Phil Gifford
Encyclopedia
Phil Gifford is a New Zealand
sportswriter and broadcaster. He has his own rugby radio show Front Row on Radio Sport
from 8 to 10am on Saturdays. He writes a weekly column in the country's highest circulation weekend paper, the Sunday Star Times, and is a contributing editor to North & South magazine. He created the satirical rugby character Loosehead Len in 1973, and has seven books under that name.
Gifford has written rugby best-sellers including his book on Alex Wyllie
, "Grizz, The Legend",which has sold 30,000 copies, making it the biggest-selling New Zealand sports book of the 1990s. He co-hosted a top rating breakfast show with Simon Barnett
. Barnett and Gifford hosted the breakfast show on 91ZM Christchurch
between 1992 and 1997 before being enticed to work on opposition station 92 More FM
for a large sum of money. Gifford continued to co-host breakfast on More FM, Christchurch until 2003 when he moved to Radio Sport. 91ZM Christchurch was a top rating station in Christchurch when he and Barnett hosted breakfast and More FM Christchurch enjoyed the top rating spot in the years following this.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
sportswriter and broadcaster. He has his own rugby radio show Front Row on Radio Sport
Radio Sport
Radio Sport is a New Zealand sports radio network and the talkback sister network of Newstalk ZB. It has commentary rights for most cricket matches, international and domestic rugby union games, some NRL rugby league games, trans-Tasman basketball and New Zealand tennis tournaments. The network...
from 8 to 10am on Saturdays. He writes a weekly column in the country's highest circulation weekend paper, the Sunday Star Times, and is a contributing editor to North & South magazine. He created the satirical rugby character Loosehead Len in 1973, and has seven books under that name.
Gifford has written rugby best-sellers including his book on Alex Wyllie
Alex Wyllie
Alex "Grizz" Wyllie is a former New Zealand rugby union footballer and coach.Wyllie began his first-class career with Canterbury in 1964 and played 210 matches for the province until 1979, serving as captain on over one hundred occasions...
, "Grizz, The Legend",which has sold 30,000 copies, making it the biggest-selling New Zealand sports book of the 1990s. He co-hosted a top rating breakfast show with Simon Barnett
Simon Barnett
Simon Barnett is a radio and television host and presenter in New Zealand.Barnett currently co-hosts the morning show on Christchurch radio station 92 More FM with Gary McCormick, and previously with Phil Gifford...
. Barnett and Gifford hosted the breakfast show on 91ZM Christchurch
ZM (New Zealand)
ZM is a New Zealand contemporary hit radio network owned by The Radio Network. It broadcasts 19 markets throughout mainland New Zealand via terrestrial FM, and worldwide via the Internet. The network targets the 15–39 demographic specialises in a chart-music playlist of pop, rock, hip hop and dance...
between 1992 and 1997 before being enticed to work on opposition station 92 More FM
More FM
MORE FM is a New Zealand radio network playing adult contemporary music or Pop music. It is operated by MediaWorks New Zealand.MORE FM broadcasts in 22 centres throughout New Zealand with local programming in most markets between 6am and 1pm and networked programming the rest of the day...
for a large sum of money. Gifford continued to co-host breakfast on More FM, Christchurch until 2003 when he moved to Radio Sport. 91ZM Christchurch was a top rating station in Christchurch when he and Barnett hosted breakfast and More FM Christchurch enjoyed the top rating spot in the years following this.