Tova O'Brien and Duncan Garner were among prominent hosts at Today FM who are now out of a job. Photo: Mediaworks / Getty Images
Hard-to-change listener habits and taking up a centrist position in the combative zone of talkback radio have caused Today FM's demise, an editor says.
MediaWorks called time on its year-old flagship talkback station, Today FM, yesterday.
Presenters Tova O'Brien and Duncan Garner spoke their last words on air around 9am, saying management had betrayed them and they had not been given a chance to see the station succeed.
Music remained playing all day, before a 20-second statement was played at 5pm, saying the station was no longer Today FM and a new station would be launched next month on the same frequency.
Newsroom's co-editor Tim Murphy said the station's demise was brutal but "when the tide goes out with your owners, these private equity companies that own MediaWorks, it goes out fast and they obviously decided pretty late in the piece because a new television advertising campaign just started a week or two ago and Tova was on it".
It seemed the owners had been indecisive for some time but when they reached a decision "it was gone".
From the information that had emerged it seemed MediaWorks owners were looking ahead to a possible recession and an economic downturn, rather than saying the station was costing too much now.
MediaWorks was losing money already and Today FM's set-up budget and salaries for its presenters would not have helped.
"Every media business is constricting at the moment with advertising going down so it's not unusual."
The owners were facing the prospect of losing more money so immediate action was needed.
"I guess they know those numbers, it's hard to question that, other than the way it's been done and the lack of commitment to their promises of a year ago."
MediaWorks had obviously decided it would save $6 million a year once they got past paying out sacked staff.
"It's that habit and that scale of talent you're up against" - Newsroom's co-editor Tim Murphy
He said the main reason Today FM failed was that it was "a hard ask" to make inroads into the competitive zone of commercial talkback dominated by NewstalkZB "that's been at the height of its powers for years".
It had also tried to operate from a centrist position in the talk radio format.
"In the centre even in politics you risk becoming the United Future brand in the middle which is neither here nor there."
Murphy said in breakfast radio, Today FM was up against the prominent broadcaster Mike Hosking and while they fielded a high-profile journalist (O'Brien) and a good team they were always fighting against listeners' habits and some well-established talent.
"They really did a lot. They tried very hard - it was almost heroic in the element of content they put forward, but it's that habit and that scale of talent you're up against."
MediaWorks had spent a lot of money on the station and executives had the hope till near the end it could succeed.
"But when your owners decide ... they'd rather put their money elsewhere there's no coming back from that."
Meanwhile, MediaWorks will be reviewing its entire business for cost savings with interim chief executive Wendy Palmer saying Today FM was not sustainable in the current market conditions, with lower revenues from advertising and high costs.