The Edge is a youth-oriented New Zealand entertainment brand consisting of a national radio network, a music television channel -

The Edge TV ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, and an entertainment website. It is owned and operated by

MediaWorks New Zealand 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 ...

. The station was founded 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 ...

in 1994 and is now based in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

; it broadcasts nationwide over multiple channels. Research International audience surveys suggest The Edge has approximately 581,200 listeners across all markets that are surveyed and the station makes up 7.0% of the New Zealand radio market. The network is most successful in

Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsul ...

, Rotorua and

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

surveys and in the 15–19 and 10–14 female demographics, whereas rival station ZM is most popular with listeners aged between 20 and 34. The station's breakfast programme is number two in the ratings for nationwide commercial breakfast radio; its 240,000 listeners compare with 325,600 listeners for the top-rating Newstalk ZB. This compares with the non-commercial RNZ National whose breakfast programme, Morning Report, has an audience of 522,000 listeners.

History

Early years

In 1994 both Buzzard 98FM, The Rock 93FM and The Rock 100FM in Taranaki were sold to the Taranaki-based company Energy Enterprises which operated Energy FM in the area. Buzzard 98FM was rebranded as The Edge 97.8FM and switched to a Top 40 format, first airing on 8 August 1994.

The Edge TV

The Edge TV is the brand's TV channel. It was launched on 27 June 2014 as a replacement of C4, and airs music videos, specialist music and pop culture shows and original video content filmed with The Edge radio hosts. It is available free-to-air on Kordia digital terrestrial and Sky satellite services, as well as online. On 1 July 2019, it moved to online only, with its terrestrial broadcast element being replaced by

ThreeLife + 1 Three ( mi, Toru), stylized as +HR=E, is a New Zealand nationwide television channel. Launched on 26 November 1989 as TV3, it was New Zealand's first private broadcasting, privately owned television channel. The channel currently broadcasts nat ...

. It returned to terrestrial broadcast on 26 March 2020, replacing ThreeLife. In September 2020, MediaWorks sold the TV portion of its business including Edge TV to

Discovery, Inc. Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Channel ...

Programs

Breakfast

', hosted by Nickson Clark, Megan Mansell and Eli Matthewson, is The Edge's flagship breakfast programme which airs 6 am–10 am, Monday–Friday. They are joined by producer Cal Payne and newsreader Steph Monks. A podcast of the show is produced and released on

Rova Rova may refer to: * Rova, Domžale, a village in the municipality of Domžale in Slovenia * Rova (Madagascar), a type of fortified royal complex found throughout the highlands of Madagascar * Rova of Antananarivo, a royal-palace complex in Antana ...

, Spotify, iTunes and Soundcloud. Previous hosts of The Edge's breakfast show include Clinton Randell, Dom Harvey, Jay-Jay Feeney, Mike Puru, Jason Reeves, Martin Devlin, Malcolm Paul, Brian "Butt Ugly Bob" Reid, and Jesse Mulligan.

Workday

' airs 10 am–3 pm, Monday–Friday and is hosted by Steph Monks and Sophie Nathan ("Social Soph"). Previous hosts of The Edge's days show include Sarah Gandy, Guy Mansell, Sam Robertson, Megan Mansell,

Sharyn Casey Sharyn Mary-Ellen Casey ('' née'' Wakefield; born 24 December 1985) is a radio host on The Edge's drive show, '' The Edge Afternoons with Sharyn & Jayden'', a host on the New Zealand version of ''Dancing with the Stars'', and a celebrity panel ...

, Megan Sellers, Clint Roberts, Joe Cotton, Angelina Boyd, Tarsh Tolson, and Jay-Jay Feeney.

Afternoons

' airs 3 pm–7 pm, Monday–Friday and is hosted by

and Jayden King, with producer Dan Webby ("Danimal"). Previous hosts of The Edge's drive show include

Jono Pryor Jonathan Richard "Jono" Pryor is a New Zealand radio and television personality best known as the cohost of ''Jono and Ben''. Pryor worked for The Rock radio station for over 15 years, before moving to The Edge in 2017 to cohost ''The Edge Afte ...

