New Zealand Media and Entertainment is celebrating a suite of recent results across its publishing division.
Last week, the company featured heavily in the list of finalists from the 2026 Voyager Media Awards.
This saw the NZ Herald named once again as a finalist for Digital News Provider of the Year, alongside nominations for Metropolitan Newspaper of the Year. The Herald on Sunday is up for Weekly Newspaper of the Year and the Rotorua Daily Post for Regional Newspaper of the Year.
Its daily news show consisting of Ryan Bridge Today and Herald Now Business with Garth Bray is also a Voyager Media Awards finalist for Best Innovation in Digital Storytelling. NZME Head of Content & Strategy (Video/Audio) Sarah Bristow is also a finalist for Editorial Leader of the Year.
Celebrating recent wins
Meanwhile, the NZ Herald app has been the number one news app in New Zealand for over two years. NZME says there were more than 19.6 million launches in March 2026 alone.
NZME says its publishing brands now reach 2.5 million Kiwis, up more than 70,000 on last year.
Whereas its news shows Ryan Bridge Today and Herald Now Business with Garth Bray have recorded more than 3.2 million views in March – a 360% increase on the previous month.
Across TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, Ryan Bridge Today generated 12.4 million views in March, demonstrating the power of the format in reaching audiences wherever they consume news. Herald Now Business with Garth Bray drew 1.2 million views across TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin. Together the two shows delivered a combined social media reach of 13.6 million views in March.
Furthermore, trust in NME’s news brands is also on the rise with the Herald, BusinessDesk and Newstalk
ZB all recording improved individual trust scores in the recently released AUT Trust in News Report 2026. The report also saw the Herald claiming top spot as the country’s most popular news source, with 52% of respondents using the Herald in the previous week, up 10 percentage points from the last report.
Quality and consistency
NZ Herald editor-in-chief Murray Kirkness says the suite of positive results reflects the quality and consistency of NZME’s journalism across all platforms.
“These results reflect the ambition and talent we have right across NZME. We’re reaching Kiwis in more ways than ever, whether that’s through the Herald, through Ryan Bridge Today’s fresh approach to daily news, or through Herald Now Business giving our audiences the business coverage they need to start their day. New Zealand’s media landscape is rapidly changing, and we’re proud to be leading that change.
“Our journalists work incredibly hard every day to inform, to investigate and to hold the powerful to account. To see that reflected in our audience numbers and recognised with multiple Voyager Media Awards nominations is something our whole team can be proud of.”
