Leighton Smith | |
---|---|
Born | [ citation needed ] Australia | 13 December 1946
Nationality | New Zealand |
Occupation | Radio host |
Years active | 1980-2018 |
Leighton Smith (born 13 December 1946) is an Australian-born award-winning former talkback radio host based in Auckland, New Zealand. Until December 2018, he presented the 8:30 am to midday slot from Monday to Friday on commercial talk radio network Newstalk ZB. [1] [2]
Smith started his broadcasting career on Sydney's SCH as a "junior disco jockey". He moved to New Zealand for a one-year stint with 2ZB in Wellington in 1980, but stayed for five years. [3] After a brief stint on a radio in Adelaide, Smith returned to Auckland in 1985, presenting on 1ZB, soon renamed Newstalk ZB. He remained in the 8:30am to midday timeslot until his retirement in 2018. [3]
Smith won Best Talk Back Host or Hosts - All Markets at the 2013 New Zealand Radio Awards. [4] In October 2018 he was presented with a Scroll of Honour from the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand for his contribution to New Zealand entertainment.
In a 2007 interview with libertarian magazine the Free Radical, he described himself as somewhat libertarian. [5] He released his book Beyond the Microphone at the end of 2013. [6]
Smith has expressed disbelief in anthropogenic climate change. He has no scientific qualifications. [7]
He used to own the Clevedon Hills vineyard, near Auckland.
Smith recently published his 200th The Leighton Smith Podcast.
Radio New Zealand, commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and current-affairs network, RNZ National, and a classical-music and jazz network, RNZ Concert, with full government funding from NZ On Air. Since 2014, the organisation's focus has been to transform RNZ from a radio broadcaster to a multimedia outlet, increasing its production of digital content in audio, video, and written forms.
Radio broadcasting began in New Zealand in 1922, and is now dominated by almost thirty radio networks and station groups. The Government has dominated broadcasting since 1925, but through privatisation and deregulation has allowed commercial talk and music stations to reach large audiences. New Zealand also has several radio stations serving Māori tribes, Pasifika communities, ethnic minorities, evangelical Christians and special interests.
Newstalk ZB is a nationwide New Zealand talk-radio network operated by NZME Radio. It is available in almost every radio market area in New Zealand, and has news reporters based in many of them. In addition to talkback, the network also broadcasts news, interviews, music, and sports. The network's hosts include Kate Hawkesby, Mike Hosking, Kerre Woodham, Simon Barnett, James Daniels, Heather du Plessis-Allan, Marcus Lush, Andrew Dickens and Jack Tame. Wellington and Christchurch have a local morning show.
Radio Sport was a New Zealand sports radio network and the talkback sister network of Newstalk ZB. It held commentary rights for most cricket matches, international and domestic rugby union games, NRL rugby league games, trans-Tasman basketball and New Zealand tennis tournaments.
Mix was a greatest hits radio station in New Zealand, broadcasting music from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Mix was owned and operated by New Zealand Media and Entertainment. Mix is targeted at 35 to 54-year-olds. Its head office and studios were located in central Auckland, alongside New Zealand Media and Entertainment's seven other radio networks. In September 2020, Mix was replaced with Gold.
Sir Paul Scott Holmes was a New Zealand broadcaster who gained national recognition through his high-profile radio and television journalism. Holmes fronted one of first major prime time current affairs shows of the 1980s, Holmes, which ran on TV One from 1989 to 2004. Holmes hosted the Newstalk ZB breakfast show from 1985 to 2008, and the Saturday morning show from 2009 to 2012.
Coast is a New Zealand radio network playing a mix of "feel good" hits predominantly from the 1970s and 1980s. The network includes stations in 21 major cities and provincial centres broadcasting from studios in central Auckland, owned and operated by New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME).
Hokonui is an Adult Contemporary radio station that first launched in Gore, New Zealand, broadcasting across Southland and now also broadcasts across South Otago and Mid Canterbury. Hokonui also from April 2015 was broadcasting in Taranaki until late in 2020 when it was disestablished by NZME and replaced by Gold AM. The name Hokonui comes from the Hokonui Hills which can clearly be seen in Gore and the Southland Plains.
4ZA was an adult contemporary radio station in Southland, New Zealand.
Marcus Lush is a politician and television and radio presenter in New Zealand.
Geoff Bryan is a New Zealand television broadcaster, currently a newsreader for MediaWorks Radio and one of the breakfast hosts on Magic.
2ZB was a radio station based in Wellington, New Zealand. This station was run by Radio New Zealand and eventually spawned a second FM station called B90FM. Today 2ZB and B90FM are part of a nationwide networks Newstalk ZB and The Hits respectively.
New Zealand Media and Entertainment is a New Zealand newspaper, radio and digital media business. It was launched in 2014 as the formal merger of the New Zealand division of APN News & Media, APN New Zealand; The Radio Network, part of the Australian Radio Network; and GrabOne, one of New Zealand's biggest ecommerce websites.
Jack Renfrey Tame is a television and radio journalist and presenter. He is the host of TVNZ’s political show Q+A, and a presenter at Newstalk ZB.
4ZB was an adult contemporary radio station in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Radio Taranaki was a radio station in New Plymouth and Hawera.
Rachel Smalley is a New Zealand television and radio journalist and presenter. From 2013 to 2017 she hosted Early Edition every weekday morning on Newstalk ZB and wrote regular columns for The New Zealand Herald.
3ZB was a radio station based in Christchurch, New Zealand. This station was run by Radio New Zealand and eventually spawned a second FM station called B98FM. Today 3ZB and B98FM are part of a nationwide networks Newstalk ZB and The Hits
William Peter Francis is a New Zealand broadcaster, author and sports administrator.
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