If the Auckland University of Technology wants to give the country a Christmas present, it will guarantee ongoing funding for the Aotearoa New Zealand Media Ownership project.
The project, run by AUT’s Research Centre for Journalism, Media & Democracy (JM&D), provides a unique annual snapshot of the state of the media in this country, as well as the influence of giant puppeteers pulling international strings.
However, its real worth lies in the accumulation of reports since 2011. When combined with the earlier work of economist Dr Bill Rosenberg (who stopped compiling his annual media ownership report in 2008), they represent an extraordinarily rich source of data for longitudinal analysis of the ways media structures and control have changed over time…and how they have stayed the same.
That is why, even in straitened times for tertiary institutions, the maintenance of this project – and the other work of JM&D on issues such as media trust – is so important. We cannot plot a worthwhile future for public information and discourse without a clear understanding of what has gone before.
The first JM&D ownership report was 29 pages. This year’s report launched last Wednesday is 143 pages long and includes new sections that did not challenge mainstream media 15 years ago. Now Internet media, streaming, and podcasting are serious contenders not only for eyes and ears, but for influence and control over so-called legacy media.
The increasing roles that information and communication technology companies are playing in New Zealand is a central theme running through the 2025 report. You can access the report – and the 14 that preceded it – here:
(https://www.jmadresearch.com/new-zealand-media-ownership)
At the report’s launch, Professor Wayne Hope outlined the enormous power of the world’s top seven corporations – all tech related – that have a combined market capitalisation of $US21.9 trillion. That number is almost meaningless when you consider New Zealand’s nominal gross domestic product in under $US250 billion. Their power, however, is far from meaningless. He outlined links between the owners of those corporations and the entities that control media.
Foreign ownership of New Zealand media has been a recurring theme in JM&D ownership reports since their inception. This year’s assessment again showed foreign investment playing a prominent role in our media landscape.
- In March Canadian billionaire Jim Grenon bought 9.3 per cent of NZME’s shares. By September his stake had lifted to 17.9 per cent, and he was on the board of the owner of the New Zealand Herald and NewstalkZB. The largest shareholder remains Australian fund manager Spheria.
- During 2025 Netflix, Disney and Amazon Prime provided the most-watched subscription video on demand (SVOD) content
- In June Sinead Boucher sold half of Stuff Digital—publisher of the stuff.co.nz news site —to marketplace portal Trade Me, which is controlled by British private equity firm Apax Partners.
- From April to June Australian private equity investment firm Quadrant Private Capital, through outdoor media company QMS, took full ownership of Mediaworks, which operates eight national radio brands, eleven websites andone locally operated radio station.
- During 2025 New Zealand owned One NZ (formerly Vodafone NZ) expanded its direct–to-mobile text messaging service powered by SpaceX’s Starlink satellites. Elon Musk is the founder and chief executive of SpaceX.
- In August Sky announced the acquisition of Discovery New Zealand, owner of free–to-air channels Three and Three Now for NZ$1 from US-based Warner Bros Discovery. WBD itself is now in negotiation with Netflix, which wants to acquire Warner Bros Studios. Yet to play out is the effect that might have on Sky’s inventory, including access to HBO.
Almost while Professor Hope was speaking at the launch, Paramount announced a hostile bid for the entire Warner Bros Discovery empire. Paramount (owner of the CBS network) is controlled by David Ellison, son of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison who has a close association with Donald Trump. The New York Times reported last Monday that a private equity firm founded by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is one of the investors backing the Paramount bid.
Irrespective of whoever eventually wins the bidding war, the sale of some or all of WBD will have profound effects on video streaming internationally. In a new section on streaming video on demand (SVOD) services written by Rachel Daniels, the report states that the SVOD streaming market in New Zealand is projected to generate $US268.38 million in revenue for 2025. The United States is expected to dominate the global landscape, generating total revenue of $US47.89 billion this year.
The revenue from SVOD subscriptions presently has no return to the New Zealand screen industry. It goes to offshore companies that own the transnational SVOD services. There is widespread concern about this within the wider screen industry, and Screen Producers New Zealand has called on the government to regulate international streaming platforms, seeking a levy on their New Zealand revenue.
