Station keeps listeners after Hosking takeover

Mike Hosking, pictured during his first week after taking over from Paul Holmes. Photo/Janna Dixon

Newstalk ZB has emerged with only a few scars from replacing longtime breakfast host Paul Holmes with Mike Hosking at the start of this year.

Hosking said yesterday that he was "stoked" by the first radio survey results since he took over from Holmes. Newstalk ZB's Auckland breakfast share was down 2.9 per cent to 18 per cent, but there was no haemorrhage like when Holmes took over with the new Newstalk format in 1987.

And Newstalk ZB general manager Bill Francis said the result was within expectations given that Holmes had hosted the breakfast show for 22 years.

He had been confident there would be a smooth transition.

Holmes' popularity contributed to Newstalk's dominance in Auckland where The Radio Network (TRN) has dominated. TRN is half-owned by APN News & Media, owner of the Herald.

And advertisers had been waiting expectantly for the results of the first survey since Hosking arrived.

Over the entire day Newstalk ZB breakfast was down 1.5 share points to 16.1 per cent. Overall, it retained its title as the radio station with most listeners.

However, Martin Gillman of the media buying agency Total Media noted that - because of its slightly older listenership - Newstalk had dropped to 8th with 25-54 year olds and householders with children. Both demographics are popular with advertisers.

Nationally TRN - with networks such as Classic Hits, Coast, Radio Hauraki and Radio Sports - drew 46.5 per cent of the audience in the latest survey. MediaWorks - with networks such as More FM, The Rock, The Edge and Radio Live - scored 41.6 per cent, the Research International survey found.

Radio Live - which is MediaWork's talk radio rival to Newstalk - scored just 2.5 per cent and did not grow during the upheaval at Newstalk.

MediaWorks' The Rock was the most popular music station in the country and the most popular station with Aucklanders aged 18-34 years.

The most dramatic results were for the independent Radio Tarana aimed at the Auckland Indian community, and TRN's Classic Hits in Christchurch.

Radio Tarana increased its audience by more than 50 per cent to 4.6 per cent making it the region's ninth most listened to radio station, beating Radio Hauraki, More FM, Radio Live, Radio Sport, and Solid Gold FM.

Christchurch station Classic Hits - which appointed TV star Jason Gunn to its breakfast show - saw its share decrease from 5.6 per cent to 3.4 per cent.

While dramatic results were rare and stations held on their shares Gillman said the radio industry would be unhappy to see that 14 of the 19 stations surveyed had reduced their cumulative audience.