Since 2014, the organisation's focus has been to transform RNZ from a radio broadcaster to a multimedia outlet, increasing its production of digital content in audio, video, and written forms.

The New Zealand Parliament fully funds its AM network, used in part for the broadcast of parliamentary proceedings.

[10] The organisation placed a strong emphasis on training its staff in Received Pronunciation, until it began promoting local and indigenous accents in the 1990s.

RNZ Pacific (formerly Radio New Zealand International or RNZI) is its overseas shortwave service, broadcasting to the South Pacific and beyond, while Radio New Zealand News provides comprehensive, up-to-the-minute news and current affairs information.

[5] 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.

[17] Former Prime Minister Helen Clark issued a statement on Twitter saying that it "equates to a dumbing down of cultural life in NZ".

[20] 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 (ANZPM), commencing 1 March 2023.

The proposed ANZPM would be headed by a board and operate under a media charter outlining goals and responsibilities including editorial independence.

[21][22] 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."

[25] On 9 June 2023, Radio New Zealand launched an investigation[26][27] after discovering several stories that it said gave a false account of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

[31] 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.

[32] 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.

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.

[37] The station broadcasts in FM stereo via terrestrial transmitters located around New Zealand, as well as from the Optus satellite.

[40] The RNZ Pacific network (also known outside New Zealand as RNZ International, or RNZI) broadcasts on shortwave and via Digital Radio Mondiale to New Zealand's neighbouring countries in the Pacific from transmitters located at Rangitaiki, near Taupō, in the North Island.

RNZ's main news centres are located in Wellington and Auckland, with additional newsrooms in Whangārei, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Napier Hawkes Bay, Palmerston North, Nelson, Christchurch, and Dunedin.

Regional Reporters: The RNZ website, rnz.co.nz (formerly radionz.co.nz) was launched in October 2005 and includes news coverage, programme information, online station streaming and podcasting.

[46] The site was re-launched on 26 May 2013 with a new design and a custom CMS built using the open source Ruby on Rails framework.

In August 2024, The New Zealand Herald reported that RNZ National's overall cumulative audience had fallen from over 700,000 in early 2020 to 529,800 in 2024.

During that period, RNZ's flagship Morning Report show had declined from a cumulative audience of 500,000 in early 2020 to 376,500 in 2024.

Meanwhile, commercial competitor Newstalk ZB's breakfast show hosted by Mike Hosking had risen from under 400,000 to 445,300.