Simon Barnett

Media people have a word for people like Simon Barnett - talent! His cheery quick fire patter welcomes Christchurch listeners of More FM Breakfast to their workday mornings, Monday to Friday. Simon has had a long and varied career in the media, from ‘What Now’ to ‘Face The Music’, ‘Clash of the Codes’, ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and ‘Telebingo’ for TVNZ. He was also a contestant in the third series of Celebrity Treasure Island.
"Being a radio broadcaster is a great job for me because I love people; everyone's got a story to tell and I really enjoy hearing their stories."
Simon began his career in radio nearly 20 years ago as a cadet, but gave up after five years to work in television. However, when he was given the opportunity to co-host a radio breakfast show on commercial radio, Simon couldn't resist. For a number of years he has managed to combine radio and television work, and has become one of New Zealand's most well known personalities. Working on a breakfast show means Simon's day begins while most of us are still sleeping. "The show goes live at 6am, so I usually get into work around 5.45am. We always prepare a grid so we know what our features are and who our interviews are for the day. But before we go on air we spend a few minutes looking through the newspaper to see if there is anyone we can draw out, or anything of local content we can include in the show. After the show we have a meeting with our producer to discuss promotional ideas, and go through things for the next day.
I'm normally finished around 11.30am."For me, being a radio broadcaster is a really great way to make a living. People say 'don't you have down days' and obviously I do, but it lifts me out of that. You've got to be larger than life. How many people get the privilege to genuinely make a difference in people's lives? I take that responsibility seriously. I want to make sure that my influence is for good. That's a highlight of the job."Occasionally people come up to me and say 'you guys did this thing this morning and I just laughed and laughed', or they tell me that when they pulIed up at the lights and looked across at the cars, people were just laughing and laughing. Getting good feedback like that makes me happy because then I know that I made someone else happy."
Simon Barnett is a familiar morning voice for the residents of "chch", hosting the More FM breakfast show alongside Gary McCormack. The pair were finalists in this years' NZ Film and Television Awards 'Best Metropolitan Breakfast Show' category.
A Cantabrian through and through, Simon lives in Christchurch, is married to Jody and has four gorgeous daughters.