Foveaux FM
 | |
| Broadcast area | Southland New Zealand |
|---|---|
| Slogan | "Southland's Best Music Mix" |
| Frequency | 89.2 FM 1224 AM |
| First air date | 1981 |
| Format | Adult Contemporary |
| Callsign meaning | 4XF |
| Owner | MediaWorks NZ |
Foveaux FM was a local radio station in Invercargill New Zealand that began operating in May 1981. The station was started by a group of investors as 4XF Foveaux Radio, the station began broadcasting on 1224 AM. In the late eighties the station was sold to Radio Otago and in 1991 Foveaux made the switch to FM when it began broadcasting on 89.2 FM and retained the AM frequency.
During the early nineties Foveaux was a popular choice for younger listeners playing the latest music and shows such as the Top 9 at 9, Foveaux also catered to older listeners by playing music from the 70's and 80's. Foveaux FM's main competitor was 4ZA, now branded as Classic Hits 98.8 ZAFM but with many network stations coming to Invercargill Foveaux was forced to adapt to a changing market. In 1997 Foveaux moved some of their talk shows such as Talkback with John Husband and Sports Comment and Opinion to play exclusively on the AM band while playing music on FM, this was in response to the arrival of ZM to Invercargill. These shows were axed years later. The AM frequency was also used in 2000 to broadcast coverage of Rugby games played by the Southland Stags NPC Rugby Team, while Foveaux could continue to play music to listeners on FM.
Foveaux was always a live and local station 24 hours a day however some specialist nationwide shows were played on the station over the years these included:
- The Other Top 40 (was on-air Saturdays in 1988)
- Coke Shake 30 Countdown (Saturday Afternoons 1992 – 1995)
- Power Jam Countdown (Saturday Afternoons 1995 – 1997)
- Keeping it Kiwi (Sunday 5PM 1994 – 2001)
- Counting the Beat (Sunday 10PM 1994 – 1997)
- Rock Your Radio (Sunday 11PM Kiwi Music Show) (1994–1997)
- Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 (Sunday Afternoon 2002)
The Foveaux FM night show, during the late nineties, was actually simulcast on Resort Radio in Queenstown. Resort Radio reverted their own local programming during evenings around 1999.
Up until 1999 Foveaux was owned by Radio Otago this was until Radio Otago was sold to RadioWorks. In 2000 Foveaux changed its music format to an Adult Contemporary format this was after RadioWorks networked The Edge FM into Invercargill. The Top 9 at 9 was replaced by The Eighties at 8.
In November 2004 Canwest RadioWorks decided to rebrand many of their local heritage stations with the well known More FM brand name and then on the 15th January 2005 Foveaux FM became Southlands 89.2 More FM. The change also saw the station reduced to 13 hours a day of local programming when More FM introduced a networked night show and overnight show.
The Foveaux FM building on the Corner of Tay and Kelvin Streets in January 2005 when the station changed from Foveaux to More FM, as you can see half the building says Foveaux the other More FM.
In October 2007 the original Foveaux Radio 1224AM frequency that had been continued to be used for the rebranded More FM station was reassigned to BSport. While BSport was launched as a rebranding of Radio Pacific the old Radio Pacific frequency was used to launch The Breeze into Southland.
Local programming on the rebranded More FM station was reduced further in 2007 with the weekend afternoon shows networked from 2pm. In 2009 the local drive show was replaced with a newly established networked drive show, this change affected most More FM stations across New Zealand. In April 2011 local programming was reduced again to 7 hours a day with most More FM stations taking a networked 1pm - 4pm show followed by a networked 4pm - 7pm show followed by the evening and overnight show.
Breakfast is currently hosted by Gretchen Blomfield and Andy Wright (Gretchen has been with the station since rebranding whereas Andy replaces previous host James McRobie, who left in 2011). Former fill-in and Saturday morning host Daryl Shuttleworth now hosts the 10am-1pm show. Saturday is local until 2pm, with Joolz Parker hosting a Saturday Breakfast show between 6-10am and Breakfast co-host Andy Wright hosting a show between 10am-2pm. Sundays are now completely networked from Auckland.
Announcers
| Announcer | Show | Duration | Last known station | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rob Holding | 6am – 9am Breakfast Show | 1990–1991 | Spent 17 years with New Zealand's Rhema. Currently runs a LPFM station HIS-fm in Katikati www.hisfm.co.nz | |
| Carl Mills | 10am – 2pm Midday Show | 1994 – 2005 (when station was rebranded as More FM) | Left More FM in December 2009. Starting in a new position as Breakfast host on Hokonui Gold, Gore from 18 January 2010. | |
| Chris Diack | Mornings | 1981 - 1987 | LPFM stations | |
| Chris Hurring | Nights (5PM −12AM) and a Production Engineer after 2001 | 1995–1998 and 2001 – 2005 (when station was rebranded as More FM) | More FM/Mediaworks Taupo from 2005-2010. More Fm/Mediaworks Nelson 2010-2012.
