New Magic Talk Station is Revealed with Peter Williams

New Magic Talk Station is Revealed with Peter Williams in Lineup,
NEW ROCK DRIVE DUO OF JAY & DUNC,
FINAL GFK COMMERCIAL RADIO SURVEY RESULTS OF THE YEAR

Coinciding with the final GfK Total New Zealand Commercial Radio Survey results of 2018, MediaWorks has today revealed the look of new Magic Talk station as well as announcing broadcaster Peter Williams’ return to radio. At Drive time, The Rock has announced a new duo of Jay Reeve and Duncan Heyde while MediaWorks continues to be the home of the 25-54 demo with six of the top seven music stations nationwide by share+ with The Rock, More FM, The Breeze, The Sound, The Edge and Mai FM.

MAGIC TALK REVEALED
MediaWorks Radio has revealed the look of talk and lifestyle channel, Magic Talk. And, for the first time on talk radio, broadcaster Peter Williams will tell you what he really thinks.

Peter describes the move as a really great opportunity, “As someone approaching the age of Winston’s Gold Card, I have plenty of thoughts and opinions on various issues, formed from having quite a few years on this planet! I’m delighted this offer has come pretty much out of the blue from Magic Talk. It’s a new station and I’m really enthusiastic about sharing my views with those who call, email or text in.

“I also look forward to regularly talking with the newsmakers of the day and being able to stimulate discussion from that. Yes, I have been mainly a TV person for nearly 40 years, but my introduction to the broadcasting industry was through radio and that was with a station in Dunedin which has subsequently become More FM. So in many respects this role is a return to where I came from and the circle is complete.”

Magic Talk will also feature some of New Zealand’s best known personalities on talk radio with The AM Show’s Duncan Garner, Mark Richardson and Amanda Gillies joined by Ryan Bridge on The Ryan Bridge Drive Show. Popular weekend shows Rural Exchange and Home and Garden will also feature alongside the live simulcast of Newshub Live at 6PM.

Magic Talk, aimed at the 45+ demographic, will launch on Saturday, January 19th, 2019 with almost 90% talk radio across the week. Further lineup announcements will be made in the coming weeks.

The Magic brand encompasses both Magic Talk and Magic Music, allowing the choice of both options for listeners, operating on different frequencies. At various times, there will also be shared programming broadcast across both stations. Magic Music will continue to feature the ever popular Mark Leishman and Geoff Bryan, Mark Smith, Murray Lindsay and Bob Gentil and offer a 24/7 music option for Magic listeners.

Leon Wratt, MediaWorks Group Content Director Radio, says, “The merger between the two brands combines the best of both worlds for its audience and with over 51 frequencies will result in one of the biggest stations in the country. It is unique in that it carries both a talk channel and a music channel, all wrapped into one music, talk and lifestyle brand.”

In the final GfK radio survey results of the year, Magic gained 0.5 percentage points nationally to 4.8%. The station’s growth continues in the regions increasing its lead in the Hawkes Bay*, growth in Wellington**, Christchurch*** and a strong result in Tauranga****.

ROCK DRIVE WITH JAY & DUNC
Continuing with today's announcements, the troublesome duo of Jay Reeve (Jay) and Duncan Heyde (Dunc) have been confirmed as presenters of The Rock Drive with Jay and Dunc from early December 2018.

Jay is so pumped about the new show, he’s even leaving Tauranga for the congested streets of Auckland once again.

“I’ve gotten to know Dunc over the past couple of years and with some good mates of mine in the wider team, I’m stoked to be joining The Rock Drive. After being off air for the past 18 months, I’m looking forward to getting behind the mic once again - although I can’t confirm my chat has gotten any better.”

Dunc says: “I’m beyond fizzed about next year! Jay is a bloody top bloke and I know our Rock listeners will love him. When I caught up with him he promised me that he will turn up to work, is low on life baggage and has no aspirations to move to Bali and sell knock off sunnies..... I said ‘welcome to the team!’”

The latest GfK survey results see The Rock gain 0.9 percentage points to reach a 7.6% share nationwide. The station also gained the most listeners this survey period with an increase of 17,400 to 436,300#.

THE BREEZE
The Breeze has gained an additional 6,300 listeners nationally and is up to 527,900# since survey three in September. The station holds the top spot overall in Wellington with 12.4% share** while Steve and Kath increased their share to 13.1%, making them the leading music Breakfast show in the region++. The Breeze is excited to announce Steve and Kath will return next year as Wellington's only local Breakfast show. From January 14th, 2019 The Breeze will offer Wellington and Kapiti a full local product from 6am - 3pm each day. Kris Edwards will take over the Breakfast show in other regions across The Breeze network.

FURTHER RADIO SURVEY RESULTS
More FM remains the number one music station in the country in All People 10+ with the Breakfast Club still New Zealanders’ music show of choice in the morning## and Jase & Jay-Jay at Drive### also maintaining their leading position nationally.

The Edge’s Jono, Ben & Sharyn is the number two Drive show nationwide### and the station has the most listeners overall with 613,700 Kiwis tuning in#.

Mai FM had another outstanding result in Auckland reaching an 11.1% share at Breakfast~ (up a full percentage point on last survey) and achieving a 10.5% share overall in Tamaki Makaurau+++.

Rova has gained a further 35,000 downloads since September, recording 385,000 downloads to date. The number of unique monthly users has also increased to 93,000, an increase of 9,000 users per month~~.

Summarising the survey results, Leon Wratt said, “The Rock has delivered an exceptional result and the powerhouses of More FM and The Edge remain. Mai FM continues to punch well above its weight in Auckland.”

RADIO PARTNERSHIPS
In addition to enjoying on-air ratings success, MediaWorks Radio brands are connecting with more New Zealanders off-air as well. MediaWorks Radio brands are presenting all of the major summer festivals in New Zealand for the 2018/19 season. With a clean sweep of the country’s biggest music festivals - including Rhythm and Vines, Bay Dreams, Northern Bass, Homegrown and Electric Avenue - MediaWorks Radio brands will be at every major festival across the country with listeners and fans as they welcome in the New Year and celebrate well into the summer.

Beyond that, for the very first time, MediaWorks’ stations More FM and The Breeze have secured an exclusive media partnership with all Netball New Zealand properties including the Silver Ferns, ANZ Premiership and Superclub. Commencing January 1st, the partnership is in place for three years and will allow listeners exclusive access to games through ticket giveaways.

And 2019 will also see MediaWorks partnering for the first time with Queenstown Winter Festival - More FM will be leading the partnership locally and nationally, with More FM Drive hosts Jason Gunn and Jay-Jay Feeney broadcasting live from Queenstown and MCing the ever popular More FM Day on the Bay.

-ENDS-

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