The departure of the radio station Today FM was both sudden and dramatic. It leaves a hole in the media landscape, and powerful NewstalkZB is the lone remaining beacon of talkback radio.
While so-called legacy outlets with strong reputations — like Television New Zealand, RNZ and the Otago Daily Times — retain sizeable audiences amid the plethora of other choices, it was always going to be hard for a new brand to make sufficient inroads.
Although MediaWorks’ Today FM could trace a lineage back to Radio Pacific and Radio Live, the links were tenuous. The immediate predecessor, Magic Talk, struck controversy and potential advertiser boycotts.
In contrast, Today FM was supposed to be the moderate and questioning voice of reason, more balanced and more thoughtful than the Mike Hosking-led ZB monolith, widely perceived as right-of-centre and dominated by older listeners.
Many millions were poured into Today FM’s launch a year ago. The big guns hired included Tova O’Brien and the widely experienced Duncan Garner.
They battled for potential listeners who are creatures of habit. To turn the dial to a new place or go to their website was to overturn potent inertia. Today FM made it to 1.4% of the market compared to NewstalkZB’s 15.3%. It has also stalled in its growth and remained well below the ratings of its MediaWorks’ talkback predecessors.
It takes a long time to build up large bands of loyal listeners.
The point has been made that talkback, like social media, thrives on controversy and imbalance, on riling emotions, on outrage, and on reinforcing people’s beliefs.
But Today FM appeared to clamp down on certain strong views as witnessed by the recent apologies of Leah Panapa and Miles Davis. They had claimed only women could become pregnant. They were to undertake Rainbow Tick training.
Certain commentators revelled in saying Today FM was an example of "Go Woke, Go Broke". There could be something in the fact the station aligned broadly with the present prevailing academic, political, media and educated outlooks on the likes of Te Tiriti or gender. Many New Zealanders are not progressive and do not concur.
Meanwhile, NewstalkZB and RNZ had both flanks of mainstream New Zealand covered.
It could also be that the likes of Newsroom and The Spinoff have added to the traditional mix in the past decade for those interested in politics and social issues. There was less room for another source of comment and analysis.
Many assurances were given that Today FM would have the opportunity over several years to gain traction, but key backers of the project left MediaWorks and the plug was pulled abruptly. The private equity owners were not prepared to wait any longer.
The MediaWorks board claimed the station was losing about $1 million a year and it had to go. Perhaps, it has been speculated, the decks were being cleared for the company’s sale.
It is also thought the predicted recession would make matters worse. Radio advertising is sometimes seen as an early harbinger.
Ms O’Brien and Mr Garner felt, to put it mildly, betrayed. Their frustration exploded on air in a way that created its own theatre. The denouement was botched by MediaWorks, not that there was any easy way out.
New Zealand commercial radio is largely split between NZME and MediaWorks. MediaWorks retains popular music brands but looks diminished in its breadth now that Today FM has gone and its wider news operation is under threat.
Today FM’s hosts were, overall, skilled. They produced useful and thoughtful journalism.
That, though, was not enough in the harsh and competitive media world.
