Radio NZ's birdcall to be clearer and more frequent



Radio New Zealand's iconic birdcall is far from extinct with the
station revealing plans today for "more birds".

As part of new corporate branding, listeners to the public service
broadcaster will hear the bird calls more often, with better quality
recordings and a spoken context for the birdsongs, according to a news
release from Radio New Zealand.

The bird call, which currently heralds the hourly news bulletins
during Morning Report on weekday mornings, has been used on RNZ's
National Programme since 1974.

The bird calls were threatened with extinction in 2005 when the
station discussed killing them off as part of wider re-vamp of the
programming line-up.

But their preservation was ensured after a flood of listener emails
demanding the bird calls stay.

Radio New Zealand say the changes to their logos include name changes
for the National Radio and Concert FM - to be know as Radio New
Zealand National and Radio New Zealand Concert - but not to the
programmes or schedules for either station.