The Edge (radio station)
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| The Edge | |
 |
|
| Broadcast area | New Zealand |
|---|---|
| Branding | The Edge |
| Slogan | Your Music, Your Station! |
| First air date | 1994 |
| Format | Pop Music |
| ERP | N/A |
| Class | Terrestrial/Internet |
| Owner | Canwest |
| Website | http://www.theedge.co.nz |
The Edge FM is a New Zealand youth radio network, playing pop music especially R&B. It is owned by CanWest Global Communications. Its nearest competitor in music type is ZM, however ZM plays more rock music and has more older hits on their playlist than The Edge.
Contents |
[edit] History
The Edge began as a local Hamilton radio station in 1994 started by radio company Energy Enterprises, which later rebranded itself as RadioWorks. Around 1998 The Edge began networking around the North Island to smaller regions where RadioWorks operated other stations, regions included Taranaki, Rotorua, Bay of Plenty and Hawkes Bay. In 1999 RadioWorks purchased Radio Otago and this allowed RadioWorks to network The Edge and their other brands into Christchurch, Dunedin, Invercargill and later Queenstown and Nelson. The Edge was also networked into Wellington and Palmerston North in 1999.
In 2000 and 2001 The Edge continued to expand into other regions, Taupo, Gisborne, Whangarei, The Bay of Islands and Kapiti, however networking into New Zealand's largest radio market Auckland proved more difficult. In 2001 The Edge actually moved their studios to Auckland but were unable to go on air in this region due to a lack of FM frequencies available. In 2002 The Edge began broadcasting on Sky Digital channel 100, this allowed The Edge to broadcast into regions, such as Auckland, that could not receive The Edge through an FM radio, however doing so required a Sky Digital satalite decoder. Oamaru and Timaru also began broadcasting The Edge in 2002.
In 2003 Auckland's Channel Z was moved from 94.2 to a new frequency 93.8FM, this frequency was made available by broadcasting out of Auckland and this allowed The Edge to broadcast on 94.2FM. The launch in Auckland was bigger than any other region with their 'New on 94.2' advertisement playing across the whole country and the first broadcast being down from the Sky Tower. The Edge also repeated many of their popular competitions following the launch in Auckland including the popular Two Strangers and a Wedding. A radio station that once made fun of Aucklanders is now another Auckland based network station. In 2004 The Edge started broadcasting to Central Otago and in Southland coverage was extended to cover Gore which resulted in a loss of sound quality for listeners in the rest of Southland.
[edit] Ratings
The Edge had around 150,000 listeners in 1999 when they expanded their operations to most of the metropolitan areas of New Zealand. Much of The Edge's success in listener numbers in the South Island is due to rival station station ZM switching to a single network based from Auckland, many ZM listeners switched to The Edge as a result. The station peaked with 470,700 listeners in April 2004 making The Edge the largest station at the time but six months later fell down to 420,000 and the most recent survey done in October 2006 revealed The Edge has 378,000 listeners and is now the 3rd most listened to station behind Newstalk ZB and Classic Hits.
The Edge has taken the number 1 spot at some stage in most regions except in Wellington (where ZM has topped the ratings since the early nineties) and Auckland. Today Waikato and Christchurch are the only regions where The Edge takes the number one spot and only on Audience numbers not market share.
[edit] Stations/Frequencies
- Northland 94.0
- Auckland 94.2
- Waikato 97.8
- Bay of Plenty 99.8
- Rotorua 99.9
- Taupo 89.1
- Gisborne 99.7
- Taranaki 94.0
- Hawke's Bay 98.3
- Manawatu 93.0
- Kapiti Coast 97.3
- Wellington 97.5
- Nelson 89.0
- Christchurch 89.0
- Timaru 95.5
- Oamaru 96.0
- Dunedin 91.8
- Wanaka 98.6
- Central Otago 98.3
- Queenstown 95.2
- Southland 97.2
[edit] Main schedule
Weekdays (Monday to Friday):
- 6am-10am - The Morning Madhouse with Mike, JJ and Dom
- 10am-2pm - Joe Cotton
- 2pm-7pm - The Drive Show with Fletch and Vaughan
- 7pm-12am - The Night Show with Brad and Sharyn
- Midnight - 6am - Overnight Show
Weekends:
- 2pm-6pm Saturday - The Fat 40 Countdown with Fletch and Vaughan
- 7pm-2am Saturday/Sunday - Party Hard Show - Non-stop music. No ads.
