Tova O’Brien, the new face of talk radio sends a shockwave

Newshub Political Editor Tova O’Brien’s move to a new talkback radio station has sent a shockwave through TV3 newsroom, signalling to Newstalk ZB that its MediaWorks competitor is gearing up for a serious attack on the talk market.

Comment: Question. How do you beat Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking? Answer: You don’t. Instead, you go for a different market and hire someone whose profile won’t be crushed by the right wing’s favourite broadcaster.

Arrowhead of the new Station

MediaWorks has learnt some hard lessons trying to take on Newstalk ZB at its own game.

Radio Live did okay, for a while, but then fell into the trap of moving to the right and trying to tempt ZB’s loyal audience away from Mike, Leighton and Larry. It failed, and Mediaworks felt forced to rebrand the station. Live’s successor, Magic Talk, tried to go even further to the right.  The result? An even bigger thrashing.

Tova O’Brien, whether she realises it or not, will be the arrowhead of the yet-to-be-named station. She has been hired to host breakfast and radio is all about breakfast. The hosts of these morning shows set the scene. They are the brand. If O’Brien fails to fire, the station will struggle. It’s as simple as that.

MediaWorks’ new Head Of News and talk Dallas Gurney once ran Newstalk ZB. He knows what he is up against and he will steer O’Brien away from playing in Hosking’s sandpit. The station’s political tone is likely to be closer to the centre than the right.

A fresh is best approach

By hiring O’Brien, Gurney has tipped his hand. The new incarnation of Magic will be younger, fresher and possibly skewing towards a female audience. It is an obvious place to go. In commercial broadcasting terms, Newstalk ZB’s audience is old and getting older.  Hosking and Kate Hawkesby (Hosking’s wife who hosts the 5 am to 6 am show) won’t be there forever. It is also a sign that MediaWorks’ new management might be taking a longer view of its investment in talk radio. 

Previous efforts have been riven with a short-term panic approach of reacting to poor ratings by changing presenters and tweaking formats. If Gurney has got his timing right, and is patient, O’Brien will be peaking when Hosking starts trending down. 

That said, O’Brien will have a tough task as she has no radio experience to speak of, and the energy she gets from the ‘face-to-face’ competition with TVNZ and the other reporting teams in Parliament’s press gallery will be absent. She will probably never see Hosking or engage with him. The motivation to produce a top radio show will need to come from within.

Quick and fearless host

O’Brien’s skill set should suit radio. She is a good interviewer. She is quick and fearless. Her demolition of Jami-Lee Ross will still be lodged in the consciousness of politicians prone to dissembling and spin. She is organised but has that unpredictability that often characterises good radio hosts. There is also precedent for TV political editors moving into radio. Duncan Garner successfully transitioned to radio before returning to TV to host AM and Guyon Espiner did well co-hosting RNZ’s Morning Report after leaving TVNZ.

O’Brien’s appointment coincides with NZME’s Chief Radio And Commercial Officer Wendy Palmer stepping away from the role after fulfilling a two-year contract. She will be replaced by ZB boss Jason Winstanley in chief radio role. Winstanley’s first job is to find someone to replace him at the country’s top radio station and keep it humming along.

Newshub woes

The unexpected departure of its Political Editor will leave Newshub scrambling. O’Brien has been its star reporter in recent times and its news ranks now look desperately short of firepower and experience. Paddy Gower and Michael Morrah are the only two heavy-hitters left, although they will get Amanda Gillies back from the AM Show next year. Well-regarded AM producer Reuben Bradley and Auckland Bureau Chief Melanie Jones, have also recently quit.

Earlier this year, MediaWorks poached Newshub’s Europe Correspondent Lloyd Burr to be its new station’s drive-time host. Burr and O’Brien could’ve been the backbone of a strong TV newsroom for the next 10 years, but Newshub’s considerable investment in them just walked out the door.  

Discovery will not be feeling very kindly towards MediaWorks less than a year after it bought TV3 from the private equity-owned broadcaster.

The two companies appeared to be getting on like a house on fire after the long, drawn-out sales process. Discovery handed over $20 million for the loss-making TV business and MediaWorks sweetened the deal by agreeing to buy a news feed for the swathe of radio stations it owns. It chipped in a bit more for Newshub’s morning show, AM, which it simulcasts on Magic Talk.

The marriage of convenience ended abruptly last month when MediaWorks decided not to renew the news deal and announced it was also dropping the AM Show at the end of the year. Discovery quickly said it was making all its radio reporting roles redundant.

The move, by MediaWorks, to build its own news operation always looked likely following Gurney’s appointment. A news and talk station is helped by having close proximity to a newsroom. O’Brien will bring a definite news edge to the as-yet unnamed station and will be hoping to break a few major stories on her new show. Expect to see her face on every billboard owned by MediaWorks’ big out-of-home advertising division very soon.

Mark Jennings is Co-Founder and Co-Editor of Newsroom. The above article and pictures have been published under a Special Agreement.