Radio legend Merv Smith, one of New Zealand's pillars of broadcasting, has died.

He dominated breakfast airwaves at 1ZB from 1961 until the Newstalk format arrived in 1987, when Paul Holmes took over.

Former colleague Barry Holland says he was the first of the big personalities.

"My endearing memory of him was his humour and his timing. He was just so funny and so natural within himself, and so humble."

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Holland says that Smith didn't suit the new Newstalk format.

"That just wasn't his sort of radio. He thought that's the time to go and went and started up a country music radio station that came out of Albany."

After he retired from radio he dived into his true love - trains - and ran Merv Smith Hobbies in Newmarket.

He was in his mid-80s.