NZME

NZME Secures Exclusive Partnership With TED

~ jen

A new multi-year partnership between New Zealand Media and Entertainment and globally renowned TED confirmed NZME as the exclusive sales representative for the popular podcast network in New Zealand.

Under this agreement NZME’s Podcast Network will represent TED’s podcast slate in New Zealand serving as the sole sales representatives for the advertising inventory in all TED podcasts to New Zealand clients.

The partnership marks another milestone for NZME’s Podcast Network, which boasts more than 86 million podcast downloads in the past year alone.

Driven by the hugely popular TED Talks Daily, the TED podcast slate attracts an audience of tens of thousands of monthly listeners across New Zealand and 214,000 monthly downloads in January 2024. With a diverse line-up the slate covers a further 20+ additional shows exploring topics from artificial intelligence to business, health, technology, and work featuring insights from leading thinkers and creators.

James Butcher, NZME Head of Digital Audio, says: “Everyone has heard of TED Talks — it’s a globally renowned brand and massively popular, so we’re thrilled to be partnering with TED podcasts exclusively here in New Zealand.

“This is another example of NZME’s ongoing commitment to expand our portfolio of diverse and engaging podcasts for our audience. We’re really proud to continue to drive listenership and increase the amount of unique, compelling podcasts we have available, and we are confident we’ll propel TED Podcasts’ content to new heights in New Zealand,” he says.

Sarah Catran, NZME GM Podcast Commercial and Partnerships, adds: “It’s great to deliver world-class content to our audiences and advertisers through our partnership with TED. This collaboration opens up new and exciting opportunities for advertisers to leverage this distinctive podcast network, connecting with New Zealanders through an expanded array of international material.”

Laura Beyer, Senior Director of TED Partnerships, says: “We’re excited to bring TED’s audio content to New Zealand, where it’s long had a strong following of people watching TED Talks online and hosting independently organized TEDx events in their local communities. “This will now enable us to reach a more global audience with a diverse range of topics — from technology to business to design — and provide access to TED content in a new format.”

NZME Celebrates 50 Million Downloads Across Its Diverse Podcast Network

~ jen

With one of the fastest expanding and most diverse podcast network in the country, New Zealand Media and Entertainment today celebrated hitting 50 million annual podcast downloads.

Since September 2021, when the Triton Podcast Ranker was first introduced in New Zealand, NZME’s network has always taken out the Top Network spot, regularly seeing more than 4 million monthly podcast downloads across its network. In the latest results for September 2022, NZME celebrated 4.8 million monthly downloads – more than 3.7 million more than its next network rival, and 800,000 monthly listeners over the same period.

Michael Boggs, NZME Chief Executive says: “NZME is strategically focused on expanding our podcast network, recognizing that podcasting is one of the fastest growing digital media platforms in the world. We’re proud to offer the country’s most diverse and expansive range of world-class global and local content across our podcast network. Be it through our independently produced podcasts, or those of our partners and external providers via our iHeartRadio platform, we cater to a hugely diverse audience which shows the strength of NZME’s network,” says Boggs.

NZME’s Head of Digital Audio, James Butcher, says: “Podcasting is growing exponentially around the world as one of the most popular ways people consume audio content. In Australia, for example, around 40 percent of Australians have listened to a podcast in the past month, and these numbers will only grow as more and more people understand the strength and variability of podcasts globally. We are seeing more and more brands value the powerful advertising possibilities that podcasting provides through the intimate connection between host and listener,” says Butcher.

In the monthly NZ Triton Podcast Ranker, NZME-produced podcasts Fletch, Vaughn & Hayley and Mike Hosking Breakfast have regularly made the top or second spot over the past year, with Matt Heath & Jeremy Wells also securing a regular top spot in the top ten with their award-winning Matt & Jerry podcast.

Hayley Sproull from ZM’s Fletch Vaughn & Hayley, says: “We’re stoked with the huge growth in our podcast downloads and listeners. Taking out the top spot a few times over the past year has been awesome. We love providing our listeners with fun, entertaining content and having it available across different platforms makes it even easier for them to tune in wherever they are,” she says.

Matt Heath from Radio Hauraki Breakfast and the Matt & Jerry podcast says, “We’re really proud to consistently have around 50,000 regular listeners to our podcast. As well as our loyal Radio Hauraki listeners tuning into our podcast, it also provides another avenue for us to connect with a more diverse range of listeners locally and globally, across different backgrounds and ages. Podcasts are such a powerful and entertaining platform and the variety of content available really does blow your mind,” says Heath.

NZME’s diverse podcast network covers everything from current affairs to parenting, finance to dating advice, and sport to te reo Māori pronunciation. You can find them all on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

NZME’s iHeartRadio Investing for Growth in 2022

~ jen

New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME) is continuing to build its podcasting prowess with key partnerships and appointments in the iHeartRadio team, accelerating growth for 2022.

NZME’s iHeartRadio has made two key appointments to support its growth; Sam Collins as iHeartRadio Content Director, who will be responsible for developing and producing NZME’s original content, and Sarah Catran as GM Podcast Commercial & Partnerships, leading an audience-centric approach to advertising solutions across existing and new podcasts.

James Butcher, NZME’s Head of Digital Audio and iHeartRadio says Collins and Catran will contribute to the leadership of the network. “Sam and Sarah are experts in their field and perfectly placed to take iHeartRadio into a new era as we expand and amplify our digital offering.”

Extending their reach, NZME’s iHeartRadio has entered into an exclusive agreement partnership to represent leading content from ARN’s iHeartPodcast Network Australia and global network Audioboom, giving New Zealand advertisers access to some of the world’s leading podcasts and will complement the existing stable of original content. This includes titles from ARN’s iHeartPodcast Network Australia including Jase & Lauren, Life Uncut and She’s On The Money. New titles from Audioboom include Casefile and No Such Thing As A Fish.

James Butcher says these partnerships expand the audience reach for New Zealand brands looking to reach consumers in the growing medium of podcasts.

“Podcasts have rapidly become one of the most popular ways for listeners to consume audio content and that momentum is only continuing. We’re proud to offer world-class global content with some of New Zealand’s most-loved shows, and we’re excited to partner with ARN’s iHeartPodcast Network Australia and Audioboom to help leverage these further for local brands.

“NZME’s portfolio of podcast’s well exceed the total download numbers of any other platform, according to NZ Podranker, and these partnerships will support our growth as we continue to solidify iHeartRadio as the premier podcast destination for Kiwis,” says Butcher.

Stuart Last, CEO of Audioboom says: “We are proud to be the third largest podcast publisher in New Zealand. With the commercial support of NZME we can continue to develop our offering, bringing more of the world’s most creative talent and best shows to podcast fans in New Zealand.”