Ben Boyce Ben Boyce is a New Zealand television and radio personality and comedian best known as the host of TV shows '' Pulp Sport'', '' WANNA-BEn'' and ''Jono and Ben'' on TV3. Biography Boyce is a graduate of the New Zealand Broadcasting School at ...

, Guy Williams, Clint Roberts, Carl "Fletch" Fletcher, Vaughan Smith, Megan Sellers, Chang Hung, Alex Behan, Iain Stables, Blair Dowling, Jason Reeves, Jay-Jay Feeney, and Brian "Butt Ugly Bob" Reid.

Nights

' airs 7 pm–12 am, Monday–Friday, and is hosted by Sean Hill. The show is host to ''The Edge Top 20'' as voted for by listeners each night at 8 pm. In 2020, a second chart, the ''TikTok Top 10'' was introduced. These charts replaced the ''Nightly Nineteen'' that featured in 2019. Prior to 2019, the show was named ''The Edge 30'', ''The Edge Nightshow'' and ''Smash! 20''. Previous hosts of The Edge's night show include Haylee Clarke, Marty Heheworth, Steph Monks, Guy Mansell, Sam Robertson, Brad Watson, Sharyn Casey, Carolyn Taylor, and Mike Puru.

Weekends

''The Edge Bottomless Brunch'' airs 6–10 am on Saturday and is presented by Edge night host Sean Hill and Edge Workdays host Sophie Nathan ' is an afternoon chart show and the station's flagship weekend programme. It is hosted by Sean Hill and Sophie Nathan and airs 2–5 pm on Saturday. The show was previously named ''The Edge Fresh 40'' and ''The Edge Fat 40''. Previous hosts of The Edge 40 include: Jono Pryor, Ben Boyce, Sharyn Casey, Guy Williams, Clint Roberts, Sam Robertson, Carl "Fletch" Fletcher, Vaughan Smith, Megan Sellers, Chang Hung, Alex Behan & Iain Stables, Before The Edge Mix with DJ Sean Hill The Edge Pre's which airs 5-10 pm and is hosted by Brydon playing Hit Music Now ' airs Saturdays 10 pm–2am and is an advertisement-free show with songs mixed by DJ Sean Hill. Over the summer of 2022/2023 it is hosted by DJ duo Jupiter Project. It was previously mixed by American electronic and dance duo The Chainsmokers, and Erika Moore. Other weekend slots (after 10 am on Saturdays and 9 am on Sundays) are usually filled by such presenters as Fin Robertson, Raynor Perreau, Jayden King, Jesse Williamson, Warwick, Mel and Sean Hill.

Promotions

Quit Your Day Job

Quit Your Day Job returned in November 2019 to find Jono Pryor and Ben Boyce's replacement on ''The Edge Afternoons'' with Sharyn Casey, with Pryor and Boyce leaving at the end of 2019 to go to

Radio Hauraki Radio Hauraki is a New Zealand rock music station that started in 1966. It was the first private commercial radio station of the modern broadcasting era in New Zealand and operated illegally until 1970 to break the monopoly held by the state-o ...

(although they were moved to

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 ...

before starting at Radio Hauraki). Jayden King was successful and joined Sharyn for ''The Edge Afternoons with Sharyn & Jayden'' in January 2020.

Desperate Housewives vs Crazy Frog

Run in September 2005, in order to win $3,000, three mothers and their children had a sit in a caravan while

The Crazy Frog Crazy Frog (originally known as The Annoying Thing) is a Swedish CGI-animated character and Eurodance musician created in 2003 by actor and playwright Erik Wernquist. Marketed by the ringtone provider Jamba!, the character was originally created ...

played over and over again; in order to win the mother and her child had to stay in the caravan until Axel F from The Crazy Frog had played for 72 hours (around 3000 times). There were various complaints about this competition and CYFS actually offered to give the contestant $2,000 if she forfeited from the competition immediately.

