is an
Adult Contemporary music radio network broadcasting in 26 markets throughout
New Zealand , targeting 25 - 55 year olds. It's a family focused radio network with some of
New Zealand 's most experienced broadcasters on air and behind the scenes. It currently has around 381,000 listeners nationwide, and is the number 1 rating music network in
New Zealand .
Each Classic Hits station in the network broadcasts a live local breakfast show from the centre in which it is based and for the rest of the day picks up the network feed from
Auckland with the ability to do local breakouts when necessary. The network announcers broadcast the
Auckland and Network shows simultaneously.
The station line up is:
Classic Hits
Radio Northland is covered over the Northland Region using four frequencies, 96.0FM in Whangarei, 96.8FM in the Bay of Islands, 97.2 in the Mid North and 97.6 in the Far North.
Originally known as Radio Northland broadcasting on 1026 and 1215 AM with the call sign 1ZN. The station moved to 96.0 FM in Whangerei during the late 1990s.
Breakfast Show consists of
Craig Robertson and
Jax Van Buuren .
Classic Hits 97.4 is the flagship of the brand the network announcers are based here and produce a separate local show for Aucklanders simultaneously with the nationwide show. Classic Hits 97.4FM Auckland is the original Classic Hits station that took on its name when 1ZM changed to a Classic Hits music format (see History section).
Classic Breakfast show is produced exclusively for Auckland by
Andrew Dickens ,
Jacque Tucker and
Justin Brown . All other shows are produced from the same Auckland studios for the entire Classic Hits network.
Originally Waikato's 1ZH broadcasting on 1296AM, the station became 98.6 ZHFM in 1990 when it switched to FM. The ''Classic Hits'' name was actually used on a bumper sticker as well as ''A Better Music Mix'' before the station was re branded as Classic Hits in 1993.
Breakfast show is hosted by
Mark Bunting . Mark Bunting joined the station in 2000 as the breakfast host and moved to Classic Hits Auckland to present the Drivetime show over the entire Classic Hits network between 2003 and 2006 and moved back to the Waikato breakfast show in 2007.
Originally known as 1ZO or 'Radio Forestland' on 1413AM in the 1980s and 1990s, then 'Classic Hits Radio Forestland' before switching to FM in 2006. The station is part of the Classic Hits
Community Radio Network .
Breakfast show is hosted by
Johnny Dryden .
Originally 'King Country Radio' on 1512AM with the call sign 1ZU, this station is part of the
Community Radio Network . King Country Radio joined the Classic Hits family around 2002 and is now also heard on 99.9FM in Taumarunui, and further afield on 92.7FM.
Breakfast is hosted by Brad Jeffery
Originally 1ZD Radio B.O.P. broadcasting on 1008 AM. The station moved to 95.0 FM around 1990 becoming 95 B.O.P. FM. The station was rebranded as Classic Hits in 1993.
Breakfast with BK and the Breakfast Team (
Brian Kelly ),
Kaz Henderson and
Andrew Love
Originally known as
Radio Geyserland on 1350 AM. The station moved to FM in 1988 and became known as 97.5 Geyserland FM. When the station was rebranded as Classic Hits in 1993 the name ''Geyserland'' was no longer used on air, however it still appeared on the station's logo. Classic Hits 97.5 (as it is now known) also broadcasts on 90.9FM to the Reporoa, Broadlands, Ngakuru and Waikite Valley areas.
Breakfast hosted by
Luke Valentine
Originally known as Radio Lakeland, broadcasting on 1494AM in Taupo and 1386AM in Turangi. The station moved to 96.7FM in 1988 and was then known as
Lakeland FM . For a short time a second frequency served Turangi on 89.6, and later 92.4 but was discontinued.
Lakeland FM was the host of the
Community Radio Network , a network established between community radio stations operated by The Radio Network. Outside of the breakfast show all Community Radio Network stations received content from Lakeland FM studio. In 2001 all the Community Radio Network stations joined up with Classic Hits with all programming outside of breakfast now coming from Auckland. At this point Lakeland FM became known as ''Classic Hits Lakeland FM.''
Breakfast Hosted By Brendon Weatherly & Laura Drummond
Originally known as 'The Coaster 2ZG' on 945AM before moving to 90.9FM and later being rebranded as Classic Hits 90.9 ZGFM.
Breakfast hosted by Richard Dryden.
Classic Hits in Taranaki originates from
Radio Taranaki which broadcast on 1053AM in New Plymouth and 1557AM in Hawera. Around 1992, the station began simulcasting on 90.0FM which was previously occupied by its sister station 'Q90FM'. It was then known as '90FM Radio Taranaki' before becoming Classic Hits 90FM in 1993.
Breakfast with Barney (
Brent Procter ),
Charlotte Butler and
Heelan Tompkins .
Originally known as
Bay City Radio broadcasting on 1278AM, the station moved to 89.5FM in 1994 and is now known as 'Classic Hits 89.5 - Bay City Radio'. The original AM station, 2ZC Hawke's Bay, now part of the NewstalkZB network, commenced broadcasting on 1 October 1957, on a frequency of 1280 kHz.
