I will start with a confession. I was a loyal wake-up-to-it-Monday-to-Friday fan of RNZ’s Morning Report. I no longer am.

I am not alone. Morning Report had a peak cumulative audience 10+ of 531,000 in September 2020, but today that audience stands at only 333,000 – down by more than a third. Once the undisputed leader in breakfast radio, the programme is now far outstripped by NewstalkZB’s Mike Hosking Show.

The plight of Morning Report was highlighted last week in a blunt review of RNZ National by the state-owned broadcaster’s former head of news, Richard Sutherland. The details of the review were revealed in a scoop by the New Zealand Herald’s Media Insider Shayne Currie, who obtained it under the Official Information Act.

Sutherland is a vastly experienced journalist and broadcaster whom I greatly respect. His findings are to be taken very seriously: No more so than in relation to what should be RNZ’s standout flagship programme.

Currie quoted Sutherland saying that, overall, RNZ “suffers from a lack of audience clarity, internal cohesion, and urgency”. Interviews with staff revealed “blame shifting, low ambition, and a belief that radio is in terminal decline”.

RNZ once led the radio market in terms of cumulative audience. It now sits at eighth. It has made impressive inroads into the digital market but that has clearly been at the expense of its traditional medium. Continue reading “RNZ National may have the circuit breaker it sorely needs.” →