RadioLive loses 40% of listeners in latest poll

Host of RadioLive's breakfast show Marcus Lush.Photo / File

RadioLive has taken a big hit in the latest Auckland radio ratings, losing about 40 per cent of its audience.

The talkback station's share of the Auckland market fell from 3.8 per cent to 2.2 per cent, just above the margin of error in the latest Research International six-monthly radio survey of commercial radio.

The city's audience is estimated at 952,000 but the survey does not include Radio New Zealand listeners.

The Radio Network (TRN) scored well with its relaunch of Radio Hauraki and its Classic Hits which went from a 5.4 per cent share of the audience to 6.3 per cent.

Mike Hosking at TRN's Newstalk ZB continues in No 1 spot in Auckland with 17.9 per cent of the commercial radio listeners. But his audience share fell by 1 per cent.

TRN chief executive Jane Hastings said Newstalk ZB's results were pleasing, but the station was not resting on its laurels and was working on improvements.

"The TRN team have done an outstanding job and this is just the beginning. We are No 1 nationwide in talk, music and sport and we dominate the household shopper audience.

"We've certainly started to hit the goals we are targeting."

RadioLive said there were no plans for big changes. Change was already in hand with news hosts Duncan Garner in drive time and Sean Plunket in the nine to noon slot, said spokeswoman Rachel Lorimer.

RadioLive's breakfast show hosted by Marcus Lush fell from a 5.3 per cent share to 3.1 per cent.

The biggest fall at RadioLive was in the nine-to-noon show, the final stint in RadioLive's contract with its controversial talkback host Michael Laws.

Survey results showed his ratings fell 60 per cent, from 3.3 per cent share of the audience to 1.4 per cent, below the margin of error.

The noon to 4pm slot - incorporating the Willie and JT show - lost nearly half its audience - down from from 2.7 per cent to 1.4 per cent.

MediaWorks' best result was from its urban music station, Mai FM. Its share of the audience increased from 5.3 per cent to 6.6 per cent at the expense of TRN's Flava.

MediaWorks spokeswoman Rachel Lorimer said the latest falls contrasted with improvements in surveys last October and April.

• The Radio Network is 50 per owned by APN News & Media, publisher of the New Zealand Herald.