Radio Otago was a

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

company that operated a group of local radio stations in radio markets around

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

from the 1970s to the late 1990s. Radio Otago was started in 1971 when Dunedin station

4XO Radio 4XO was a local radio station in Dunedin, New Zealand which began on 20 November 1971 as one of the first privately owned commercial radio stations in the country. The callsign/station identity 4XO was assigned because 4 meant the area of ...

was started, 4XO was originally branded as Radio Otago 4XO. During the 1980s and 1990s Radio Otago expanded their operations by starting up stations around Otago and the rest of New Zealand, and also by purchasing existing stations. The company sold its seven

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

stations in 1997 to Energy Enterprises and funds from the sale were used to purchase C93 FM Limited allowing Radio Otago to compete in the

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

market. In 1999, Energy Enterprises merged with Radio Pacific to become Pacific/RadioWorks Group. Then, Pacific/RadioWorks merged with Radio Otago, forming

RadioWorks MediaWorks New Zealand is a New Zealand-based company specialising in radio, outdoor advertising and interactive media. It is jointly owned by U.S. company Oaktree Capital Management and out-of-home advertising company QMS. It operates nine n ...

Radio stations

North Island stations

These stations were sold to Energy Enterprises in 1997. * Classic Rock 92FM Tauranga * 90.2 Hot FM Rotorua * 93.5 Kis FM Taupo * 96FM Rotorua * Classic Gold 1548 Rotorua *

Hot 93 Hot or the acronym HOT may refer to: Food and drink *Pungency, in food, a spicy or hot quality *Hot, a wine tasting descriptor Places *Hot district, a district of Chiang Mai province, Thailand **Hot subdistrict, a sub-district of Hot District ...

Hastings * 92 MORE FM Napier * Star FM Wanganui 92 MORE FM in Napier was operated as a franchised station, this station became Hawkes Bay's 92FM and later was replaced with network station Solid Gold, Classic Rock 92FM in Tauranga also was replaced with Solid Gold. Classic Gold 1548 in Rotorua was closed down and the station was used as a second frequency for Lakes 96FM, and today is used for

TAB Trackside TAB Trackside is a New Zealand horse racing and sports broadcast network, incorporating two pay TV channels. The TV channels are available on Sky (New Zealand), Sky channels and the Spark New Zealand#Spark Sport, Spark Sport streaming service. ...

(previously known as BSport, then LiveSport). The other stations Kis FM, Lakes 96FM, Hot 93 and Star FM were all rebranded as

More FM More FM is a New Zealand radio network that plays hot adult contemporary music. It is operated by MediaWorks New Zealand. More FM broadcasts in 25 centres throughout New Zealand on 81 transmitters with a mix of local and network programming. ...

in late 2004/early 2005 when RadioWorks rebranded the majority of their heritage stations as More FM. 90.2 Hot FM Rotorua started as a summer station before it became 96FM permanently. This summer station recruited local talent as well as bringing in seasoned veterans from the Hawkes Bay. Many went on to have long careers in local and international radio.

South Island stations

Prior to the sale of the company in 1999, Radio Otago operated the following stations: *

Fifeshire FM Fifeshire FM was a Nelson, New Zealand radio station owned by RadioWorks. The station broadcast on 93.0FM in Nelson, 92.0FM in Motueka and Tākaka, and 94.1FM in Murchison. Fifeshire FM first started as a summer station known as Radio Fifeshir ...

Nelson * Fireshire Classic Nelson - Replaced with Solid Gold * Easy Listening i94FM Christchurch - Rebranded as Lite FM in 1998, and in 2004 rebranded again as The Breeze (see below) *

C93FM C93FM was a New Zealand radio station based in Christchurch. C93FM broadcast on 92.9 FM and, after it merged with Radio Avon, also broadcast on 1260 AM. C93FM has had several music formats during its time on the air. In 1989 the station was re ...

* Lite FM *

Dunedin * 93Rox Dunedin - Rebranded as C93FM *

Mosgiel FM Mosgiel (Māori: ''Te Konika o te Matamata'') is an urban satellite of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand, fifteen kilometres west of the city's centre. Since the re-organisation of New Zealand local government in 1989 it has been inside the Dunedi ...

(Closed down in 1997) *

Radio Dunedin Radio Dunedin is a radio station, broadcasting from Dunedin, New Zealand on 95.4 FM, 1305 AM, in the central city on 106.7 FM, and online. The station was launched in late 1922, becoming the first radio station in New Zealand, and according to t ...

* Radio Central, Central Otago *

Radio Wanaka The following is a list of radio stations in New Zealand. New Zealand network stations Several networks operate across multiple centres or nationwide. Most have resulted from the consolidation of a group of existing stations and many have cha ...

Resort Radio Resort Radio (99FM) was a radio station in Queenstown on 99.2FM, 100.0FM and 1359AM. Originally this station was owned by Radio Otago until Radio Otago was sold to RadioWorks in 1999. During the nineties, programming during the evenings and nigh ...

Queenstown *

Big River Radio Big River Radio was a local radio station in Balclutha, New Zealand broadcasting a local breakfast show. The 92.9 FM frequency covered central Balclutha, while the 93.7 FM frequency could be heard throughout the South Otago and Northern Southla ...

Balclutha - rebranded as a fully networked More FM station in 2018 *

Foveaux FM Foveaux FM is a local radio station in Invercargill New Zealand that began operating in May 1981. The station is named after Foveaux Strait which runs between the South Island of New Zealand and Stewart Island. The station was originally starte ...

Southland Today Radio Dunedin and Radio Wanaka are the only stations still operating under their heritage name. Radio Wanaka was sold to a different operator. 4XO, Fifeshire FM, Radio Central, Resort Radio and Foveaux FM were all rebranded as More FM in late 2004/early 2005 after

rebranded most of their heritage stations as More FM. Fifeshire Classic was closed down by RadioWorks in 1999 and replaced with Solid Gold. Easy Listening i94FM was a franchised station and after this franchise agreement ended the station was rebranded as Lite FM, prior to this Lite FM had been based from Dunedin and networked to Invercargill. Lite FM in Dunedin and Invercargill were replaced with Solid Gold following the merger of Radio Otago and RadioWorks. Lite FM remained in Christchurch and was rebranded as The Breeze in 2004 after RadioWorks rebranded all their Easy Listening stations as The Breeze. 93Rox in Dunedin was rebranded as C93FM originally separate from the Christchurch station and networked to Invercargill as C91FM. C93FM was later networked from Christchurch with the Southland station now branded as C93FM despite broadcasting on 90.8FM. Following the merger, C93FM in Dunedin and Invercargill was replaced with network station The Rock, C93FM continued to broadcast in Christchurch but now with a change of format to

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

and The Rock launched in Christchurch on a separate frequency. The change of format for C93 was not popular and the station was shut down in 2001 and replaced with Solid Gold.

References

{{Reflist Radio stations in Dunedin Radio stations established in 1971 Radio stations disestablished in 1999 Radio broadcasting companies of New Zealand