We have used the Parkes-Tidbinbilla Interferometer to search for compa
ct (< 0.03 arcsec) radio continuum cores in 54 nearby spiral galaxies,
22 of which have Seyfert nuclei. In contrast to the radio cores of el
liptical galaxies, the few parsec-scale cores seen in spirals usually
have steep radio spectra, with an apparent median spectral index of -
1.0. At present, it is not clear whether this is because the radio cor
es of spiral galaxies are larger than those in ellipticals (and so are
partly resolved by the interferometer), or whether the core spectra o
f ellipticals and spirals are intrinsically different.