Summer Jam and Edgefest

Every summer between 2001 and 2006, The Edge put on major concerts featuring popular bands from its playlists. Starting as Summer Jam, the concert series grew significantly over the years, featuring a steadily increasing number of international acts. The first Summer Jam took place in Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch in 2001 and featured

Zed Zed is the pronunciation of the letter ''Z'' in Commonwealth English ("zee" in American English). Zed or ZED may also refer to: Entertainment Characters *Zed (comics), a character from the ''Hellblazer'' comic series *Zed (Kiba), the main chara ...

, Stellar*, Breathe, Garageland and international act

Killing Heidi Killing Heidi are an Australian rock band, formed in Violet Town, Victoria in 1996, initially as a folk-pop duo by siblings Ella and Jesse Hooper. The band has released three studio albums: '' Reflector'' (March 2000), which reached No. 1 ...

. The second Summer Jam in 2002 featured

Silverchair Silverchair were an Australian rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Newcastle, New South Wales, with Ben Gillies on drums, Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars, and Chris Joannou on bass guitar. The group got their big bre ...

as the international act and New Zealand bands

The Feelers The Feelers is a New Zealand pop rock band formed in the early 1990s in Christchurch by James Reid (singer/guitarist) and Hamish Gee (drums/guitar). History The Feelers was signed by Warner Music and released their first album, '' Supersyste ...

Tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found ...

Che Fu Che Kuo Eruera Ness (born 1974), better known by his stage name Che Fu, is a New Zealand hip hop, R&B and reggae artist, songwriter and producer. A founding member of the band Supergroove, as a solo artist he has gone on to sell thousands of ...

and Rubicon.In 2003, with The Edge now broadcasting in Auckland the city became a venue alongside Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch with

Good Charlotte Good Charlotte is an American rock band from Waldorf, Maryland that formed in 1996. Since 2005, the band's lineup has consisted of twin brothers Joel Madden (lead vocals) and Benji Madden (guitar and vocals), Paul Thomas (bass), Billy Mart ...

playing alongside Taxi Ride,

Nesian Mystik Nesian Mystik was a New Zealand hip-hop/ R&B group which formed in 1999. The cultural backgrounds of its members united a remarkable diversity of Polynesia by bringing together Cook Island, Tongan, Samoan and Maori ancestry. As well as pro ...

, Rubicon,

Carly Binding Carly Binding (born 2 February 1978) is a New Zealand pop singer-songwriter, and former member of the girl group TrueBliss. In 2000 she left the group, citing personal differences, and decided to pursue a solo career. Her debut solo album ''Passe ...

and

Elemeno P Elemeno P is a New Zealand rock band. The band's first album, '' Love & Disrespect'' was released on 4 July 2003, and reached number one on the RIANZ albums chart. Their second album, '' Trouble in Paradise'' was released on 24 November 2005 ...

. Summer Jam was rebranded to Edgefest in 2004. Edgefest 04 was held on 6, 7, 12, and 13 March 2004 in Wellington, Christchurch, Auckland, and Hamilton respectively. It featured performances from

Shihad Shihad are a rock band formed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1988. The band consists of founders Tom Larkin (drums, backing vocals, samplers), Phil Knight (lead guitar, synthesiser, backing vocals) and Jon Toogood (lead vocals, rhythm guitar ...

Alien Ant Farm Alien Ant Farm is an American rock band that formed in Riverside, California in 1996. They have released five studio albums and sold over 5 million units worldwide. The band's cover of Michael Jackson's " Smooth Criminal" topped the ''Billboard ...

and

Yellowcard Yellowcard is an American rock band that formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1997 and was based in Los Angeles beginning in 2000. The band is recognized for having a distinct sound in their genre, primarily due to the prominent use of a violin ...

playing with

, Scribe,

Blindspott Blindspott is an alternative metal band from West Auckland, New Zealand. After performing under the name Blacklistt for several years, the original line-up got back together in 2018.Kellman, Andy " Blindspott Biography, Allmusic, Macrovision ...

and the Krates,

, and Steriogram. Edgefest 05 was held on 12, 13, 18, and 19 March 2005 in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, and Christchurch respectively. It included performances from

Chingy Howard Earl Bailey Jr. (born March 9, 1980), known professionally as Chingy, is an American rapper. Chingy grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and began rapping in his late teens. He toured as an opening act with Nelly in the summer of 2002 and the ...

