Ryan Bridge: That's a wrap for the year

This is my last day on Early Edition for 2025.

I’ll be on Drive for a few weeks from Monday and while I won’t lie, I’m looking forward to few sleep-ins before Christmas, I will miss our wee 5am club.

It’s a huge privilege to be here with you every morning as you wake up, head off to work, off to school sport or home from a night shift yourself. 

Your messages and emails bring so much to the show, so I want to thank you for all your feedback.

The good, the bad, the hilarious, the thoughtful, and even the nutty ones. This show is as much yours as it is mine.

The beauty of this early hour is the breaking international stories we bring you. The sad ending to the Tom Phillips happened overnight this year. We’ve had elections, budgets and updates on wars in far flung places. 

This show is designed to keep you up to date with business as much as politics, after all, the real engine and true heart of this country doesn't whir and beat out of Wellington, but out of the staff rooms, factories, farm paddocks, workplaces, and boardrooms of our economy. 

And on that front, 2026 is going to be better.

We’re tipped to grow faster than the Aussies, Brits, and Americans next year and the one after.

To everybody who listens to this programme, whether you’re here for the whole hour, ducking in or ducking out, maybe waiting for Mike to start… thank you.

A very special thank you to producer Mckenzie who has kept this show on the road and for getting the good gets. You're smart beyond your years and I trust you completely. A big shout out to Samuel who sets up our interviews the night before and has landed us some great gets this year.

Thanks team. 

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

I hope you get a decent break and some time off with your families.

See you bright eyed and bushy-tailed in 2026. 

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