Other times the Schedule varies every week.
[edit] Previous Announcers
| Announcer | Show | Duration | Reason for leaving | Last known station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex | Drivetime co-host | 2002 - 2004 | ||
| Bob Reid | Breakfast Co-host | 1996 - 1998 | Sadly committed suicide in 1998 | |
| Blair Dowling | Drivetime Co-host with Stables and announcers that worked on Drivetime during Stables absence. | 1999 - 2002 | More FM Waikato Drivetime Show | |
| Chang Hung | Drive time extra and the "Listener Liason Officer" | 2003 - 2006 | ||
| Clarke Gayford | Co-host of The Morning Madhouse with Jase and Jay Jay | 2000 - 2001 | Prensenter on C4 | |
| Dougie Mackie | Fill in announcer | 2000 - 2001 | ||
| Geoff Stagg | Producer of The Morning Madhouse | 2003 - 2004 | Moved to More FM | More FM Wellington Drivetime Announcer |
| Iain Stables | Drivetime Show | 1998 - 2002 | Was constantly in trouble for creating various pranks on the air but it is believed he left over a dispute with phone a bill. | Drivetime Announcer on ZM Network |
| Martin Devlin | Breakfast Co-host | Was the Breakfast host on Radio Live until January 2007 when it announced that his show had been pulled due to low ratings. | ||
| Jason Reeves | Originally the Drivetime host and then co-host of The Morning Madhouse from 1998 | 1997 - 2004 | It was reported in the New Zealand Herald on the 6th of November 2004 Jason had left The Edge as a result of text abuse by his co-hosts Jay-Jay and Dom.1 Continued with TV Show Headliners, which was axed at the end of 2005. | Filled in for other announcers on ZM in 2005-2006 and now the Drivetime host on Classic Hits. |
| Caroline Taylor | Co-host of The Night Show | 2005 - 2006 | ||
| Stu Tolan | Night Show | 1996 - 1997 | Moved to Palmerston North 2XS FM | Night Show on ZM Network |
| Tasha Tolson | Daytime Show | 1999 - 2005 | Moved to More FM | Nationwide Nightshow on More FM |
| Toni Marsh | Morning Madhouse News Reader | 2004-2005? | Meteorologist on TV3's 3 News |
[edit] Competitions
The Edge has made name for itself through some of it larger and sometimes controversial competitions.
- Two Strangers and a Wedding - September 1999 and October 2003
The Edge is the only radio station in New Zealand to ever try this competition where the station selects a male and female entrant and marries the couple the minute they meet at the alter. While overseas stations have tried this promotion the result has often seen the couple splitting after a short time. Both couples Zane and Paula Nicholl (in 1999) and Steve and Kersha Veix (in 2003) are still together today and have even had children together.
- Inmates - March 2000
Five contestants were locked in a luxury Wellington apartment for 6 weeks where their only contact with the outside world was a computer each where they could chat to the public or by talking through an 0900 number. The public could view the Inmates actions through live Webcams and vote for their favourite Inmate and the Inmate with the least votes for the week went home. While this competition was very much like Big Brother or Survivor the concept was then new to New Zealanders as this competition took place before both these shows aired on New Zealand TV.
- Elope to Las Vegas - August 2000
A couple already intending on getting married was given the opportunity to have a secret wedding in Las Vegas. Various couples entered and the listeners chose the couple they wanted to see married, names were changed and voices disguised so no one had any idea who was getting married. After the wedding the winning couple had to then call the family and inform them they are in Vegas and have just been married.
- Survive to Drive It - September 2000
This competition followed a similar format to Inmates only this time contestants were locked in a SUV in a mall in either Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch or Dunedin with the winner taking home the vehicle.
- The Fat Bastard - March 2001
This was a competition to see who could gain the most weight over a period of a few weeks.
- Bank It, Or Burn It - July 2001 and March 2003
Listeners were given the opportunity to say why they needed $5000 and then once a winner was selected the public had to vote whether the winner was allowed to keep the money or whether the winner should have to burn it. The first time the winner stated she would use the money for a Breast Reduction, the listeners voted to burn the money and since it is not legal burn New Zealand money the money was converted into Australian currency and then burnt. The second time round the prize money was $10,000 and the winner chose to bet all the money on the Canterbury Crusaders winning the 2003 Super 12 Final. Listeners voted for the winner to bank the money however since the Crusaders did not win the final the winner ended up walking away empty handed.
