Rival targets Newstalk ZB's patch

A new nationwide radio news and information service is out to topple Newstalk ZB off its perch.

RadioWorks says its Radio Live station will offer "fresh and contemporary news and information", and is expected to go to air in 21 centres in April.

Newstalk ZB says it has remained on top despite 17 years of competition and is not worried about the new rival.

Brent Impey, chief executive of CanWest MediaWorks, which owns RadioWorks, said New Zealanders had a strong appetite for news and the company did not believe their needs were being adequately met.

"As the name suggests, live and breaking news will be a key feature of the station," he said.

It would also feature "high profile, contemporary and controversial hosts". Weekday presenters would include Martin Devlin, Michael Laws, Kerry Smith, Paul Henry and Marcus Lush.

Radio Live would be separate from Radio Pacific, which would remain with a racing-oriented format.

Newstalk ZB general manager Bill Francis said since the network had been operating the number of competitors had grown from about 20 to 40.

"We are used to competition. We know what competition is about. We respect our competitors."

Mr Francis said Newstalk ZB was constantly evolving and would make some "subtle changes" next year.

The network already appealed to a wide age group from 25 to 59-year-olds and was "an incredibly dominant force" in the news area, he said.

He did not believe a personality-driven line-up would be a threat. Three of the hosts came from Radio Pacific, and "if you look at their performance in the last survey you wouldn't be over-confident".

Matt Mollgaard, radio lecturer at the Auckland University of Technology, said Radio Live would try to target areas where Newstalk ZB had "got a bit long in the tooth".

"I would say what we will get will be [a] much more modern, slightly more cheeky, pretty quick on its feet format with really strong, high-profile personalities who are not scared to mess things up a bit and talk at the issues."

Mr Mollgaard said the target audience - younger, predominantly male, white and middle-class - could affect ZB's younger listenership and hurt National Radio.

"National Radio has got slightly edgier lately. It's got some good opinion, news and personalities so it [Radio Live] could grow the number of people listening to commercial radio overall."

With 21 stations, places such as Whakatane would get "slick, flash information from Auckland" but not a lot of local content, he said.