‘Huge loss’ as breakfast show host ends shift

A familiar voice of East Coast iwi radio will finally get a sleep-in after 27 years of early starts as Radio Ngāti Porou’s esteemed breakfast announcer.

Yesterday, Radio Ngāti Porou breakfast announcer Kahu Waitoa — known by his community as Kaz — hung up the microphone for the final time.

Described by the station as one of its “most-loved announcers”, Waitoa is taking a step back so he can be home in the mornings to look after his ill wife.

“It’s no big deal to me. I’ll still be working, just not doing the breakfast show,” a modest Waitoa said.

His last show yesterday saw around 30 people come into the studio to share their appreciation for Waitoa and his mahi.

He will stay on at the station as a production manager, maintaining broadcast equipment and providing training.

Radio Ngāti Porou manager Erana Keelan-Reedy said Waitoa’s departure from the airways was a “huge loss” to the listening audience.

He began in 1996, so many children in the community had grown up listening to him every morning, she said.

“He has a calm way of speaking on air, so it’s like listening to a good old mate. He’s got his dry humour, and you’re laughing, even though he’s just speaking normally.

“At 5.30am he clocks in religiously every morning. Now he’s got the opportunity to stay home in the mornings and sleep in.

She described Waitoa as a consummate professional and patient teacher.

“I know he’s going to leave a big hole.”

The day before his final show, Waitoa was repairing an AM transmitter in Ruatōria with the help of an RNZ technician.

He could not be reached for further comment yesterday, but multimedia and sales manager Paora Brooking indicated he was trying to avoid the limelight.

Meanwhile, the station is now looking for an announcer to fill the now-vacant morning slot.

Keelan-Reedy said she hoped it would be an opportunity for a young person to take on a new challenge, and she is keen to hear from anyone who might be interested.

Based in Ruatōria, the station was founded in 1986 on the back of a visit from Radio Waikato.

After raising $40,000 in a highly successful radiothon event where the town’s streets were lined with people, the station found a home in a garage.

It then moved to its current premises on the main street in 1991.