Her early career included stints working for radio and newspapers in Nelson, Greymouth and Gisborne, before moving to Radio New Zealand in Wellington and starting on the programme Checkpoint. From 1993 to 2002 she was the host of the daily morning Nine to Noon programme. Notable interviews from this time included the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Jeffrey Archer, and Monica Lewinsky. In April 2002, Hill began hosting Saturday Morning. Since the 1990s she has also worked in television and in 2003 she began hosting the interview programme Face to Face With Kim Hill. In 2003 Hill interviewed journalist John Pilger who complained that Hill had not researched properly, saying "You waste my time because you have not prepared for this interview, as any journalist does, and I've done many interviews. The one thing is to prepare for them and this interview, frankly, is a disgrace." Referring to the Australian journalist in 2012 she said "The thing is, if Pilger wasn’t an egomaniac, he wouldn’t have done the work he’s done. I was keen to talk to him, but he turns out to be a prick. So it goes." In 2006, Hill hosted Are Angels OK, a series of programmes where artists, writers, and physicists discussed the intersection between physics and the arts. Her monthly radio conversations between 2004 and 2007 with physicist Sir Paul Callaghan were published as As Far As We Know.
Awards
In 2017 Hill was awarded a Gold Radio Award for Best Radio Personality: Network/Syndicated at the International Radio Program Awards. In 2012 Hill was awarded "International Radio Personality of the Year" by the Association for International Broadcasting. The judges described her as "an experienced and warm broadcaster exercising full control of her content, whilst coaxing her guests to reveal more of themselves; really enjoyable live and sparky content that demonstrates what is great about radio, and illustrates how important lightness of touch is in speech content." In 2000, Hill was awarded a Bravo award by the New Zealand Skeptics for her interview of John Read, Director of Scientific Affairs of the NZ Psychological Society on National Radio. Hill is also a Companion of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
