Information AboutBfm (radio) |
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bFM is a radio station which is operated in Auckland , New Zealand on a Schedule 7 (educational purposes) semi-commercial licence. The station is based in Auckland University ’s student union building, and is owned by a trust in which the sole shareholder is the Auckland University Students Association, AUSA . The station operates as part of a loose grouping of student radio stations across New Zealand known as the B.Net , and broadcasts its signal to greater Auckland at 95.0 on the FM dial. It is the promoter of the b.Net New Zealand Music Awards (along with the other b.et stations) and the popular Summer Series live events in nearby Albert Park. Founded in 1969, bFM was a pirate student radio station, broadcast from a boat - which ran aground in Auckland's Waitemata Harbour - and played illegally on speakers around the University. The iconic ‘b’ originally stood for "bosom" in honour of a Capping Week Graduation Stunt . It transferred from the AM to FM band (orginally to 91.8FM) in the early 1980s, under the management of Debbi Gibbs, daughter of prominent New Zealand businessman Alan Gibbs - changing its name from Radio B to bFM at the same time. Its hours expanded and it eventually became a 24-hour station. Although the Breakfast and Drive hosts, and those of some specialist shows, are paid, most show hosts are volunteers. The station has developed into New Zealand’s leading alternative music broadcaster, with 29,000 listeners, and in recent years has attracted considerable attention through its current affairs content. During the 2005 general election campaign, it was the station's news and editorial director Noelle McCathy who conducted the interview in which National Party leader Don Brash admitted that he had forewarning of a controversial leaflet campaign conducted by the Exclusive Brethren sect. Brash and Prime Minister Helen Clark continue to be interviewed by McCarthy every week on the station's breakfast show, which is hosted by Wallace Chapman. The centrepiece of the bNews operation is The Wire, a music and current affairs show which airs every weekday from 12-2pm. Wire hosts include Simon Pound (also a reporter for TV One's Agenda programme) and McCarthy. Daily "bCasts" available on the station's website capture key Wire interviews. The station has a long history of nurturing broadcast talent, including Mikey Havoc (Roberts), Marcus Lush, Graeme Hill, Russell Brown , Jeremy Wells (a.k.a. ‘Newsboy’), Camilla Martin, Olivia Kember, Andrew Hawthorne, Andrew Dickens, Jude Anaru and Hugh Sundae. Brent Impey, CEO of the commercial broadcast company Canwest New Zealand, is also a bFM alumnus. Havoc remains the station's best-known name, and currently hosts the Drive show every weekday. A key part of the station's culture - and one which distinguishes it from most commercial radio - is its award-winning creative department. It operates a creative policy that in most cases means it creates its own broadcast advertising, rather than using supplied agency material. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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