After 10 years and just over seven months, Magic as a terrestrial station ceases broadcasting tomorrow.
A station that I felt peaked with the top pairing of Mark Leishman and Geoff Bryan in the mornings. It felt like the splitting of their partnership, and then Mark’s departure in late 2022 was the beginning of the end.
The station’s success was most certainly helped by iconic voices of Bob Gentil and Mark Smith who were there from day one…and have been there ever since.
Has that “lucrative” market suddenly disappeared over the course of 10 years? Or has the constant tinkering, regular lineup changes and “rebrands” killed what many believe was an extremely popular station and format for that particular age group, particularly since Coast opted to move younger and take on The Breeze.
Given that nearly all the current most successful radio brands (Newstalk ZB, ZM, The Edge, More FM, The Rock, The Breeze) have existed without name changes or major overhauls for 30+ years, 10 years is a relatively short time for a top network station to come and go. Consistency, continuity and familiarity wins.
On to the next - all the best to those involved in ‘Breeze Classic’, and to all the voices on Magic over the past 10 years, thank you for the memories and the passion.
Breeze Classic has started… just heard Breeze Classic News close to 10 past 8 followed by Magic weather and over the top a “Breeze Classic this is your new station for the ….. “
They have Tracey Donaldson doing the voiceovers on Breeze Classic. That’s quite nostalgic to me as she did them on The Breeze as well, around 10 years ago
Gotta say I agree with this. I listened to the last few minutes of Magic and the first of The Breeze Classic last night, as well as listening to Magic earlier in the day. Bob Gentil was explaining what was happening and saying a fair few people he spoke to don’t have streaming or Bluetooth but they have lots of radios around - what were they going to do? He sounded upbeat and said you could still find him on Rova doing shows for Magic but I could hear some, well, sadness in his voice
As for Breeze Classic, for the record the first song played was Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. I understood Mark McCarron was meant to come on and explain about the new station but after 2 songs and no host I decided to switch off.
Both my (teenage) boys loved Magic, and yes indeed it will be missed, 10 years isn’t a really long time for a radio station.
I must be the odd one out im actually enjoying breeze classic it sounds very breeze like the voice over, imaging but no more daggy songs from artists like Roger Whittaker, Val doonagan etc.
Yes I feel for the people without access to rova for magic .
The only problem I have is the breeze still plays early- mid 80’s can now get confusing as to what station it is
Mediaworks should have either kept the Magic brand on radio or ditched it completely though imo. Cos reading the comments on their Facebook page ppl are upset they can’t get magic without streaming online, yet it’s not like the new station is playing drum & bass lol… and it’s the same announcers. Is 50s & 60s music still really that popular?
You’d be surprised - I’m not even 50 and I still enjoy listening to it from time to time (as do a lot of people my age I know). My boys who are barely teenagers (see above) liked hearing the older music as well.
Buried beneath the news of Simon Dallow’s retirement yesterday was RNZ’s announcement that Guyon Espiner is taking over Midday Report next year. It appears that Charlotte Cook has been pushed back into the field.
Replacing Tammy Lee for George Breakfast, Beccie B (from George Nights) and Ben Searle (Searley Talks Sports) will join alongside General Lee; the new trio will start on Monday.
Rangi (host of Saturday Revival) will host the Nights show.
If my dream, NZ-based television network (PTV Network New Zealand) were to become a reality then Charlotte Cook would move to television by becoming a part of the network’s new consumer affairs programme, Watchdog (aka ‘the new Fair Go’). Kaitlin Aldridge (ex-Fair Go) and Mitch McCann (ex-Newshub) would also be on board. (Please note that this is off-topic.)
Tania Burgess has left The Breeze (now known as just “Breeze”, dropping “The” from the name after the launch of Breeze Classic) after 13 years.
“Tania’s bubbly personality has always been a huge hit with our listeners. We will miss you so much and are wishing you all the best on your next adventure.”
Jolene James, who is based in Tauranga, recently took over as host of the Breeze’s night slot (Wind Down) from 7pm until midnight.
After 13 years of hosting our Breeze night show, we are both sad and excited to announce that Tania Burgess has accepted an exciting new opportunity in another part of our company.
