Radio queen
Wendy Palmer celebrates success
MediaWorks’ Radio boss Wendy Palmer, hailed the success of radio in the digital world, as she celebrated impressive audience survey results for the company this week.
Palmer, who has been in the role for two years, said she was ‘‘absolutely delighted’’ with results from the latest New Zealand radio network audience survey, which gave MediaWorks Radio more than 2.1 million weekly listeners across nine brands and a dominating 51 per cent slice of the crucial breakfast audience.
But despite her successes - which include launching the multi-platform Paul Henry show - Palmer denied that she was interested in the ‘‘top job’’ - that of being MediaWorks’ group chief executive following the departure of Mark Weldon earlier this year. A search for his permanent replacement is ongoing.
‘‘I’ve only been in my radio job for a couple of years and there’s still plenty to do,’’ said Palmer who added that she had not pursued an application for the job.
‘‘I think you really have to love what you are doing, and I do. If you are moving on to other things, then you must be doing that for the right reasons.’’
And certainly, Palmer has considerable responsibility, presiding over an empire which has 23 radio offices all over New Zealand. She said the survey results showed the medium of radio was strong and growing.
‘‘Radio just keeps on keeping on, ‘‘ she said. ‘‘It has shown incredible longevity. There was a pop song once with the title Video Killed the Radio Star, but actually, thankfully that hasn’t come to pass.
‘‘Radio is very user friendly and has proved itself to be a top performer economically too.’’
MediaWorks’ Radio’s financial results were up on last year, said Palmer, and the audience results showed the company topped the league against its radio competitors in all the key commercial listener age groupings, from the age of 10 to 54 and also household shoppers.
The radio brands include stations; The Edge, The Rock, Mai, George, The Breeze and Magic. The survey showed The Edge had retained its position as New Zealand’s most popular station with 662,700 listeners.
Success in the breakfast market has also been a particular focus for Palmer
‘‘Advertising revenue is still strong,’’ said Palmer. ‘‘And the business is as profitable as it can be as this stage. An important part of that success has been about being successful at attracting and developing talent to engage our audiences.
‘‘We look for people who are very real in their personalities and who are naturally very interested in people, as that comes across loud and clear in broadcasting.’’
The radio survey was conducted by Australian market research group Gfk. Palmer said a new method of measuring audiences meant reports will appear four times a year from now on, instead of just twice a year.
The next round is due in November and should allow companies to see a wider picture across the country, outside of the main urban hubs of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
‘‘We will have a deeper, richer picture of our audiences,’’ said Palmer. ’’But with more and continuous surveying going on, it means that every day is going to be survey day. We don’t take anything for granted. it’s an incredibly competitive environment,’’ said Palmer.