In a few short years we went from around 40 commercial radio stations to over 200 - more than any other country in the world per head of population. Today that number of frequencies would be many hundreds more.
Initially the concept worked well - Radio RNZ commercial stations were privatised and at least one other vibrant local broadcaster offered true local competition. In Whanganui this was Star FM. Both stations employed 15 to 20 people, with newsrooms, creative writers, promotions people, sales and admin. They were fun, vibrant places to work in with dedicated personnel, often winning national and international awards.
These local stations were the heartbeat of the community, and we employed talented broadcasters like Dean Buchanan, Mary Lambie and Andrew Jeffries who all went on to be major national and international broadcasters and programmers. We also gave opportunities to great local talent like Sue Miller, whom I remember begging me for a job in radio - 27 years later, the rest is history.
It would be easy to blame the slow demise of local radio on the advent of the internet and the vast array of other electronic media but, in my opinion, the death knell can be attributed to far too many frequencies in every market.
In Whanganui, we now have over 20, all vying to attract listeners and advertising revenue from a population base that is less today than it was in 1990. In Australia I worked in markets where mass deregulation didn't happen - most cities like Whanganui would only have two commercial stations, and these stations have not suffered as much as those in New Zealand.
Exacerbating this is the sale of local stations to overseas corporate organisations. In 1990 there were 20 to 30 private operators in NZ; today I can think of only one or two, the rest having been bought up by big overseas investors who were never interested in fostering local broadcasting, investing in local staff or involvement in the community. Instead, these corporates' accountants, bean counters and chief executives saw only an opportunity of cutting costs, staff levels and investment to squeeze the maximum dollars out of every operation, no doubt enhancing their bonus payments.
Today successive government strategies of deregulation and selling off as many radio frequencies as possible have left rural NZ with little or no local radio.
Paul is right - everything you hear comes from a bland studio computer far away, even your local commercials are most likely written and produced in another place or country. Little or no investment goes into training or excellence, while shock radio and poor language skills mean quality broadcasting is fast disappearing.
Having also worked as a general manager in the print media, I observed the same "dumbing down" and relentless pursuit of profit, evidenced by staff reductions. Broadcasting is not alone - for example, our banks are also mostly owned by Aussie masters with the same mentality.
Perhaps the saddest result is the loss of so many jobs and families from the region, something Whanganui has suffered far too much from.
I believe that everything turns full circle. One day, when there are no more costs to be cut or profits to be squeezed from the long-suffering regions, the big corporates will sell off the remains and hopefully "local" will once more become a part of our day. Sue, Craig and all the other talented broadcasters - thank you for the memories.
