Rising To The Challenge Kerre's Walking On Air!

Why Home and Work Have Her Feeling Radiant

- Wendyl Nissen

Kerre McIvor enjoys a challenge. Just spur her to climb Mount Kilimanjaro or run a marathon and she’s up for it. She’ll knuckle down, train religiously until she can do it and tick that off her list.

But this year, Kerre (54) found herself presented with a career test which could have defeated even her fierce determination had it all gone horribly wrong.

She was given the task of taking over the Newstalk ZB morning show from its previous host of 34 years, Leighton Smith. Kerre had certainly done the training after 22 years at the station, but her bosses expected her to fail – at first.

“They took me aside and warned me that the ratings would almost certainly go down, that you can’t replace a host after 34 years without seeing some kind of reaction, and they just wanted me to be prepared for that,” says Kerre.

“I started the year knowing that I had a lot to live up to because Leighton was an incredibly strong personality − in radio, people get used to that − and I was going to be quite different.

“To be honest, I thought I would just white knuckle my way through the two-year contract I signed and that would be that.”

But Kerre has risen to the challenge. After just a few months, she not only held the number-one position in Auckland for the show, but also increased listeners, including more women, something her bosses were hoping she would do.

“I’m so glad my bosses didn’t have to deliver the bad news they had prepared me for,” laughs Kerre. “I would have nodded and accepted it, but man, it would have sucked.”

She credits much of the success to her producer Helen McCarthy, who has worked with many Newstalk ZB hosts including Sir Paul Holmes, Larry Williams and Jack Tame.