- Six Degrees of Separation - September 2002
Every day a participant had to find a particular person in New Zealand using only the cryptic clues given a telephone and every phone directory in New Zealand. The participant could only make a maximum of 6 phone calls to try and find the person in question.
- Quit Your Day Job - April 2004 and April 2006
Listeners were given a chance to actually win a job working on The Edge as well as a lot of other prizes. The prize was given to an entrant who had the most suitable voice for talking on the radio. Both winners, Vaughan Smith in 2004 and Sharyn Wakefield in 2006 still work for The Edge today.
- Desperate Housewives vs The Crazy Frog - September 2005
This time in order to win $3,000 a mother and her children had a sit in a caravan while The Crazy Frog 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 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.
- Boyband - September 2006
Auditions were held throughout the country to find New Zealand's first ever manufactured boyband. The criteria for the entrants were they had to fit a certain stereotype of a boyband member, either Gay Boy, Mummy's Boy, Bad Boy, Fat Boy and Hot Boy. The aim was to get a Boyband single to number one of the New Zealand music charts and this goal was reached with their cover of The Kinks classic You Really Got Me.
[edit] Jinglebail
The Edge has run an annual fundraiser every Christmas, since 1999, called Jingle Bail. The Morning Madhouse presenters lock themselves in a make-shift jail cell somewhere in the country and stay there 24 hours a day until the target amount is raised.
- In 1999 $10,000 was raised in one day for the Salvation Army
- In 2000 $50,000 was raised to sent 8 deserving children and their caregivers to Disneyland
- Since 2001 the funds raised have been used to send deserving children and their caregivers to the Gold Coast of Australia.
- In 2003 excess funds raised were used to send 15 children to a Rugby World Cup game in Sydney.
- The highest amount raised so far was $155,000 in 2005 allowing as many as 24 children to travel to the Gold Coast.
The deserving children are nominated by listeners, these are children who are sick or have been through a rough time.
[edit] 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 has grown significantly over the years, featuring a steadily increasing number of international acts.
- 2001 - The very first Summer Jam took place in Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch. Featuring Zed, Stellar*, Breathe, Garageland and international act Killing Heidi. Tickets were as low as $19.
- 2002 - The second Summer Jam featured Silver Chair as the international act and New Zealand bands The Feelers, Tadpole, Che Fu and Rubicon.
- 2003 - With The Edge now broadcasting in Auckland the city became a venue for the third Summer Jam as well as Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch. The ticket price now increased to $35 but this price now included seven bands with Good Charlotte as the main international act and Taxi Ride as a second international act. Zed, Nesian Mystik, Rubicon, Carly Binding and Elemeno P were the New Zealand acts.
- 2004 - Summer Jam became known as Edgefest and now included as many as 11 acts. Shihad, who were at the time, calling themselves Pacifier were the headline act but did not perform in Wellington. Alien Ant Farm and Yellowcard were the international acts. Elemeno P, The Feelers, Scribe, Blindspott, Zed, Che Fu and the Krates, Nesian Mystik and Steriogram were the New Zealand acts.
- 2005 - The second Edgefest and this time the headline and international act was Chingy New Zealand bands were; Blindspott, The Feelers, P Money, Steriogram, Fast Crew, 48 May, Dei Hamo, Misfits of Science, Savage and Goodnight Nurse.
- 2006 - Edgefest 06 included 5 international bands P.O.D, Presidents of the United States of America, Matafix, The Living End and Thirsty Merc. Also New Zealand bands, Elemeno P, Nesian Mystik, Frontline, Savage feat. Aaradhna and Goodnight Nurse played at Edgefest 06. Ticket price now increased to $45 but this was justified with the larger selection of overseas artists.
- 2007 - Edgefest will not be held in 2007 due to a major and unannounced band cancelling however Edgefest may be held later in the year. Also The Edge would not benefit from running Edgefest in early 2007 due to Research International cancelling the Round 1 of the Radio Station surveys usually held in March/April.
[edit] Other radio stations
The Edge is also the brand name of several other radio stations, including CFNY-FM in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the network of FM and Internet radio stations in Lucena and Davao, Philippines operated by United Christian Broadcasters.
