TheNew Zealand Listener is a weekly New Zealandmagazine that covers the political, cultural and literary life of New Zealand by featuring a variety of topics, includingcurrent events,politics, social issues, health, technology, arts, food, culture andentertainment. TheBauer Media Group closedThe Listener in April 2020 as a result of theCOVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand. In June 2020, Mercury Capital acquired the magazine as part of its purchase of Bauer Media's former Australia and New Zealand assets, which were rebranded asAre Media.[2][1]
The Listener was first published in June 1939 as a weekly broadcasting guide for radio listeners, and the first issue was distributed free to 380,000 households.[3] First edited byOliver Duff[4] then from June 1949M. H. Holcroft, it originally had a monopoly on the publication of upcoming television and radio programmes.[5] In the 1980s it lost that monopoly, but despite the increase in competition since that time, it was still one of the top selling magazines in the country. It was privatised in 1990 and was published byBauer Media Group until the magazine's closure in early 2020.
Pamela Stirling was the editor since 2004,[6] and by 2018 readership was 197,000 with a circulation of 45,262.[7]
From 2004 to 2009, theListener produced an annualNew Zealand Listener Power List of the 50 most powerful people in New Zealand. It also published the Best 100 Books, Best 50 Kids Books, and Best Cookbooks, every November/December.
On 2 April 2020, the Bauer Media Group announced the closing of many of its New Zealand and Australian publications, includingThe Listener, due to the continued loss of advertising revenue, hastened by theCOVID-19 pandemic.[8][9][10][11] Prior to that, the weekly current affairs printed magazine was billed as "New Zealand's best-selling current affairs magazine with a per capita circulation higher thanTime, theNew Yorker andSpectator".[12][13]
On 17 June 2020, Australian investment company Mercury Capital purchasedThe Listener as part of its acquisition of Bauer Media's Australia and New Zealand assets.[14][15] On 17 July, Mercury Capital announced that it would resume publishingThe Listener and other former Bauer publications.[16][17] In late September 2020, Mercury Capital rebranded Bauer Media asAre Media, which took over publication ofThe Listener.[2][1] Publication ofThe Listener resumed with the issue of 10 October 2020.
On 30 June 2023, Are Media partnered with New Zealand media companyNZME to launch a digital subscription version ofThe Listener called "Listener.co.nz." The website is hosted onThe New Zealand Herald's website and also features digital exclusive content.[18]
In June 2025 digitised issues of the Listener from 1939–1959[19] were made available onPapers Past.
^"O'Connor, Rev. Canon (Brian) Michael (Mcdougal), (born 20 June 1942), Dean of Auckland, New Zealand, 1997–2000",Who's Who, Oxford University Press, 1 December 2007,doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.28719