Features The Martin Good Morning show with
Martin Good ,
Mark Bramley and
Ross Holden .
Originally known as
2ZA and broadcasting on 927AM, the station began simulcasting on 97.8FM in the early 1990s under the name 'AM-FM 2ZA'. Soon after the station was relaunched as 'The New 98FM'. 98FM eventually joined the Classic Hits network, but due to the 'Classic Hits' name already being used by an opposition station within the same market, 98FM was forced to adopt the name 'Greatest Hits 98FM'. Presumably, as a result of an agreement or settlement between the two companies, the opposition station dropped the 'Classic Hits' slogan and 98FM became 'Classic Hits 97.8'. Later, after more than 5 years of not using it, part of the 2ZA call sign was returned when the station became ''Classic Hits 97.8 ZAFM''.
Breakfast Show Hosted By Mike Roke & Robbie Walker (Originally from Taupo's Classic Hits)
Originally known as 2ZD and broadcasting on 846AM, later the station became
Radio Wairarapa before becoming Classic Hits Wairarapa FM broadcasting on 90.1FM.
In 2007, a second frequency (88.7 FM) was launched for residents in Martinborough, who had trouble listening to the original 90.1 FM.
Breakfast show hosted by
Darryl Mallett .
Originally known as 2ZW broadcasting on 1197AM and later becoming River City Radio. The station moved to 89.6FM during the early nineties before being re branded as Classic Hits 89.6 River City FM.
Breakfast hosted by
Greg Lincoln
One of the newer Classic Hits stations, Classic Hits Kapiti-Horowhenua 92.7FM took over the frequency previously used by Sports Roundup/Radio Sport in the area.
Breakfast host by
Phil Costello
Originally an FM repeater for Wellington's 2ZB (89.8FM) in the early 1990s, the station was then relaunched as 'Goodtime Oldies B90FM' which also broadcast to the Kapiti Coast on 89.4. The station ran a 60s and 70s music format which originated from the Wellington studio and took no network programming. Around 1994, B90FM became 'Classic Hits 90FM' and an adjustment was made to the station's frequency, shifting from 89.8 to 90.0FM. Unlike the rest of the Classic Hits network, 90FM ran with a "60s, 70s and 80s" format, whereas all other Classic Hits stations (with the exception of Auckland and Christchurch) were playing "70s, 80s and 90s". Programming continued to originate from Wellington until the late 1990s when local shows succumbed to network programming. The Kapiti Coast repeater was eventually dropped and replaced with Newstalk ZB.
Wellington's Classic Hits features The Classic Breakfast with
Dave Smart and
Camille Guzzwell .
Originally an FM simulcast of '
Radio Nelson ' (also on 1341AM), this station later became part of the Classic Hits family and was known as Classic Hits 90FM. The station broadcast to Nelson City on 89.8 and to the wider area (including Motueka and Takaka) on 90.4. There is also an AM relay in Golden Bay on 1269AM. More recently, 90FM was known as 'Classic Hits 89.8 and 90.4' but this name was dropped in late 2006 after the 90.4 frequency was shifted to 89.8 (in synchronous transmission with the Nelson City outlet). It is now simply known as 'Classic Hits 89.8'. Today the original '
Radio Nelson ' name is still used as the name of
The Radio Network Nelson operation and operate their own local website at
http://www.radionelson.co.nz
The Classic Breakfast is hosted by
Kent Robertson & Reagan Poynter
Formerly known as Radio Marlborough, on 1539AM in Blenheim and 1584AM in Picton.
Breakfast show hosted by
Glenn Kirby
Formerly known as Radio Scenicland, on 747AM in Greymouth (callsign 3ZA), 1287AM in Westport (callsign 3ZW) and 1521AM in Reefton (callsign 3ZR). The station later became known as Scenicland FM after moving to the FM band, then joined the Classic Hits network around 2002.
- Westport 90.9FM
- Reefton 97.3FM
- Greymouth 91.1/93.1FM
- Hokitika 93.1FM
- South Westland 90.5FM
Local breakfast show is hosted by
Originally known as 'B98FM - The Best Music Mix" in the early 1990s, this station was rebranded as 'Goodtime Oldies B98FM' several years later, taking on an oldies music format. By the mid 1990s, the name was altered to 'Classic Hits B98FM', then again to 'Classic Hits 98FM'. This was the only Classic Hits station to not have its local programming reduced to 4 hours in 1998. It remained live and local 24 hours a day until 2002, operating independently from the rest of the Classic Hits network. In 2003 the station began reducing local content to just during the day and as announcers have left even further now to a point where the breakfast show is the only local part as with other Classic Hits stations.
Classic Hits Christchurch is well known within the community for its promotions. These include "Favourite Things Friday with Dan and Hayley" where a well known product is given away at different locations across Christchurch focussing on local Neighborhoods. Classic Hits often has BBQs outside clients businesses. The vechile used to promote the station is a late model
Toyota Ipsum . The Classic Hits Christchurch Promotions Team is friendly and interacts with the audience in a well mannered wau.
