Radio Northland was a radio station based in
Whangarei, New Zealand.
The station was started by
Radio New Zealand (which at the time was known as the National Broadcasting Service) in 1949. The original callsign was 1XN and the station was originally known by this name, the callsign was later changed to 1ZN. The station originally broadcast on 970AM in Whangarei (callsign 1ZN), Kaikohe on 1220AM (callsign 1ZE) and Kaitaia on 1440AM (callsign 1ZK). On air the station later became known as Radio Northland. The station is located on Bank Street, Whangarei.
In 1978 after the AM band in New Zealand was changed from 10 kHz spacing to 9 kHz spacing the Whangarei and Kaitaia stations moved to 1026AM and the Kaikohe station moved to 1215AM.
In 1993 Radio New Zealand rebranded many of their heritage stations as
Classic Hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980 ...
. For Radio Northland the station became known as ''Classic Hits Radio Northland''. The station was later renamed to ''Classic Hits Northland.''
In July 1996 the
New Zealand Government sold off the commercial arm of
Radio New Zealand, which included, among other things, the
Classic Hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980 ...
branded stations. The new owner was
The Radio Network
New Zealand Media and Entertainment (abbreviated NZME) is a New Zealand newspaper, radio and digital media business. It was launched in 2014 as the formal merger of the New Zealand division of APN News & Media, APN New Zealand; The Radio Ne ...
, a subsidiary of
APN News & Media and
Clear Channel Communications, which operated as a division of the
Australian Radio Network.
In 1998 Classic Hits Northland was reduced to just 4 hours of local programming between 6 and 10 am 7 days a week. Outside this time nationwide shows based from Auckland took over, and the network announcers simply called the station Classic Hits. The breakfast show was shortened to a 3 hour show in 2012 on all Classic Hits stations.
In 2001 Classic Hits Northland began broadcasting on 96.0FM in Whangarei in addition to the original AM frequencies. The 1026AM frequency in Whangarei was later replaced with network station
Newstalk ZB, however the AM frequencies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia continued to broadcast Classic Hits Northland. In 2005 FM broadcasting of Classic Hits Northland was extended to Dargaville on 96.0FM, Kaikohe on 97.2FM, Kaitaia on 97.6FM and in 2006 broadcasting was extended to the Bay of Islands on 96.8FM. The remaining AM frequencies were now used to broadcast
Newstalk ZB into Kaikohe and Kaitaia.
The station frequencies were adjusted in 2010 after an alignment of FM frequencies around New Zealand. Whangarei moved to 95.6FM, Kaikohe to 96.4FM, Kaitaia also to 96.4FM and the Bay of Islands to 106.1FM. Programming was also extended to Doubtless Bay on 105.9FM.
On April 28, 2014 all stations part of the Classic Hits network were rebranded as
The Hits
The Hits was a music video channel broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland, owned by Box Television. On 15 August 2008 it was rebranded as 4Music.
Overview and availability
The channel showcased a range of pop centred on chart hits and cur ...
. A networked breakfast presented by
Polly Gillespie
Pauline "Polly" Gillespie is a New Zealand radio host, formerly on More FM. She co-hosted on ''The Polly and Grant Show'' Saturday mornings from 6-10am and the All-Day Breakfast show on Rova with her ex-husband, Grant Kereama.
Gillespie and ...
and
Grant Kareama
Grant Rodney Hokowhitu Kereama (born 30 May 1967) is a New Zealand radio host, formerly on '' The Polly and Grant Show'' on the ZM and More FM network. Kereama co-hosted his morning show with his ex-wife Polly Gillespie.
Kereama began in radi ...
was introduced to almost all The Hits stations with the former breakfast announcer Mike Plant moved to present a 6-hour show between 9am and 3pm. Today the local daytime show is presented by Charmaine Soljak.
References
{{Radio in New Zealand
Northland
Mass media in Whangārei
Defunct radio stations in New Zealand