{"id":642537,"date":"2026-10-27T06:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T06:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/642537\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T06:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T06:32:10","slug":"media-insider-sport-nation-future-uncertain-as-radio-hosts-and-producers-called-to-consultation-meetings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/642537\/","title":{"rendered":"Media Insider: Sport Nation future uncertain as radio hosts and producers called to consultation meetings"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is understood they will be presented with a proposal for consultation.<\/p>\n

Entain head of radio digital and commercial Marcus Forbes and Entain group head of talent and racing Adam Hamilton are understood to be leading the meetings.<\/p>\n

Approached today, Forbes said he could not comment. <\/p>\n

\"SomeSome of the SENZ originals before the station’s launch in July 2021: Mark Stafford (from left), Rikki Swannell, Israel Dagg, Brendon McCullum, Kirstie Stanway, Ian Smith and Stephen Donald. Photo \/ SENZ<\/p>\n

Sport Nation has various commentary rights, including Black Caps and White Ferns cricket, the Warriors and NRL, and major international events, including the Rugby League World Cup.<\/p>\n

As well as commentary, it offers sports talk, interviews and podcasts. Its weekday line-up includes Scotty & Izzy at breakfast, Sport Nation Mornings, Sport Nation Afternoons and Millsy & Guy in the drive-time slot.<\/p>\n

Sport Nation was previously known as Senz, which was owned by publicly listed Australian-based SEG group with its majority shareholder Craig Hutchison, before it was sold and became part of the TAB\/Entain media operation in 2024. <\/p>\n

It was rebranded as Sport Nation in November 2024. <\/p>\n

Hutchison and SEG have subsequently taken ownership of New Zealand\u2019s biggest radio network, MediaWorks<\/a>, home of music brands such as The Rock, More FM and The Breeze.<\/p>\n

MediaWorks used to own a newstalk brand, Today FM, which featured sport at weekends, but it closed in 2023, after a year.<\/p>\n

Although Hutchison\u2019s SEG sold Senz\/Sport Nation in 2024, it has still been running advertising sales for the brand and TAB\/Entain in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\"SEGSEG chief executive Craig Hutchison. <\/p>\n

In an interview with Media Insider in August<\/a>, when he was announced as MediaWorks\u2019 new owner, Hutchison said his SEG firm and Entain were great partners.<\/p>\n

Hutchison said at the time the advertising sales arrangement would continue. <\/p>\n

But as Media Insider reported, the obvious question was whether we might see a new sports radio network emerge out of MediaWorks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got opportunities to review the strategy, but we\u2019re really supportive of our fabulous partner in Entain, who we represent in the ad sales market and we\u2019ll continue to do so,\u201d Hutchison said at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur sports strategy will be reviewed down the track, and we\u2019ll work through what works for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said plans \u2013 whether that was \u201cin partnership with others, whether that\u2019s in live rights, whether that\u2019s in more shows\u201d \u2013 would be reviewed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d like to do more sport, clearly. In what guise that comes, we are yet to consider. MediaWorks is already doing some great sport, through podcasts and streaming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hutchison could not be contacted this evening.<\/p>\n

Sport Nation broadcasts across the country on AM and FM frequencies.<\/p>\n

However, it lost its Auckland AM frequency this year when public broadcaster RNZ overhauled its Henderson transmission masts.<\/p>\n

An Entain spokesman said in April that the 1476AM frequency<\/a> in Auckland would be closing.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike other broadcasters using the RNZ southern transmission tower in Auckland, we have been working on our plans around future-proofing Sport Nation in the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have inquired about the availability of an alternate frequency that could be transmitted through the northern tower.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, with no frequencies available, we are sharing with our Auckland-based listeners today that from 15 April, the 1476AM frequency will be going off-air, and listeners will be able to access Sport Nation via the Sport Nation app, or sportnation.nz.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company said at the time that it saw the changes as a \u201cgreat opportunity\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cDigital streaming has been a core part of our strategy since Sport Nation launched.\u201d<\/p>\n

If MediaWorks launches a new sports brand, it is likely to return to the radio airwaves with an Auckland frequency it already owns.<\/p>\n

Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand\u2019s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is understood they will be presented with a proposal for consultation. Entain head of radio digital and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":642538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1443,2840,68,95,9526,806,1559,45456,19014,26698,58276,3273,25630,2936,225,1073,15150,79817,5978,13611,111,139,69,60269,4965,8209,5258,9871,2022,213,1361,61,2951,16641,102],"class_list":["post-642537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-about","tag-across","tag-air","tag-and","tag-another","tag-as","tag-called","tag-channel","tag-consultation","tag-crowded","tag-emerge","tag-future","tag-hosts","tag-insider","tag-market","tag-media","tag-mediaworks","tag-meetings","tag-might","tag-nation","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-producers","tag-radio","tag-seismic","tag-shift","tag-speculation","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-that","tag-to","tag-town","tag-uncertain","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/642538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}