Radio New Zealand
Radio New Zealand, commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ, is a New Zealand public service broadcaster and Crown entity. Established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995, it operates news and current affairs station, RNZ National, and a classical music and jazz station, RNZ Concert, with full government funding from NZ On Air. Since 2014, the organisation's focus has been to transform from a radio broadcaster to a multimedia outlet, increasing its production of digital content in audio, video, and written forms, utilising rnz.co.nz and the RNZ app.
The organisation plays a central role in New Zealand public broadcasting. The New Zealand Parliament fully funds its AM network, used in part for the broadcast of parliamentary proceedings. RNZ has a statutory role under the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002 to act as a "lifeline utility" in emergencies. It is also responsible for an international service, RNZ Pacific, which broadcasts to the South Pacific in both English and Pacific languages through its shortwave service, and publishes online news in Simplified Chinese.
History
Early years
The first radio broadcast in New Zealand was made on 17 November 1921 by radio pioneer Professor Robert Jack. Government-funded public service radio in New Zealand was historically provided by the Radio Broadcasting Company between 1925 and 1931, the New Zealand Broadcasting Board between 1931 and 1936, the National Broadcasting Service between 1936 and 1962, the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation between 1962 and 1975, and the Radio New Zealand state-owned enterprise between 1975 and 1995. The organisation placed a strong emphasis on training its staff in Received Pronunciation, until it began promoting local and indigenous accents in the 1990s.As part of the process of privatisation carried out by the fourth National government, the government's commercial radio operations were sold to private investors as The Radio Network in 1996, and the government's non-commercial assets became the current Radio New Zealand Crown entity.
RNZ had its headquarters in Broadcasting House in Bowen St, Wellington, behind the parliamentary buildings. Construction of the Bowen St building began in 1959, and it was opened in 1963. The building was demolished in 1997, and RNZ moved to Radio New Zealand House on The Terrace. In 2025 a time capsule which had been buried in the tunnel between the RNZ building and Parliament Buildings in 1996 was discovered and opened.
Later years
The broadcaster is bound by the Charter and Operating Principles included in the Radio New Zealand Act, which is reviewed by the New Zealand Parliament every five years. The Radio New Zealand Amendment Act 2016 received Royal assent on 1 April 2016.Purpose:
- As an independent public service broadcaster, the public radio company's purpose is to serve the public interest.
- Freedom of thought and expression are foundations of democratic society, and the public radio company as a public service broadcaster plays an essential role in exercising these freedoms.
- The public radio company fosters a sense of national identity by contributing to tolerance and understanding, reflecting and promoting ethnic, cultural, and artistic diversity and expression.
- The public radio company provides reliable, independent, and freely accessible news and information.
It must also produce and commission high quality programming based on research of public needs, and balance mass appeal and minority appeal programming. In achieving these objectives, it must be socially and financially responsible.
Proposed RNZ Concert closure
In February 2020, it was announced by Music Content Director Willy Macalister and Chief Executive Paul Thompson that RNZ Concert was to undergo major changes: it would be moved from the FM to the AM band, streamed online, and the current service replaced by an automated non-stop play format. Seventeen jobs would be lost from RNZ Music, including all the Concert presenters. It would be replaced on FM radio with music for a younger audience as part of a new multimedia music brand.The move was widely condemned across New Zealand, with many people seeing it as a gutting of the arts in New Zealand. Former Prime Minister Helen Clark issued a statement on Twitter saying that it "equates to a dumbing down of cultural life in NZ." Two thousand protesters signed a petition. The RNZ board reversed its decision when the government announced it would grant RNZ a third FM channel.
Merger attempt
On 23 June 2022, Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson introduced draft legislation to formally merge public broadcasters Radio New Zealand and TVNZ into a new non-profit autonomous Crown entity called Aotearoa New Zealand Public Media, commencing 1 March 2023. Under the draft legislation, RNZ would become a subsidiary of the new entity, which would be funded through a mixture of government and commercial funding. The proposed ANZPM would be headed by a board, and operate under a media charter outlining goals and responsibilities including editorial independence.On 8 February 2023, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced that the merger of TVNZ and RNZ into ANZPM had been cancelled, stating that "support for public media needs to be at a lower cost and without such significant structural change." He confirmed that both TVNZ and RNZ would receive additional government funding. Prior to the public media entity's cancellation, the two public broadcasters had spent a total of NZ$1,023,701 on the merger process, with RNZ spending NZ$431,277 by mid-November 2022.
Inappropriate editing of articles about international affairs
On 9 June 2023, Radio New Zealand launched an investigation after discovering several stories that it said gave a false account of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Wire agency articles were said to have been "edited to align with the Russian view of events." The editing was linked to one employee, journalist Michael Hall, who subsequently resigned. An RNZ audit identified 49 examples of what it called inappropriate editing on various international affairs. Nearly half of the affected content related to the war in Ukraine, while others related to China, Israel, and countries in Europe and South America. A Stuff reporter interpreted the edits to be broadly from a tankie point of view, in which aggression from authoritarian governments with a communist past are supported or downplayed, usually as part of opposition to the United States and its allies.In early August 2023, the independent review found that Hall had breached both Radio New Zealand's editorial standards and the company's contract with Reuters. The review also criticised RNZ's management for overreacting to coverage of Hall's actions, and found that internal cultural, system, and teamwork issues contributed to Hall's inappropriate edits. The review's panel recommended that RNZ merge its digital news team with its main news team, and appoint someone to focus on improving the organisation's editorial standards. The RNZ board chairperson, Jim Mather, stated that RNZ accepted the report, and would implement its recommendations.
2025 budget cuts
During the release of the 2025 New Zealand budget, the Sixth National Government reduced RNZ's budget by NZ$18 million over the next four years. In response, RNZ sought voluntary redundancies in July 2025.In early October 2025, RNZ confirmed it would close its youth podcast series TAHI, the "Sunday Sampler" and "At the Movies" radio show as a result of budget cutbacks. In addition, RNZ reduced the number of presenters on its "Culture 101" radio show from two to one.
Radio services
RNZ National
, formerly National Radio, is RNZ's independent news and current affairs platform, and offers both its own on-air and online services and those from third party services. It includes the news and current affairs programmes Morning Report, Midday Report, and Checkpoint, as well as having news bulletins every hour. Its news service has specialist correspondents, overseas correspondents, reporters, and a network of regional reporters. Magazine programmes include a broad range of contributors, interviews, music pieces, and dramas, with reports and regular features in English and Māori. The network provides coverage of business, science, politics, philosophy, religion, rural affairs, sports, and other topics.RNZ National broadcasts on AM and FM via mono terrestrial transmitters based around New Zealand and the Optus satellite. It is also available on Sky Digital TV channel 421, Freeview satellite channel 50, and is available in stereo on the terrestrial Freeview HD service.
RNZ Concert
is an FM radio network broadcasting classical and jazz music, as well as world music, specialist programmes, and regular news updates. Founded in 1975 as the Concert Programme, the network was renamed Concert FM in the mid-1990s, and assumed its current name in 2007 as part of a wider name change within Radio New Zealand to associate Concert FM with the RNZ brand. RNZ Concert was refreshed in February 2018, with several new programmes and presenters, and a renewed focus on live music and storytelling on New Zealand's music and arts communities.The station broadcasts in FM stereo via terrestrial transmitters located around New Zealand, as well as from the Optus satellite. It is also available on Sky Digital TV channel 422, and on Freeview's satellite and terrestrial services on channel 51.