For a long time now, talk radio for people starting their day has been a virtual duopoly. Although there are other choices, most of us tune into either the wizards of woke on RNZ National's Morning Report or the raging right-wingers at Newstalk ZB.
Morning Report first went to air in 1975, and Newstalk ZB has been with us since 1987. But suddenly, our choices have doubled. Today FM - a fully fledged talk station whose ancestry can be traced back to the advent of talk radio in New Zealand - went to air on March 21. And on May 9, The Platform was launched. It's an internet-based service, which RNZ National's Media Watch described, with just a whiff of condescension, as "radio-like".
The Platform's founder and breakfast host, former Morning Report co-host Sean Plunket, carries a sulphurous whiff of devil's advocacy at best, and no one quite knew where Today FM's prize catch, former Newshub political editor Tova O'Brien, stood. Both arrived promising to be fair, although they would say that, wouldn't they?
Morning Report, which is currently co-hosted by Corin Dann and Susie Ferguson, makes the same claim. Presumably, Mike Hosking Breakfast does too, although we can't be certain as its eponymous host was oddly shy when it came to talking to the Listener (see sidebar on page 24).
One thing we can be certain about is that Mike Hosking Breakfast is enjoying unprecedented ratings success. May figures show Hosking has more than half a million listeners each week significantly more than Morning Report, which has had a bumpy ride since Guyon Espiner left in 2019. From a high of 531,800 listeners in late 2020, it fell to 407,900 a year later, but has begun creeping up slowly, with 426,700 listeners in December and up again slightly to 429,100 in the most recent result.
TALK VS TALKBACK
This story is from the June 11 - 17, 2022 edition of New Zealand Listener.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the June 11 - 17, 2022 edition of New Zealand Listener.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Morning songs
On a recent early and glorious Saturday morning - it was 4°C outside I let the complaining chickens out. Chickens never stop complaining.
Upwardly mobile
Climate-friendly e-scooters are proliferating but there are stumbling blocks for users and non-users.
A potent brew
There's a correlation between moderate coffee drinking and reduced risk of colorectal cancer - but evidence of a causal link is still percolating.
Food saviours
A little bit of silliness lightens the mood on the serious topic of food waste.
Ode to old masters
The Polynesian sound and Auckland's ska-punk scene are remembered in new releases.
Weaving Welsh with waiata
Te reo meets Cymraeg in a musical project partly spearheaded by Kawiti Waetford, an opera singer with connections to Wales.
Culture warrior
Activist and scholar Ngahuia te Awek6otuku achieved several firsts in society but had to fight many battles to get there.
An age-old problem
Is our lifespan fixed, or might we be able to slow down or even abolish ageing? And what would we do if we could?
When Jim becomes James
'What would white people do to a slave who had learned to read?' This impressive reimagining of Huckleberry Finn seeks to find out.
Manhattan transfer
A Kiwi movie star led the charge for an Anzac garden atop New York's Rockefeller Centre that's still in use today.