1ZM (New Zealand)
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History | |
First air date | 1920s |
Former call signs | 1ZM, 1ZD, 1YD, 1ZM |
Technical information | |
Transmitter coordinates | 36°50′49″S 174°45′54″E / 36.847°S 174.765°E |
1ZM was a radio station in
History
Early years
The ZM name derives from the original 1ZM radio station founded by W.W. (Bill) Rodgers in the late 1920s in Manurewa, then a farming village south of Auckland. The original station broadcast on 1250AM.
The station was later acquired by the NZ Government owned
to the US AFRS military broadcasting service to provide entertainment for US troops on R & R leave in Auckland, as part of the AES Mosquito Network. The American programming, drawn from all three US radio networks (ABC, NBC and CBS) and played without commercial advertisements, proved popular not only with US troops but also with Aucklanders who appreciated the lively style of presentation and the latest American hits. After the war 1ZM was returned to the government broadcasting department, New Zealand Broadcasting Service (NZBS) and its successor, but still state-owned, New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (NZBC).As part of a reshuffle of frequencies and callsigns 1ZM was renamed, first 1ZD and then 1YD, in line with the Wellington metro station 2YD which had opened in 1937. 1ZM /1YD was turned into a low-power non-commercial metro music station, broadcasting retro hits and oldies from 5 pm to 10 pm weeknights, and from 10 am to 10 pm weekends. Later, to help meet demand for advertising in the single State owned commercial station
Rise of ZM
The start of 'pirate' broadcasting in 1966 from
In 1978, channel spacing in the AM band in New Zealand was adjusted from 10 kHz to 9 kHz. As a result, 1ZM moved to 1251AM.
Introduction of overnight programming
In 1981, Radio New Zealand stations were finally granted the right to broadcast 24 hours per day; previously only the domain of private operators. Overnight networked programming was introduced with the ZM All-Nighter show. Programming was produced from the 1ZM studios in Auckland and networked to
Commercial-free era
In 1982, 1ZM lost its bid for an FM license and with the Broadcasting Tribunal allowing two new private radio stations into the Auckland market, 1ZM was required to re format and adopt a 'Limited Sponsorship' model in place of its full commercial licence. This was an attempt to assist the new operators in establishing a revenue base. For 1ZM this meant that although the station could still run paid-for advertisements, those messages could not have music underneath, mention price or be longer than 25 words. Within 2–3 years, both 1ZM's financial and audience market share dropped significantly as advertisers and young listeners were attracted by the higher quality sound of the FM stations, despite the absence of long commercial breaks on 1ZM. 1ZM at the time promoted itself as "Total Music ZM" to emphasise the commercial-free format. The station's management was still determined to secure an FM warrant and even employed a sales team to sell '30-second shares' in its first day of broadcast in stereo.
Exit from ZM brand and introduction of Classic Hits brand
By 1987, 1ZM was still running as a limited commercial station. With its final attempt unsuccessful under the old Broadcasting Warrant scheme, a decision was made to attempt a further re-format and a 'Classic Hits' format was first introduced. This format had been successful for a number of years in the USA. The small, tightly rotated playlist of 'Hit Radio' tunes was abandoned and the station instead targeted 25- to 44-year-olds with a playlist containing over 3,500 songs, playing everything from Dean Martin to ACDC. The 1987 version of Classic Hits was unlike anything else available at that time. The re formatting was essentially an attempt to recover audience, but was still costing Radio NZ over $1 million per annum to operate as it was the only "commercial station" legally required to run no commercials. The change to the Classic Hits format saw 1ZM drop the ZM name and become Classic Hits Twelve Fifty One.
The change in name marked the birth of the
Switch to FM
The Lange government's liberalisation of the broadcasting warrant system (which was ultimately abolished in 1989/1990) saw the station finally win the right in December 1989 to broadcast in stereo on 97.4 MHz in Auckland and broadcast commercials. The 1251 kHz frequency licence was transferred to Christian broadcaster
Nationwide roll-out of Classic Hits brand
In 1992 Classic Hits 97FM in Auckland changed its logo to a green diamond with the words Classic Hits on a banner above and the 97FM frequency inside the diamond. A year later Radio New Zealand decided to rebrand many of their local stations to use the same logo as Classic Hits 97FM with the station's local frequency in the middle. The on-air imaging was standardized across all stations now branded as Classic Hits but initially all stations remained live and local.
Privatisation
In 1996 the New Zealand Government sold the
Return of ZM to Auckland
The ZM brand returned to Auckland on 91.0FM as
Station today
On 28 April 2014, all stations part of the Classic Hits network were rebranded as
References
- ^ Bourke, Chris (28 February 2020). "AudioCulture - the noisy library of NZ music". www.audioculture.co.nz. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
- ^ "[HCDX] RNZI Mailbox - 1ZM Auckland joins Mosquito Network 1944". www.hard-core-dx.com. April 1944. Retrieved 16 June 2022.