Behind the scenes of Ryan Bridge's marketing photoshoot for Newstalk ZB. Photo / Dean Purcell
After a tumultuous six months, Ryan Bridge is all smiles – he tied the knot yesterday and is looking forward to a new role as host of Newstalk ZB’s early-morning radio show.
Thirteen minutes into the life-changing meeting, Ryan Bridge quietly tapped out a text message.
The former AM TV breakfast host and soon-to-be 7pm host had just heard his prime-time dream had been shattered – his job, and those of almost 300 others, would be gone with the proposed closure of Newshub and other roles at Warner Bros. Discovery.
As Bridge sat in the Eden Terrace hall on February 28, hearing the proposal unfold, he sent a text message to Newstalk ZB boss Jason Winstanley.
“Hey Jason! Got any jobs going bro?”
Bridge says: “As soon as I realised in that meeting that our show was gone, I just got on my phone and messaged Jason. We’ve had discussions in the past about potential things.”
It was an undeniably agile move in the face of adversity and distress.
“Very pragmatic,” says Bridge.
“That’s kind of how I dealt with it initially – then I went and got drunk for a week with some colleagues.
“We just sat at the bar and processed what was happening, and that was good for me and for the colleagues who I was with. It was a good way to sit together and jointly process what was happening.”
TV3 and Newshub have been a home – beyond just a regular job – for many people. “It’s a place where a lot of us have spent most of our careers, so that was part of it.”
After the initial shock and a fair few glasses of red wine, Bridge’s pragmatism kicked in more deeply. “I started having lots of coffees, lots of meetings, figuring out what my next move might be.”
That early text message was serendipitous.
Winstanley was about to cast for a new host of Newstalk ZB’s 5am-6am Early Edition show, vacated by Kate Hawkesby last year. The king of breakfast radio, Mike Hosking, has been hosting the show in the meantime.
Bridge was an obvious candidate, among others, for Early Edition.
He was confirmed in the role in May and starts on ZB on Monday week, July 8 – three days after Newshub closes down.
“I do feel very, very lucky that I’ve got something to go to,” says Bridge over coffee at Scratch Bakers cafe near the ZB studios.
“Thankfully, a lot of my colleagues do as well, but some of them don’t, you know, and there are still people looking for jobs. It’s f***ing scary. It’s not a good economy, it’s really tough.”
He is quick to highlight many other New Zealanders are facing a similar plight. “I want to keep it all in context – there are lots of people in lots of industries losing their jobs at the moment.”
On Tuesday next week, it will be 200 days since audiences last saw and heard Bridge on air – it was December 15 when he signed off from AM with a promise to see everyone in prime time in early 2024.
When he opens Early Edition on Newstalk ZB on Monday week, that period will have extended to 206 days.
Ahead of switching the microphone back on, Bridge has just spoken some of the most important lines of his life.
Bridge, 36, married his long-term partner, Ferg, 37, at the Duke of Marlborough Hotel in Russell yesterday.
“We’re really excited,” Bridge told the Herald before the big day. “Most of our family and friends can come – we just can’t wait to get on the dance floor.”
Bridge met his future husband at an Auckland bar in 2019 through a mutual friend, Warner Bros. Discovery head of wardrobe Sarah Stuart.
“It was Halloween, so he was dressed as a zombie and I thought he was very handsome in a non-threatening way!” Bridge told the NZ Woman’s Weekly last June.
According to the magazine, the two chatted “awkwardly” before dancing.
“He didn’t know I was a talkback radio host [at the time]. We had our first kiss that night, but it wasn’t until about four months later that we actually went out again. I don’t know why it took us so long!” Bridge told the Woman’s Weekly.
“It’s cheesy but it’s that old line that says, ‘When you know, you know’.”
Ferg himself doesn’t seek the limelight. He prefers anonymity, hence the absence of a surname for this piece. We know him only as a former professional athlete who now works in construction.
“Ferg is just the most important person to me,” Bridge says over coffee.
“I couldn’t do any of this stuff without him, especially over the last six months. He’s just the most supportive partner you could ask for – there’s no one else that I would want to spend my life with.”
The pair have a pet beagle, Fanny, who didn’t quite make it to the wedding – “There are a lot of native birds in Russell and we don’t want any incidents!” – but who is otherwise the centre of much attention in their household.
Despite Fanny’s absence, it was a big celebration at The Duke on Thursday – about 110 guests with some familiar faces, including Newshub 6pm newsreader Mike McRoberts as MC.
“I got him for a discount rate – make sure you write that,” says Bridge with a laugh.
The pair have been great mates for several years. Bridge was best man and MC at McRoberts’ wedding to Heidi Ettema last year.
“We just clicked,” says Bridge.
“We both enjoy a long glass of red wine; we go out to the pub together.
