Mike Hosking: I'm proud of Newstalk ZB

Opinion

Author: Mike Hosking ,
Publish Date: Sun, 9 Aug 2026, 5:30am

It’s about personality, longevity and connection, says Mike Hosking.

I remember sitting at the Newstalk ZB 80th party, thinking it wouldn’t be long before it was 100.

Eighty years was good; but 100, now that is something.

That then led me to wonder how many businesses there are that are 100 years old and still at the top of their game. The answer is – not many.

Chat GPT provided me with Kirkcaldie’s and Smith & Caughey’s ... both of which are gone (which immediately shows the frailty of AI). But it did toss up TSB, Sanford and Hallensteins ... so we are not alone, but in very rarified air.

There is some debate, I guess, around the structure and nature of the company ZB as it originally was was – 1ZB, 2ZB and so on. It was part of the state-run broadcasting system. It was a world away from the Newstalk ZB we have had for the past (almost) 40 years.

The Newstalk rebranding decision might well be one of the great business, far less media, masterstrokes of the past half-century.

It is essentially why I got into talk radio.

Having started at the now-defunct Radio Windy in Wellington in 1982, I could see when deregulation came and FM licences were sold at about 50 cents a pop, the number of music stations would explode and every man and his turntable would be scrapping for an ever-diminishing slice of the music pie.

Talk, on the other hand, was expensive but there was always a large audience ready to consume it. So, if you got it right, the field would be dabbled in by comparatively few players.

Newstalk ZB is a winning example of getting it right. Consistency is the other part of the equation.

It is with real pride we can say that in the Newstalk era ZB has had just two breakfast hosts. One was called Paul, one is called Mike.

Giving the audience the respect of longevity and an ongoing relationship is not to be under-estimated, it is one of the many things ZB has done and continues to do better than anyone else.

Perhaps the greatest joy of the ZB success is that essentially it hasn’t changed, in a world that is in many areas unrecognisable. The essence of ZB is a constant.

It is about personality, and connection with an audience. About a need to communicate, to be heard, about ideas and debate.

My career started in 1982 and although a lot of the bits and pieces of radio have changed and apps and podcasts are part of the newish landscape, the quintessential bit that hasn’t changed is: all you need a microphone, some ideas and some people to listen.

The simple pleasure of communication in radio terms is pretty much the way it has always been.

In a media landscape that has not only changed (and dramatically), the ZB story is one of consistency, careful planning, longevity and respect for the audience.

We are profitable in an age of troubled bottom lines. We are critically acclaimed (Station of the Year six years in a row) and we have the largest audience in the industry.

Most at ZB would be too modest to point out these aspects of the business, which is probably why they quietly achieve what they do.

But, you know me! I like the facts, and no one beats us at the game of radio. It is not said with arrogance, it is said with pride, and it is achieved as the result of hard work.

ZB is one of the great, if not the greatest, radio stories this country has seen.

Not only is it 100, but I would also argue that, at 100, it’s never looked better, and it’s more than likely its best days are ahead of it.