A new study shows how young New Zealanders actually watch, listen and engage with media platforms in 2026.

For the first time, NZ On Air’s long-running Where are the Audiences study has broken out a standalone project focused solely on young people, surveying 360 New Zealanders aged 15-24. Duncan Greive is joined once again by James Davidson, chief strategy and planning officer at PHD Aotearoa and The Fold’s partner for this episode, to break down what the data reveals about a generation that’s grown up entirely within a global media environment.

Together, they explore how global platforms sit at the centre of young people’s media habits, how social feeds and streaming recommendations now drive content discovery more than anything else, and why young New Zealanders still value seeing local faces and places on screen – even when they’re not consciously thinking about whether something is NZ-made.