P-Money Peter Wadams, better known by his stage name P-Money, is a New Zealand hip-hop DJ and producer. One of his best-known works is "Everything", featuring New Zealand R&B singer Vince Harder, which reached number one on the New Zealand Singles ...

, Steriogram,

Fast Crew Fast Crew (or fastCREW) were a New Zealand hip hop group consisting of five members – Dane Rumble (aka Kid Deft), Jeremy Kent-Johnston (Jerome Fortune), Diablo Deville (Brad Devcich), Gemma Copas and DJ Alias (Josh Thorne). Fast Crew have su ...

, 48 May, Dei Hamo,

Misfits of Science ''Misfits of Science'' is an American science fiction comedy-drama television series created by James D. Parriott that aired on NBC from October 4, 1985, to February 21, 1986. Plot The series discussed super-powered humans and their madcap ad ...

Savage Savage may refer to: Places Antarctica * Savage Glacier, Ellsworth Land * Savage Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Savage Ridge, Victoria Land United States * Savage, Maryland, an unincorporated community * Savage, Minnesota, a city * Savage, Mi ...

and

Goodnight Nurse Goodnight Nurse was a New Zealand pop punk band formed in Auckland in 2001. The group originally began as a trio, but later changed to a four-piece prior to the release of their second album. It consisted of lead vocalist Joel Little, guitaris ...

. Edgefest 06 was held on 23, 24, 25, and 26 March 2006 in Wellington, Christchurch, Auckland, and Hamilton respectively. It featured performances from P.O.D., Presidents of the United States of America, Matafix,

The Living End The Living End are an Australian punk rockabilly band from Melbourne, formed in 1994. Since 2002, the line-up consists of Chris Cheney (vocals, guitar), Scott Owen (double bass, vocals), and Andy Strachan (drums). The band rose to fame in 199 ...

Thirsty Merc Thirsty Merc are an Australian pop rock band formed in 2002 by Rai Thistlethwayte, Phil Stack (bass guitar), Karl Robertson (drums), and Matthew Baker (guitar). In 2004, Baker was replaced by Sean Carey, who was, in turn, replaced by Matt Sm ...

and

Frontline Front line refers to the forward-most forces on a battlefield. Front line, front lines or variants may also refer to: Books and publications * ''Front Lines'' (novel), young adult historical novel by American author Michael Grant * ''Frontlines ...

Feat.

Aaradhna Aaradhna Jayantilal Patel (born 20 December 1983), better known by her stage name Aaradhna, is a New Zealand singer, songwriter, musical recording artist. She made her musical debut in 2004 featuring on the single "Getting Stronger" with the g ...

and

. The Edge Summer Jam was revived in 2009 with

The Veronicas The Veronicas is an Australian pop duo from Brisbane. The group was formed in 2004 by identical twin sisters Lisa and Jessica Origliasso. In 2005, the Veronicas released their debut studio album, titled '' The Secret Life of...'', which pea ...

Metro Station A metro station or subway station is a station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the system in the ...

, and

Midnight Youth Midnight Youth were a New Zealand rock band formed in 2006. Their debut album, ''The Brave Don't Run'', was released in 2009 in New Zealand and Australia. The band subsequently toured and played festivals across Australasia, the United States ...

, taking place in Hamilton but not Dunedin.Revenge is sweeter: The Edge Summer Jam Music Festival
/ref>

Accessibility

The Edge is accessible via FM radio throughout the North and South Islands of New Zealand, and online via a webcast.

North Island frequencies

South Island frequencies

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edge * 1994 establishments in New Zealand Radio stations established in 1994