Newstalk ZB or Radio Live?

I like listening to talk radio so I can keep up with the issues of the day. I usually listen to Newstalk ZB, as I’ve tried to remain faithful to them as they are a part of The Radio Network and I used to work for this company a few years ago. However, recently I’ve been giving Radio Live a go. This is the other news and talkback radio network in New Zealand. This is for the following reasons:

1. Newstalk ZB appears to have far too many commercials, especially during the news. And they appear to repeat the same ads too often.

2. I don’t like Leighton Smith too much. He’s far too right-wing and some of his ideas are just absolutely crazy!

3. Newstalk ZB is only on AM in Palmerston North; meanwhile Radio Live is on FM

4. Radio Live broadcasts 3 News at 6pm every night which is very useful if you’re out and about

5. There’s far too much sport on Newstalk ZB in the weekends – isn’t that what Radio Sport is for??

Newstalk ZB always does much better than Radio Live in the radio listening surveys. For example in the last survey in the Manawatu, Newstalk ZB rated 8.6% and Radio Live only 5.5%. Nationwide Newstalk ZB is the number one station with 12.9% and Radio Live only 3.4%. Now this could be because of what I call the “TV One Syndrome” where people listen to Newstalk ZB because it’s always been there and are unwilling to change for any reason – just like TV One viewers. I used to call Radio Live “Radio Dead”, but now I’ve decided to see what it’s like. The new survey results come out at the end of this month so it will be very interesting to see if there are any changes in the ratings.