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NZ Herald
a day ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
Media Insider: AM transmissions of up to seven Auckland radio stations – including sport and Pacific broadcasts – threatened under RNZ plans to replace transmission masts
At the heart of the looming showdown are two prominent AM transmission masts on either side of Auckland's Northwestern Motorway, at the Lincoln Rd interchange in Henderson. RNZ's AM transmission towers in West Auckland are used by 15 radio stations. Photo / Michael Craig The red and white masts are well-known landmarks; 15 radio stations rely on them for their AM services. There are eight on the 'northern' mast (Radio Waatea, Humm, BBC World Service, Chinese Voices, Newstalk ZB, Rhema, Radio Tarana and Radio Samoa) and seven on the 'southern' mast (531PI, RNZ National, Parliament, APNA, Ake 1179, Gold Sport AM and Sport Nation). According to RNZ, both masts need replacing. The southern mast on Lincoln Rd is 153m high and 70 years old. The northern Selwood Rd mast is 122m high and 91 years old. 'The masts have a design life of 50 years, which RNZ has managed to extend until now,' says RNZ chief technology officer Mark Bullen. RNZ says it needs to remove both masts and – while it insists no final decision has been made – it has proposed replacing just the northern mast. Scotty Stevenson and Israel Dagg host Sport Nation's breakfast show, which broadcasts on 1476AM in Auckland. Sources say RNZ has been prepared to build a new southern mast but only if every existing tenant agrees to pay increased fees. The radio industry is baulking at the proposed fees and wants to see RNZ's costings. Under the one-mast scenario, RNZ would move RNZ National and Parliament from the southern mast to a new northern mast at the expense of at least one and possibly two of the existing northern mast stations. Up to five other stations on the southern mast would also lose their AM transmissions, including Sport Nation – the Entain channel that has live cricket rights – and NZME's Gold Sport AM, which has live rugby rights. Other AM stations on the southern mast are those that cater to specific communities in Auckland, including 531PI for the Pasifika community, APNA for the Indian, Fijian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Punjabi communities, and Ake 1179, the official station of Ngāti Whātua. Many of the 15 stations have a digital presence, but for some of them, AM is the main or only means of transmission. The radio industry says New Zealand still has strong AM audiences because of the country's geography, topography and high percentage of second-hand imported cars from Japan with radios that usually go up to only 90FM. Media Insider understands some in the commercial radio industry are infuriated by RNZ's position, believing its proposed costs are inflated. They are also angry about what they label sky-high, ongoing fees RNZ is proposing for those who are lucky enough to have a spot on the new northern mast. The Radio Broadcasters Association has engaged a lawyer and fired a shot across RNZ's bow, threatening legal action. It is understood that the lawyer has told RNZ that withdrawing transmission services would come at a high cost for the public and broadcasters. And that from a charter, public law and a plurality perspective, this included broadcasting to the Pacific Island, Samoan, Chinese, Indian, Māori, and Christian communities. 531PI hosts specialist Pacific language shows on the AM frequency each week. RNZ's position RNZ would not agree to chief executive Paul Thompson being interviewed for this story, instead providing a statement because it said it was in the middle of consultation with the industry. RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson. Photo / Mark Mitchell RNZ's Mark Bullen said in the statement that 'no legal proceedings have commenced'. 'While RNZ cannot speak to the specific intentions of the co-siters, we are in ongoing conversation with them,' he said. Bullen said RNZ had engaged with the industry about AM transmission at its Henderson sites 'for many years'. 'Based on structural engineers' reports, we have decided to decommission both towers by June 2026 to ensure the health and safety of both sites,' Bullen said. RNZ's transmission towers have been features of the West Auckland skyline for decades. Photo / Michael Craig 'The building of a new mast on the northern site would be sufficient to meet RNZ's transmission needs. 'RNZ is now talking to broadcasters ... about the financial viability of building a new mast on the southern site. Whether there are sufficient clients and ongoing revenue to make it financially prudent for RNZ to invest in the southern site [is] part of RNZ's consideration.' He said if RNZ decided 'not to fund the mast, RNZ is open to ideas from co-siters that would provide other viable, funded plans'. 'RNZ has also had discussions with Government officials on technical options around additional FM services, but were advised this is not viable.' Bullen said replacing both masts would cost in the range of $7 million, with the southern mast estimated to be close to $3m. 'In summary, no final decision has been taken on the southern site and we are awaiting further feedback from co-siters who we have been engaging with regularly.' The industry's position Radio Broadcasters Association chair Jana Rangooni said the association had known for some time that the towers might need to be replaced or relocated. 'Until December last year, we had understood RNZ was looking at a range of options to do this,' Rangooni said. 'Our members and other broadcasters became concerned when a consultation process started in December. It appeared RNZ only intended to rebuild the northern tower. This means all southern tower AM radio stations could be taken off air, along with a number of the northern tower stations RNZ wants to move off that tower to accommodate themselves. 