Southern Discomfort

For as long as we can remember, Cantabrians have demonstrated a fierce local pride -- sigificantly more so than most other areas of New Zealand -- and that local spirit is in evidence once again with the latest announcement from the Radio Network.

At the beginning of this year, TRN's Christchurch NewstalkZB station switched from part-local to full-network talk content. If you're as cynical as we are, you'd agree that uninformed comment could just as well come from anywhere in New Zealand as from Christchurch.

Apparently not. The locals revolted -- and that revolution was reflected in both ratings and revenue. So now TRN is bringing back local: longtime Christchurch broadcaster Mike Yardley will return to hosting a Christchurch talk show from 8.30am to 12noon from 21 June 2010.

We've been a longtime critic of the homogenisation of radio -- a small number of programming strands, carried everywhere -- but we've also recognised the commercial realities of such moves. All things being equal, inane mutterings accompanying the latest Beyonce masterpiece might just as well be networked as local. But talkshows, it turns out, do allow at least a modicum of input from locals -- and, in Christchurch in particular, said locals are keen to have their say (and not shy about expressing their disapproval if such freedoms are denied).

More power to the people!

- From Marketing Week