Souvenir Programme: Official Opening of 2ZB
On Wednesday, 28th of April, 1937 the Hon. F. Jones, M.P., Postmaster-General and Acting Minister for Broadcasting, officially opened Station 2ZB in Wellington, New Zealand….
The Samoan Earthquakes and the Early Radio Scene in American Samoa
American Samoa is a small group of small islands in the exotic South Pacific with a total land area of only 76.8 square miles, a little more than the area of Washington DC. There are five main islands, and two coral atolls, with a population of 45,000, most of whom are bilingual in both Samoan and English.
Early Music Recordings from ZJV Suva
Some early recordings of Fijian music made by station ZJV Suva.
‘A beacon for the future’: Inside the world of Radio Ngāti Porou
Radio Ngāti Porou’s headquarters in small-town Ruatōria may not look like your typical radio station, and that’s probably because it isn’t.
Radio Woodville turns 25
When Radio Woodville started, they were broadcasting out of a house in Vogel St. Twenty-five years later and the station continues to be the voice of Woodville, celebrating its birthday earlier this month.
NZ’s Last Original Private Commercial Radio Station, To Stay Locally Owned
New Zealand’s last original private commercial radio station remains locally owned under a new media company. Iconic community station, Radio 1XX is changing hands following the establishment of a new media company.
MediaWorks Launches Channel X
New Zealand’s MediaWorks has launched a new music-only network “Channel X” to replace the former talk-format “Today FM”
Ocean Island
Back in the year 1908, just eight years after Marconi inaugurated his first permanent wireless station in England, the Pacific Phosphate Company announced that they hoped a wireless station could be installed on Ocean Island. During the following year (1909), another announcement indicated that the wireless station would be capable of long distant transmission. In addition, the specific location on Ocean Island for the projected station would need to be approved by a Wireless Engineer, they said.
Whale Stranding at King Island and the Local Radio Scene
Adrian Peterson takes a look at the history and local radio scene on King Island, off the northern coast of Tasmania, Australia.
Today FM Closes
MediaWorks, parent company of Today FM, has pulled the plug on its New Zealand-wide talk-back radio network.
Tasmanian Whales Stranded Again, and Four Mediumwave Stations
We present another story of two more mediumwave stations on the island of Tasmania; two double commercial stations (7UV & 7AD and 7DY & 7SD) in country areas to the north of the island.
Radio Revolution
In 2006 Citylife paid a visit to the contrasting faces of radio, the hugely popular Morning Crew at ZM and the niche carved out by World FM in Tawa and Massey University’s Munt FM.
The Radio Scene at the End of the Highway: Cooktown Part 2
This is our second topic on the radio scene at Cooktown at the end of the highway in Cape York Peninsula, at the far north of coastal Queensland in Australia. Unexpectedly, Cooktown was the second largest town in Queensland at the height of the nearby gold rush in the 1880s. Back then, the state capital Brisbane had a population of 50,000 and Cooktown had a population of 30,000.
Chopper FM 87.6 FM Invercargill
We have recently added Chopper FM 87.6 FM to our New Zealand Radio Guide. They are an LPFM station broadcasting on 87,6 MHz from Invercargill, in Southland, located at the southern end of New Zealand’s South Island.
3XY and the Falling Door
Back on April 19, 1944, there was a military parade through the downtown streets of Melbourne city with soldiers marching, a musical band from the Royal Air Force playing, and aircraft flying in formation overhead. A prominent announcer from radio station 3XY, Alwyn Kurts, was in one of the accompanying aircraft and he was describing for listeners what he was observing in the parade on the city streets below.
Radio Dunedin at 100
In 2022 New Zealand radio station “Radio Dunedin” celebrates 100 years of broadcasting. The station was launched in late 1922, becoming the first radio station in New Zealand.
Auckland radio station sold to prominent Destiny Church members
Auckland radio station Base FM has been sold to prominent Destiny Church members George Ngatai and Raewyn Bhana. The move was a surprise to many of the DJs working at the station, and some resigned in protest of the move.
The Radio Scene at the End of the Highway
The July (2022) issue of the Australian DX News presents an interesting story about plans for an amateur DXpediton to the Grassy Hill Lighthouse overlooking the small northern town of Cooktown, at the end of the highway in far northern Queensland. This readable feature article reminds us that there have been three different eras associated with the radio scene in Cooktown.
Radio Tirana’s Kiwi Connection
During 2022 several articles appeared in New Zealand media looking at a New Zealand woman who worked as an announcer for Albania’s Radio Tirana English service during the Communist era. We take a look at some of them here in this feature.
American Radio Stations in New Zealand
Additional interesting information about American radio stations in New Zealand, back during the World War 2 era, and also subsequently.