Currently employed at Mediaworks Auckland as Group Imaging Production Engineer for both Radio Live and The Sound. |
|
| Aileen Wallace | Nights (5PM −12AM) and graveyard shifts (12AM -6AM). Also sourced, wrote and voiced news and commercials.
Only female announcer in Invercargill during her time. |
1992 - 1994 | Left to become a sound technician with Radio New Zealand Sound Archives. Later worked as a writer and researcher at Natural History New Zealand. | |
| Blair Hawkins (Evil) | started part-time while at high school, Night & mid dawn Announcer & temp production engineer. | Full-time from Nov 1984 - 1987 | Helped setup & run Southlands Access radio station & resident DJ for various Niteclubs. | |
| Ross Ronald | All Shows, started as NZ's youngest full-time broadcaster in early 1983 and progressed through airshifts, sales, Programme Director and various guises of Breakfast show for 21 years. | 1983 - 2004 | ||
| Craig Waddell (Wal) | Co-host of the breakfast show with Darren Ludlow | 1994–2002 | Drivetime show on Hokonui Gold, Gore (left in 2009, returned in 2011) | |
| Darren Ludlow | Breakfast show co-hosted by Craig Waddell | 1992–2002 | Invercargill City Council member and station manager for Radio Southland. | |
| Daryl Shuttleworth | Saturday mornings and filled in for other announcers | 2004 – 2005 (when station was rebranded as More FM) | Hosts the same show on the rebranded Southland's 89.2 More FM and the current daytime show | |
| Eryn Breading | 10 – 2pm Daytime Show | 2001–2004 | Breakfast show on More FM, Taranaki, now living in England working for Radio company. | |
| Gretchen Blomfield | Breakfast show co-hosted by James McRobie | 2004 – 2005 (when station was rebranded as More FM) | Hosts the same show on the rebranded Southland's 89.2 More FM. | |
| Iain Stables | Mid 1990s | Drivetime show on The Edge FM (early 2000s) ZM Drive show 2003 - 2008 Hit Radio X105 Wellington Drive Show 2009 - 2010 | ||
| James McRobie | Breakfast show co-hosted by Gretchen Blomfield | 2004 – 2005 (when station was rebranded as More FM) | Hosted the breakfast show on the rebranded More FM before leaving in 2011, taking leave, then taking the co-host role with Classic Hits Southland Breakfast host John "Boggy" McDowell. | |
| John Husband | Morning 9 – 10AM Talkback Show (show ran exclusively on the 1224AM frequency after 1997) | 1980s – 2002 when show was discontinued | Hosted talkback TV shows on Southland TV (since cancelled). Curator of Anderson Park Art Gallery. | |
| Kelly Burdon | Night show and Weekend announcer | 2001–2003 | Event and venue co-ordinator for NAPP London, UK. | |
| Marcus Lush | Breakfast show co-hosted by Megan Nichol | 2002–2004 | Breakfast show on Radio Live (presented from MediaWorks Southland Studios) | |
| Mark McCarron | 1980s - 1990s | Breakfast show announcer on The Sound and the stations predecssor Solid Gold. | ||
| Megan Nichol | Breakfast show co-hosted by Marcus Lush | 2002–2004 | Journalist for TVNZ in Dunedin, now living in England | |
| Shaun Summerfield | 1993 | Sports presenter for 3 News | ||
| Ryan Boswell | Night show and weekend announcer | 2003–2005 | Journalist for Newstalk ZB in Auckland | |
| Steve Muir | Originally Overnight shift and later 10AM – 5PM Announcer | 1994–2000 | ||
| Tony Bennett | Foveaux Radio's very first station producer | 1981 - 1985 | ||
Other early names include Jeff Nuth (Day 1 Brekky announcer) Lloyd Keown, Brian Neilson, Luke Terry, Chris Diack, Alan Davis, Mark Stallard, Geoff Baraclough,Blair Hawkins,Craig Farr,Juanita Rae, Larissa Kellet, Grant Millman, Malcolm Jordan, Karen Scott, Peter Wells, Rob Caig, John MacDonald, Jason MacDonald, Warren Filer, Dave Mahoney(PD & Breakfast host), Jim Healy, Mike Rehu and Dave Wallace