Today's current breakfast show is hosted by
Dave Fitzgerald and
Patrina Roche .
Originally known as
3ZE on 873AM, this station is part of the Classic Hits Community Radio Network.
Breakfast hosted by
Phill Hooper .
Originally known as
Radio Caroline on 1152AM, this station joined the Classic Hits network around 1994. It is now known as 'Classic Hits 98.7 and 94.7' after a second frequency came on air in 2005.
Breakfast hosted by
Phill Hooper
Originally known as '
Radio Waitaki ' on 1395AM, then as 'Classic Hits 98.4 Waitaki FM' after they converted to FM. The 'Waitaki' name has since been dropped from most station identification and the station is now known as 'North Otago's Classic Hits 98.4'.
Breakfast with
Sarah Van Der Kley and
Mike Plant
The newest member of the Classic Hits Network this station only started in 2005. The station covers Queenstown on 90.4FM, Wanaka on 96.2FM and Alexandra on 99.9FM.
Breakfast hosted by Ferg and Grant.
Originally known as 4ZB on 1044AM, then 89.4 ZBFM when the station switched to FM in 1990. ZBFM joined the Classic Hits network in 1993 under the name 'Classic Hits 89FM' which has since been adjusted to 'Classic Hits 89.4'.
Breakfast is hosted by
Trev Hill and
Crystal Sadgrove .
Originally Southland's
4ZA on 864AM. After converting to FM in the early 1990s, the station was known as 'Southland's 4ZA 98.8FM' for some time before joining the Classic Hits network as 'Classic Hits ZAFM'. More recently, the 'ZAFM' part of the name has been dropped from most station identification and the station is simply known as 'Southland's Classic Hits 98.8,' however local announcers often leave the 'ZAFM' in during voice breaks as well as in locally created jingles for the station.
John (Boggy) McDowall has hosted a local breakfast show on this station since the 1980s and has been with the station since 1979. The breakfast show still features
Bertie Budgie reading out birthday calls every day and Boggy is joined by
Tracy Kilkelly ,
Malcolm Gayfer and
Lee Piper .
Breakfast during the weekends is hosted by
Darren Ludlow .
Classic Hits was started in Auckland in 1987 when
1ZM (also known at the time as 1251ZM) changed music format to play Classic Hits music and branding was changed to ''Classic Hits Twelve Fifty One.'' The ZM station that exists in Auckland today is a new station that was created around 1996 replacing
Magic 91FM . In 1989 the Auckland's Classic Hits moved to FM becoming ''Classic Hits 97FM.'' Years later the format of this station was rolled out across all of New Zealand.
During the 1990s,
Radio New Zealand split many of their traditional local stations which broadcast on AM and FM into two. The FM frequency was rebranded as Classic Hits FM, while the AM become
Newstalk ZB . This saw the Classic Hits FM brand rolled out across New Zealand, all stations took on the uniform logo of a green diamond with the station name printed on the diamond.
Many of the local stations adapted their traditional heritage name into the Classic Hits name, such as ''Bay City Radio'' in Napier, which become ''Classic Hits Bay City Radio''. The station still incorporates the original name in its branding - now "Classic Hits 89.5 Bay City Radio".
Classic Hits also took over many of the
Community Radio Network (CRN) frequencies from smaller markets during the late 90s too, this was done in an effort to streamline the company's brands from a programming perspective. Doing this gave Classic Hits more frequencies and in turn, more broadcast area than any other station in
New Zealand . Originally Classic Hits was live and local in every region throughout the day but during the evenings, overnight and on Sundays a network show from Auckland was played instead.
In July 1996, the
New Zealand Government sold off the commercial arm of
Radio New Zealand which included among others, the Classic Hits brand.
The Radio Network (TRN) is the current owner.
In 1998 Classic Hits was reduced to just 4 hours of local programming during the Breakfast show in all regions except Christchurch. Christchurch remained local but as announcers left their shows were replaced with the network product. Today all of the Classic Hits stations play the same songs in the same sequence even when a local show is on the air, this means that there will be no double ups of songs between 9am and 5pm when Classic Hits runs the ''No Repeat Workday''.
In 2001 many of the Classic Hits stations in each region were given a minor name change to include the full local frequency, for example Auckland's ''Classic Hits 97FM'' became ''Classic Hits 97.4'' including the entire frequency. Other examples are Waikato's ''Classic Hits ZHFM'' became ''Classic Hits 98.6 ZHFM'' and Christchurch's ''Classic Hits 98FM'' became ''Classic Hits 97.7''.
Classic Hits has used the following slogans over the years.
1987: The best of the 60's, 70's and the 80's (Auckland)
1993 - 1998: All the Hits from the 60's to the 90's
1993 - 1998: Good Time Oldies (Wellington and Christchurch)
1993 - 1998: A Better Music Mix
1998 - 1999: Hits of the 70's, 80's and 90's
2000 - 2005: Hits of the 70's, 80's, 90's and Today
2005 - 2007: 80's, 90's and Whatever!
2007 - present: 80's, 90's and Now!