'We believe this raises numerous commercial and public law issues that we have flagged to RNZ on behalf of our members.' Radio Broadcasters Association chairwoman Jana Rangooni says RNZ's plans for the towers raise commercial and public law issues. Photo / Supplied Rangooni said she understood all broadcasters wanted to continue to broadcast on both towers at reasonable fees, similar to current pricing. 'We are aware RNZ is requiring increased fees of 200% to 400% uplift on these. 'We believe the option to provide both towers at current prices is a viable one for RNZ, taking into account that the northern tower needs to be built for them to remain broadcasting. The transmission profits they have made from the commercial broadcasters in the past decade would fund most of the southern tower. 'We would not expect commercial operators to be subsidising RNZ operations. We have expected that profits would be recognised towards tower replacement, given their age and well-known need for replacement.' She said the association was also concerned RNZ would not meet with association members as an industry group 'to discuss all possible options'. This included 'any joint approaches that might need to be made to the minister or relevant ministry'. 'We believe the option to build both towers based on current fees is a viable and indeed sensible one for a public broadcaster. Should they decide not to, we, along with the impacted broadcasters, will look at all avenues open to us to ensure the respective Pacific, Asian, religious, sporting and other audiences do not lose the services they rely on. 'Recognising these audiences fits well with the role of RNZ in the public interest at a time all New Zealand radio organisations are focused on maintaining and growing our local audiences.' NZME chief audio officer Jason Winstanley said the company - which also owns the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB - was disappointed with RNZ's position. NZME believed it was financially viable for the southern tower to be rebuilt. 'We don't believe the proposed cost increase to accommodate the rebuild of both towers is required, based on the financial modelling we've done,' said Winstanley. 'We have requested Radio NZ's modelling several times, but they have declined to provide it. We believe the millions of dollars all broadcasters have paid to date should be used to maintain and rebuild the towers. 'If the southern tower isn't rebuilt, 1332AM would cease broadcasting in Auckland. At that point, for Gold Sport to continue in Auckland, we'd need to find another frequency for it. We're urging Radio NZ to fully explore all options before a final decision is made by their board.' Brian Kelly hosts Gold AM's The Country Sport Breakfast, which broadcasts on 1332AM in Auckland. Photo / Alex Cairns MediaWorks director of content Leon Wratt told Media Insider: 'MediaWorks is continuing to work through the RBA with RNZ towards both AM towers at Henderson being replaced so all stations, including Humm on 702AM, remain on-air. With Henderson being Auckland's sole AM transmission site, the future of these stations now sits with RNZ.' Entain Australia and New Zealand chief media officer Christopher Haigh said the company was 'actively working through potential distribution challenges with RNZ and are committed to bringing Sport Nation to audiences around the country'. 'We'll keep working on our AM/FM coverage plans, alongside bolstering our digital content offering, that already includes livestreaming of sport like cricket, netball and rugby league amongst others.' While Sport Nation has an AM frequency in Auckland, it does not have an FM frequency. Pacific Media Network Pacific Media Network chief executive Don Mann. Photo / Mike Scott Another impacted station is 531PI, operated by the Pacific Media Network, on the southern mast. It broadcasts 10 specific languages across specialist shows each week. 'If that southern tower goes, there won't be any AM transmission of pan-Pacific languages in Auckland,' said PMN chief executive Don Mann. 'It'll be the end of terrestrial AM transmission of publicly-funded Pacific languages.' 531PI is not part of the GFK radio ratings survey, but Mann said Pacific Media Network, through its various platforms, targeted the 440,000 Pacific Islanders living in New Zealand, about 275,000 of whom were in Auckland. 'Our roots are in linear terrestrial transmission, but we do use third-party platforms, we do use multimedia. We do use visual content, and we stream. 'But the issue is that target audience. The target audience for 531AM, given that it's a language channel, is the Pacific people [for whom] English is not their first language. 'Their first language is Pacific. It's generally an older audience that's been trained over 35 years to listen by appointment on linear radio.' For example, the Tongan community knew their show was broadcast at 3pm every Wednesday; the Samoan community knew their show was on 3pm every Thursday. While PMN had made strong gains and growth in multimedia, Mann said there were still issues for some in the Pasifika community not having easy access to online connectivity or devices. Mann said the industry accepted there was probably a limited timespan for AM transmission, whether that was 'five years or 10 years, or whatever, I don't know'. It was an issue being grappled with across the world. AM still played a critical role in emergency situations, and for ethnic communities, that timespan tail was likely a bit longer when they relied on specialist languages. 'It will be a critical situation if we just turn off terrestrial broadcasting to an older Pacific audience.' Radio Tarana chief executive Robert Khan said Tarana was offered a position on the new northern tower, but the fees had doubled. 'If we don't accept it, we're out of business, quite frankly. The choice was yay or nay - yay if you want your lifeline, nay if you don't want your lifeline.' Further questions for RNZ Media Insider went back to RNZ with further questions on Friday. 