“He’s just a funny guy, he’s an absolute sweetheart. He’s really caring and kind. He’s been really good for me – when something stressful is going on, I’ll call him and he talks you off the ledge. He’s a really steady, considered kind person. That friendship has been valuable to me.
“Plus, he’s a f***ing dag, you know!”
Bridge and Ferg have forsaken a honeymoon for now, while Bridge returns to work mode.
He’s completed a Newstalk ZB photo shoot – stand by for the new advertisements and billboards – and next week he will be head down, preparing for his Early Edition debut.
His body is already sensing the pending 2.40am alarm clock – “It’s 7pm and it wants to go to bed.”
He’s aiming to be in the NZME newsroom by 3am each day.
A one-hour show poses its own challenges.
“It’s funny because it doesn’t mean less work – you still have to read everything, but you just have to be more ruthless [about content selection].
“A lot more of it will be on what’s happened overnight. There will be more focus on that than I would have had, say, on the AM show.”
Business, politics and international news and interviews will spearhead the content.
Bridge is a political junkie – he studied politics at university and has spent time in the press gallery.
“In terms of format changes, we’ve had a meeting about that. My view is if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” says Bridge.
“The audience seems to be responding really well to the current format. Kate obviously did a fantastic job with that. Mike’s been doing a great job with that.
“I’m not looking to come in and shake up this, shake up that.
“My strategy is to come in – people will get to know me, and to keep delivering on what has been delivered previously, but with my kind of style. If and as things evolve, and if there are obvious changes that we want to make, then maybe we’ll do it after a wee adjustment.”
Bridge’s new show will play a critical lead-in to the Hosking breakfast – Early Edition dominates its timeslot against other radio stations, with a massive 27.1% share. In Auckland alone, the show has a 30.2% share.
Bridge had much to look forward to when he signed off from AM on December 15.
A new show was in the offing on Three – simply titled Bridge, the 7pm half-hour interview show would replace the more costly, franchised The Project.
Warner Bros. Discovery never put an official start date on Bridge, other than indicating it would be early 2024. Many observers expected it would be on air from February at the latest.
But it kept getting delayed – March and then April dates were being floated.
And then all newsroom and production staff were called to that fateful February 28 meeting to hear the proposal for widespread job cuts and Newshub’s closure.
With no show to host, Bridge has had a breather from broadcasting and journalism.
He’s been regularly walking to try to heal a slipped disc in his back. “It’s been ongoing for a couple of years. I’ve been really working on getting my back better – and I have managed to do that, which is awesome because I used to sit in the AM studio in pain most days.”
At one point, he spent time on his future in-laws’ farm, chopping firewood (which doesn’t sound ideal for a bad back) and being about as far removed as imaginable from broadcasting.
“I definitely had weeks on end of just not feeling any stress which is awesome. I took that job so seriously ... it does put a lot of stress and pressure on you and I think you probably don’t notice it when you add on the hours and stuff like that. It does become quite a lot.
“So I really feel like I’ve managed to just breathe. Ferg’s definitely noticed!”
Bridge’s new role at Early Edition marks a return to radio – he’s previously hosted the Drive show on MediaWorks’ RadioLive and he’s also been a reporter for RNZ’s Morning Report.
“Apparently, Paul Holmes used to say that radio was his wife and TV was his mistress. I like that saying – both are fun,” says Bridge.
“Radio is definitely more intimate – you’re talking to one person in their car or while they’re in the shower or getting a coffee, or whatever it is.
“Whereas with TV, you’re talking to maybe a couple of people on the couch together.”
He says he approaches both in the same way with his preparation. “I would say I love them both.”
He skilfully sidesteps any questions about future ambitions on Newstalk ZB and whether the Drive or Breakfast shows would appeal one day. He could well be considered an heir apparent to Newstalk ZB’s two superstar hosts, Hosking and Heather du Plessis-Allan.
“I am very much just focused on getting my feet under the Early Edition desk... that’s scary enough.”
Bridge met Hosking for the first time last week - “I was a little bit nervous, but he was lovely. He came over and said, ‘hello, welcome to the building’ and all that kind of stuff” – and he gets on well with du Plessis-Allan and her husband Barry Soper.
“I used to work with Barry in the press gallery – he’s a bit of an idol of mine.”
As for any TV plans alongside his radio work, Bridge artfully dodges that question too.
Sky TV and TVNZ executives hold Bridge in high regard – at least one of the broadcasters might be considering a role that complements, or highlights, his ZB work.
“My big focus is that show [Early Edition],” says Bridge.
“I want to make sure that I’m getting my feet under the desk and really nailing that show for Jason and for the listeners. I feel like I’ve got to prove myself to ZB’s audience, they are a very loyal audience.
“I want to make sure that I do them justice. That’s my big focus.”
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Editor-at-large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including managing editor, NZ Herald editor and Herald on Sunday editor, and has a small shareholding in NZME.
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