Last week’s review has exposed RNZ National’s weaknesses – and left its leadership facing pressure to deliver a turnaround, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin.
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A blistering review
RNZ National’s failings were laid bare last week in a withering review by former news boss Richard Sutherland. Commissioned by RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson, the report painted a picture of a broadcaster that has lost its way – culturally, strategically, and on air. Sutherland described a widespread belief among staff that live radio was a “sunset activity” rather than a growth opportunity, and said the quality of broadcast talent was variable: “some people shouldn’t be on air” at all. His interviews with more than 50 staff revealed blame-shifting, low ambition and confusion about who the audience is.
The consequences are showing in the ratings: RNZ National has shed nearly a quarter of its listeners since 2019, dropping from over 616,000 to fewer than 470,000. If that trend continues, the audience could fall below 340,000 by 2030 – a disaster for a public broadcaster whose flagship radio division was once regarded as untouchable.
Kerton’s cutting critique
For radio veteran Bill Kerton, none of this was revelatory. Writing in The Spinoff, he dismisses the review as too little, far too late. What angers him most is that Thompson even needed to outsource such advice, having told Sutherland he sought “independent, frank guidance” for a station-wide reset. “I had to re-read that note,” Kerton writes. “Where was RNZ’s chief strategy officer? Busy doing what?” He lambasts RNZ as bloated and directionless, and suggests the $30,000 review raised such obvious issues they could have been summarised by Thompson’s “office cleaner” in a few sentences. The fixes are achievable, he says – sharper programming and stronger talent, including a marquee hire – but he doubts RNZ’s bureaucracy has the speed or will to deliver.
A more sympathetic view
Anna Rawhiti-Connell, by contrast, is a fan of Sutherland’s frankness. In The Spinoff this morning she highlights his “bold” proposal to target listeners aged 50 to 69, a move that cuts against the grain of public media’s “all things to all people” ethos and the wider industry’s obsession with chasing younger audiences.
Anna acknowledges the risks of defining the core audience as older and potentially shrinking, but also appreciates the clear-eyed approach. Focusing on a single age bracket is “a blunt instrument, and there will be criticism that it lacks nuance,” she notes. But, “the first step in being audience-first … is to define that audience. Sutherland has done that. I’m not sure much more nuance is required at this point.”
A political target
As Kerton notes, the report could easily become a political football: “A $30,000 report into a massively over-resourced government asset…is exactly what New Zealanders are utterly sick of reading about.” Newsroom’s Mark Jennings says RNZ has few friends in the coalition: Act questions its very existence, while Winston Peters still harbours grudges over a “perceived lack of reporting on his party’s successes”.
Already on the outs with many in government, RNZ is now an even more attractive target for “flailing” Paul Goldsmith. The media minister’s “one achievement seems to have been getting walked over by Google and Facebook”, writes Jennings, proving himself no more effective than his hapless predecessor Melissa Lee, who lasted only six months in the job. “If the same rules applied, [Goldsmith] should also be handing the portfolio over to the next hopeful.”
Who could be RNZ National’s saviour?
Attention now turns to talent – or the lack thereof. Both Sutherland and media commentators say RNZ desperately needs a “get” to reinvigorate its lineup. But as the Herald’s Shayne Currie notes (paywalled), many of the top names are locked down: Mike Hosking, Heather du Plessis-Allan and Ryan Bridge are welded to Newstalk ZB, while Jack Tame is tied to both TVNZ and ZB. Hiring Paddy Gower, Rebecca Wright, Tova O’Brien or Duncan Garner could be a slightly easier ask.
“But the search for outside talent also highlights RNZ’s failure to develop more of its own presenters into top performers,” writes Jennings. Emile Donovan and Alexa Cook are rising stars, says Currie, though perhaps not yet ready to anchor flagship programmes. For now, RNZ’s challenge is finding the right hire at the right time – a decision that will determine whether the station can turn its slide around.
