You may have noticed the extra billboards, ads, and competitions promising grand sums of cash around the place over the past week or so. That's because we're smack bang in the middle of what the radio industry knows as "survey period" -- six weeks where around 3000 people are surveyed to find out about the radio listening habits of our nation.
Why am I bringing this to your attention? Well, there's been quite a shake-up in the radio world of late and, hopefully, that's meaning greater choice when it comes to bopping along in your car on your way to or from the office, or soundtracking your workplace, or doing some chores on Sunday mornings.
It's long been a gripe of mine that music radio in New Zealand has been somewhat stuck in its ways, so it's been wonderful to see that landscape slowly changing in recent times, and I would encourage all music lovers out there to give their dials a spin in coming weeks to see what they might be missing.
There are two stations in particular I want to crow about because they've both been around for ages, but many people don't know how much they've changed in recent months, and they've become my personal favourites.
Firstly: Kiwi FM. 102.2FM in Auckland. It was launched by the Government in 2005 as a way to help promote local music and get it on air, and it's been through a few different personality changes since then. It's worth noting that Kiwi was run on the smell of an oily rag, always by people with a passion for local music, but it did sometimes feel a little tarnished by its government objectives.
