Hills alive with radio ratings war

Now the Auckland airwaves are as cluttered as a radio station prize cabinet during survey season a new ratings war has broken out up the road.

Compared with the 30-plus stations competing for the ears of Auckland listeners, Northland's radio market has been a relatively tranquil affair until now, thanks largely to an accident of geography.

Because of the region's hilly terrain, broadcasters have been forced to use duel or triple frequencies and different transmission sites to achieve maximum coverage.

The need to avoid interference from the many nearby Auckland stations has also limited frequency options on the Northland radio dial.

But now, armed with new technology and a willingness to spend money up north, the industry's Goliath and Goliath - CanWest and The Radio Network - are unleashing new stations on the region.

Last month, The Radio Network moved its Classic Hits format from its old Northland AM home to a more music-friendly FM slot, using the two vacated AM frequencies to bring Newstalk ZB to the mid-North and Far North for the first time.

In a comment signifying how nationwide reach is an important part of radio station branding, TRN's acting Northland general manager, Mal Egginton, said the new coverage "finally gives both stations coverage equal to that of our competitor".

Meanwhile, the competitor has also been working to extend its Northland reach.

CanWest RadioWorks applied to the Commerce Commission this month to re-jig its frequencies in the region, a move that will allow it to bring its new talk format, Radio Live, north of Auckland for the first time, and The Rock north of Whangarei.

CanWest chief executive Brent Impey said the broadcaster was spending close to $1 million upgrading its Northland network.

It is circumventing the problem of a shortage of frequencies through a technical innovation called synchronous transmission which allows broadcasters to beam the same frequency from different transmitter sites.

The technology - widely used in hilly Wellington - effectively frees up the second, and sometimes third, frequency which some stations have needed to achieve blanket coverage in a region.

It also simplifies station branding: one station, one frequency.

Impey calls it a matter of "spectrum efficiency which will mean the radio stations are able to market themselves in a much more efficient way to listeners and advertisers".

Paul Kennedy, editor of industry news website RadioScope, says Northland was the country's one remaining radio market requiring more stations. "Probably the fact that one company is doing it inspires the other to get its act together."

Egginton says Classic Hits is transmitted synchronously out of Whangarei and the network is considering its options to bring more stations into the region.

He says the northern end of the region is an attractive radio market because of its growing population.

"We'd like to roll out Hauraki up there - we think it would go well - and Radio Sport is another good brand."

The Radio Network

Classic Hits, Newstalk ZB, ZM, Hauraki, Viva, Radio Sport, Coast, Flava

CanWest RadioWorks

More FM, Radio Live, Solid Gold, The Breeze, The Rock, The Edge, Kiwi FM, Radio Trackside*

(*Previously Radio Pacific, now operated on behalf of the Racing Board)