seen growth in listenership and audience share - once again highlighting Newstalk ZB, and Mike Hosking's breakfast show in particular, as attracting a large listener base.
MediaWorks Radio's group content director for music, Leon Wratt, says the mid-year survey shows solid, consistent results.
"Looking across the country, it's generally small gains and losses across most of the brands. For us, it's about the music stations, and that's where we continue to be strong."
More FM held onto its spot as New Zealand's most-listened to music radio station, with the new line-up of Jase and Jay-Jay increasing numbers of drive-time listeners.
The Sound, The Edge and Mai FM round out the top four stations Kiwis listen to between 4pm and 7pm.
Wratt says it's been important to focus on what New Zealanders are choosing to tune into while driving to and from work.
"Ensuring New Zealanders are with us for their commutes at both ends of the day has been a big priority for us.
"It's great that this has paid off with the country's top six music breakfast shows and the top four music drive shows."
More FM's national share at breakfast time also enjoyed an increase, while Mai FM followed up its 2018 station of the year radio award with an audience growth of over 15,800.
"More FM has had a terrific result this survey and we remain incredibly proud of Mai with another great Auckland result," Wratt said.
The Edge's Dom, Meg and Randell also increased the station's national breakfast audience to 328,200 with a new line-up that Wratt says has seen the show "continues to grow and develop".
The Edge also retains the highest number of listeners of any New Zealand radio station, reaching 621,500 people this survey period.
Wratt adds that digital streaming through the Rova platform ensures audiences can still hear their favourite stations even if they can't get to radio.
"Our goal has always been to build brands and personalities that people want to listen to and be a part of in their everyday lives," Wratt said.
The full GfK Total New Zealand Commercial Radio Survey can be read on its official website.
Newshub.