'RNZ has not made a final decision on the southern mast. If we decide not to fund the replacement mast, then RNZ is open to ideas from co-siters that would provide viable plans consistent with our charter,' said a spokesman. RNZ says it has been through a fair and robust process with other broadcasters over future AM transmission options. Photo / Michael Craig 'RNZ has a primary responsibility to prudently use its funding to create public media content for audiences. That means we need to ensure all infrastructure investment is affordable while also providing the best value to New Zealanders. RNZ is not established as an infrastructure provider to other broadcasters who have independently secured AM licences from the Crown. 'To fund a southern mast, RNZ must be able to recover its costs and take into account the risks and uncertainties involved. This means we have proposed an increase in fees. 'The majority of RNZ's infrastructure investment has been in maintaining its AM network, which has never been profit-driven. The goal has been to maintain a resilient national network for our services, given our statutory emergency lifeline role.' RNZ did not directly respond to a question about why it had not met the industry as a group but said it had embarked on a 'fair and robust process' with each broadcaster. Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand's most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME. Watch Media Insider - The Podcast on YouTube, or listen to it on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
1News
20-05-2025
- Sport
- 1News
'We'll keep trusting our players' - Razor lifts lid on All Blacks' game plan
All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson's squad of 35 for the three-Test series against France in July may include a few newcomers but not a new game plan. It will be based on possession, power and pace – elements of which the All Blacks did well last year in winning 10 of 14 Tests during Robertson's first year in charge. After studying their successes, and their failures (two defeats to the Springboks, one to Argentina and one to France), Robertson sees no point in backing away from what he believes is New Zealand's point of difference. Indeed, he appears willing to double down on it. All four defeats were close – the largest was by a margin of eight points (Argentina) – which makes finishing opportunities and closing out tight Tests the biggest area of development for his side this year. In a recent interview on Sport Nation with Scotty Stevenson and Israel Dagg, Robertson said: 'We will keep trusting our skillset and players and will play an expansive game.' In that respect, Robertson said he was buoyed by the skill on show during this year's Super Rugby competition, the closest and most compelling in years which last weekend had Moana Pasifika knocking over the defending champion Blues and overtake them into a playoff position. 'I've enjoyed it like everyone else,' he said. 'You can see the young talent coming through. You can see the ability of teams to play in all different ways. We're a highly-skilled nation aren't we?' Robertson knows, though, that greater insights into players - both incumbent and potential - will come as the New Zealand weather worsens and the playoffs begin. Regarding his overarching strategy, there may be critics who will suggest that the All Blacks' insistence on playing a possession and width game did not consistently find the mark last year. One imperative will be finding extra punch around the breakdown, although in loose forwards Wallace Sititi, who has extended his New Zealand contract to 2027, and Ardie Savea, they have two men capable of that. Most fans won't be surprised about the biggest lessons Robertson learned last year. The All Blacks led the world champion Boks in both Tests in South Africa before fading, they had a good grip on France in Paris but let it slip, and Argentina in Wellington was just a poor performance across the board – not helped by the behind-the-scenes ructions that led to Leon MacDonald's resignation as assistant coach days later. 'A lot of Test rugby is about discipline, [making] minimal errors, and finishing games,' Robertson said. 'Those are the big areas we knew last year we do have to get better at this year. We've looked at it, we've understood it – how do you train it, the mental skills that come with it… the bench that's required to finish games. You have the little projects you dig into. 'But fundamentally we still had the most line breaks and defenders beaten so we created a lot. The first thing is you have to remember that and work out how to finish that.' Robertson will select 20 forwards and 15 backs for his first squad of the year – the first Test against France is in Dunedin on July 6. He believes Will Jordan, currently sidelined at the Crusaders with an MCL knee problem – but potentially on track for a return to a Super Rugby Pacific quarter-final – may be available for that Test. Chiefs midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown, however, faces a longer comeback from his broken collarbone. 'Will – we're pretty confident [about] - it's just Anton that may push the timeline,' Robertson said. He will again favour players who can play in multiple positions. An intriguing decision will be whether he and his fellow selectors keep faith in Blues wing Mark Tele'a, who has just finished a three-match suspension for a dangerous tackle and is heading to Japan at the end of the year. Tele'a – good under the high ball and able to wriggle out of even the tightest of spots – is uniquely suited to the rigours of Test rugby but his impending departure may open the door for raw talents such as Macca Springer from the Crusaders or Kyren Taumoefolau. It could be, though, that Robertson feels he has enough outside back cover in Jordan, Caleb Clarke, Sevu Reece, Emoni Narawa and Stephen Perofeta. Looking ahead to a big series against France, a momentous two Tests against the Springboks in Auckland and Wellington, as well as an Ireland Test in Chicago and Scotland, England, and Wales away, will the All Blacks be better this year, Robertson was asked. 'That's the plan,' he said. 'We played some incredible footy at the end of last year. We've got to get better in some areas, we know that… we'll keep trusting our skillset and players and will play an expansive game. How do we finish and set our teams up? That's the exciting part.'
