Jamie Mackay: 'Broken-down sheep farmer' to national broadcaster

“I haven’t done bad for a broken-down sheep farmer with a stutter. I’ve done okay."

Jamie Mackay described himself as a good radio consumer in his youth.

He’d flick between channels while working the farm in Riversdale, Southland.

Farmers make good radio consumers, he says. They’re often all-day listeners and he once was one of them.

“There were basically only three commercial stations in Southland in those days, 4ZA, Foveaux, and 4ZG. And if I didn’t like the song, I had a push-button radio in my tractor, and I would go to the next station.

“I become very adept at knowing a song within about two beats.”