Contact FM is a
student radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...
in
Hamilton, New Zealand
Hamilton ( mi, Kirikiriroa) is an inland city in the North Island of New Zealand. Located on the banks of the Waikato River, it is the seat and most populous city of the Waikato region. With a territorial population of , it is the country's ...
. It operates from the
University of Waikato
, mottoeng = For The People
, established = 1964; years ago
, endowment = (31 December 2021)
, budget = NZD $263.6 million (31 December 2020)
, chancellor = Sir Anand Satyanand, GNZM, QSO, KStJ
, vice_chancellor = Neil Quigley
, cit ...
in
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
. It broadcasts on the 88.1
MHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is sā1, meaning that one he ...
FM frequency, having previously broadcast on 106 MHz, 89.0 MHz and 1440 kHz. The original Contact FM, owned by the Waikato Students Union, was broadcast on 89.0 MHz from 1985 to 1998. During a period of
voluntary student unionism
Voluntary student unionism (VSU), as it is known in Australia, or voluntary student membership (VSM), as it is known in New Zealand, is a policy under which membership of ā and payment of membership fees to ā university student organisations i ...
, the WSU subleased the frequency to private ownership, along with selling Contact FM's equipment. Specialist shows have included the Prognosis Show, a
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...
show hosted by Richard Stockwell on Saturday nights from 1996 to 1997. The show also included
space music,
krautrock,
psychedelic music,
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...
and
experimental Music.
The Independent Broadcasting Community relaunched Contact on a
low-power frequency 106 MHz, before settling with its current frequency of 88.1 MHz. The station celebrated its 30th birthday in October 2009. The current Management Committee of the Independent Broadcasting Community (Hamilton) Incorporated, who run Contact FM, is chairperson Nick Johnston, treasurer Daniel Farrell, secretary Lauren Kerr Bell, and officers Ayman Aneece, Shane Griffin and Luke Jacobs.
Contact hosts many local Hamilton music events. Since 2008, it has run annual Hamilton music festival
Hamilton Circle Jerk. The event features 15 Hamilton bands performing 3 song sets, two songs by other Hamilton musicians as well as an original. The festival had previously struggled to attract sponsorship, in part due to being controversially named after the
mutual masturbatory act.
References
External links
Contact FMOfficial webcast
{{New Zealand radio networks
Student radio stations in New Zealand