Why the decision to merge Radiolive's breakfast show with TV3's breakfast show is a bad idea and does the public a disservice in terms of news content

Apparently New Zealand broadcaster Paul Henry is popular, so popular in fact that he's likely to become a breakfast show host again by the beginning of next year.  Mediaworks has signalled plans for a new show which will be broadcast across both TV3 and RadioLive. 

That will put several media personalities like Hilary Barry, Marcus Lush, Sacha McNeil and others out of work.  Marcus has been in breakfast radio for several years and it's not secret that his ratings have been bad.  Hilary Barry is almost past her use by date on TV as I've said in previous blogs.

Sacha NcNeil still has a bit to offer though as do the other media hots affected by the changes.

That isn't my concern though.  It's one thing to network stations as both The Radio Network (Now NZME) and Mediaworks did in the 90s, but it's another to have the same content streaming across both TV and radio and it sits really uncomfortably with me.

I'm glad Paul Henry is returning to breakfast TV because out of a bad bunch of presenters in NZ he's one of the better ones, but to syndicate his show across TV and radio is a bad idea.  It means people not only get less news, they get less opinions and less diversity.  That's not a good thing.

Take the Australian media for example.

Mamamia founded by former magazine editor Mia Freedman is a left wing site aimed at 18+ women.
Crikey is aimed at more intelligent left wingers.
The ABC and SBS are primarily aimed at left wingers and are more in depth.
2UE owned by Fairfax is balanced or it attempts to be.
Kiis FM is a mainstream pop FM station however with Kyle Sandilands they are somewhat controversial.
2GB is conservative, hard hitting and the number one station in Sydney because it has a conservative and opinionated audience.
Then you have the newspapers like the Sydney Morning Herald which is left wing and the Daily Telegraph which favours the Liberal Party.  The Daily Mail is more about salacious gossip and light news stories.

Unless you live in Sydney this probably means nothing to you but the main point of what I'm trying to say is, people need choice and they need to hear different news and views, by syndicating a show across both TV and radio, you're giving people less choice and there will be even fewer people in the NZ media and it is already small enough without being smaller and having less information and views.  Radio and TV are two different mediums and the two shouldn't merge, although radio can cross over with the internet as can TV, but radio and TV crossing over, bad idea.