A new section on podcasting, written by Thomas Watts and Danielle Selman Julian, examined production by both established media organisations and independent producers. As citizens’ trust in news from traditional news sources declines, news consumers are turning to podcasts with content that overtly matches their ideology. A global study suggests that in countries such as the United Kingdom, which has relatively higher press freedom, citizens consumed fewer news podcasts. For New Zealand, this raised concerns about the shape and sustainability of the local podcasting landscape. There are concerns that increasing international involvement may amount to a kind of audio colonisation, with the potential to shape local consumption in ways that disadvantage local creators.
The other section introduced this year, Paul Mountfort’s snapshot of broadband and telco infrastructure, shows healthy diversity at a retail level but worrying trends in upstream infrastructure concentration. Most retailers depend on a single wholesale fixed-access network (Chorus and a number of local fibre companies) while some satellite services such as Starlink – vital in bridging rural gaps – are still largely beyond New Zealand’s control. Mountfort says that, with Starlink, legitimate concerns persist over CEO Elon Musk’s willingness to curtail or condition services in global hotspots according to his own judgments. He has done so in Ukraine and Gaza.
The JM&D report is not, however, limited to international influence. It contains the usual discussion of legacy media, including the country’s print and online duopoly formed by Stuff and NZME. It analyses the impact of the significant shareholding changes both underwent in 2025 and, in the case of the New Zealand Herald, lists the staff who took with them an enormous body of knowledge and skill when they accepted redundancy.
While there is some acknowledgement of newspaper title closures and staffing cuts, the 2025 report pays very limited attention to the impact of print contraction on local news coverage. In the local media markets, there are worthy efforts to chronicle ownership of what is there, but little analysis of what has gone.
That is disappointing, as the prospect of news deserts is a reality in this country just as they have emerged in North America, Europe, and Australia. For some New Zealanders the sand has already swept under the door. I feel it quite keenly because my part of Auckland has no professional local newsgathering and distribution. The most informative publication is one produced by my local MP (even allowing for inevitable political bias). Further afield there are towns and rural areas in the same situation, and the deserts will grow. Let’s hope that next year’s report pays more attention to this end of the media spectrum.
Uncertainty hangs over a large stable of magazines, including iconic New Zealand titles such as the New Zealand Listener and New Zealand Woman’s Weekly. They are published by Are Media, a trans-Tasman publisher that has been put up for sale by its private equity owner Mercury Capital. No buyer has yet been announced.
Atakohu Middleton’s comprehensive section on Māori media lays out the effects of changing media consumption and online migration. She chronicles the sometimes tortuous path from linear broadcasting to digital distribution. For years, the sector has faced the challenge of static or falling funding and now faces a “fiscal cliff” as short-term top-up funding is due to end. This has been, she says, a catalyst to reshape the sector. The change includes the creation of a national digital Māori news hub that will be run by Whakaata Māori (Māori Television). It is due to begin operating in February.
Last year’s JM&D report identified a “perfect storm” with television news and current affairs programmes plus print and online media titles being discontinued. Severe staff cuts affected television, online-print and radio. At the same time, advertising revenue continued to shift from traditional mass media to social media sites and platforms. This year has seen the storm continue, gusting stronger in some areas, abating a little in others.
Professor Hope’s focus is now on international trends and the possibility that in 2026, they might emerge here. He voices concern over the potential impact of Grenon’s NZME shareholding and his right-wing influence, then finishes the latest report with this:
Whether or not far-right populism becomes entrenched within the national media domain is at present an open question. Beyond NZME, a political coalition of journalists, MPs, unions, opinion leaders and concerned citizens would challenge any such possibility. And, subsequent debates would circulate across remaining public media outlets including Radio New Zealand, Whakaata Māori, Iwi radio and a growing podcast space. However, if the contrary trend gains strength, a stark picture emerges—high-profile culture wars amidst a concerted undermining of public knowledge, not just in media but throughout society.
It is a sobering prospect on which to end the year.
THIS IS THE FINAL TUESDAY COMMENTARY FOR 2025. IT WILL RETURN ON FEBRUARY 3, 2026.
I WISH YOU A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.