New Zealand Media and Entertainment

New Zealand Media and Entertainment (abbreviated NZME and stylized as NZME.) is a New Zealand newspaper, radio, outdoor advertising and digital media business. It was launched in 2014 as the formal merger of the New Zealand division of APN News & Media and The Radio Network, part of the Australian Radio Network. It operates 32 newspapers, 8 radio networks and several websites in twenty-five markets across the country, and claims to reach 2.9 million people each week.^[1]

NZME brands include flagship national newspaper New Zealand Herald, regional newspapers Bay of Plenty Times, Rotorua Daily Post and Northern Advocate and deals website GrabOne. Its radio division operates radio networks Newstalk ZB, The Hits, ZM, Radio Sport, Radio Hauraki, Flava and Coast on radio frequencies around the country and through the iHeartRadio website and mobile app.

The launch of the business has fueled speculation APN News and Media could be planning to fully separate its New Zealand operations, or issue an Initial Public Offering for up to 60 percent of its New Zealand assets on the NZX. Fairfax Media has declined to confirm speculation in the Australian Financial Review that it could buy some or all of those assets.^[2][3][4]

Publishing

The publishing division of NZME reaches an estimated 2.1 million people each week by print, desktop computer and mobile. It includes national New Zealand Herald titles, six other daily newspapers, 23 non-daily newspapers and over 20 websites, mobile sites and apps. It also publishes New Idea, Girlfriend and That's Life under license from Pacific Magazines Group Australia.^[5][6]

New Zealand Herald

The New Zealand Herald is the flagship title of NZME and is the daily newspaper of Auckland. It has the largest circulation of any newspaper in New Zealand, peaking at over 200,000 copies in 2006, with numbers down to 162,181 by December 2012.^[7] Auckland is its main delivery area, but it is also delivered to much of the north of the North Island including Northland, Waikato and King Country.^[8]

The Herald's publications include New Zealand Herald, Weekend Herald, Herald on Sunday and nzherald.co.nz. Its supplements include Tempo and Bite on Monday, Canvas and TimeOut on Tuesday, Driven and Herald Homes on Wednesday, Viva andTravel on Thursday, Weekend on Saturday, and Indulge and Vibe on Sunday. The launch of NZME has not affected home delivery of the paper.^[1]

Regional newspapers

NZME publishes Northern Advocate and The Northland Age in Northland, and has merged its old The Aucklander title into the New Zealand Herald. It is the dominant print media outlet in the Bay of Plenty, where it publishes Bay of Plenty Times, Bay News, Katikati Advertiser, Te Puke Times, Coastal News and Waihi Leader.

In Rotorua and Waikato it publishes Rotorua Daily Post, Hamilton News, Country News, Taupo Weekender and Turangi Chronicle. In Hawke's Bay it publishes Hawkes Bay Today, CHB Mail and Dannevirke Evening News. It also owns and operates Wairarapa Times-Age in Wairarapa and Wanganui Chronicle in Wanganui.

Radio

Radio Network House in Christchurch was imploded on 5 August 2012

NZME Radio began as The Radio Network in 1996 when the commercial radio activities of Radio New Zealand were divested by the Fourth National government as part of the Ruthanasia free market economic policies of that government. Radio New Zealand Commercial, which included talk networks Newstalk ZB and Radio Sport and music networks Classic Hits and ZM, became privately owned and was renamed The Radio Network. In 2014, it became part of NZME and was rebranded again as NZME Radio.

The majority of the programming on stations is networked from the main studios on Cook Street in Auckland Central. However, Newstalk ZB run local programmes in Wellington and Christchurch, and The Hits runs local breakfast, morning or afternoon programmes. Auckland station Mix 98.2 was relaunched in 2014, based on stations previously known as Radio i, Easy Listening i, Viva and Easy Mix. Privately owed Gore station Hokonui Gold is operated by NZME under a long-term lease contract.

History

Publicly owned Radio New Zealand Commercial became privately owned The Radio Network in 1996, and later that year it also purchased Prospect Media Limited and its eleven Auckland and Hamilton stations. The brands of Auckland's Radio Hauraki and Easy Listening i were retained and launched as nationwide networks, while Hamilton's Easy Listening i, Auckland's The Breeze on 91, Hamilton's The Breeze on 89.8 and the other stations were converted to the former Radio New Zealand brands.

The company was bought out by a syndicate that included United States radio company Clear Channel Communications and publisher Wilson & Horton. Wilson & Horton was then purchased by Ireland-based media conglomerate Independent News & Media, and on-sold to Independent's Australian subsidiary APN. The Radio Network became an APN and Clear Channel networked commercial radio joint venture, like the Australian Radio Network already was, and as a result The Radio Network became part of the Australian Radio Network.

Radio Network House in Christchurch was damaged in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake beyond repair. The building became infamous for being the first New Zealand demolition by implosion in August 2012.^[9] Like most other buildings in the Christchurch Central City, Radio Network House was damaged beyond repair in the quakes, and the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) added it to the demolition list in August 2011. The implosion was conducted by US specialists and went without problems, providing reassurance for contractors planning to carry out similar operations.

Community Radio Network

The Radio Network previously ran a group of provincial radio stations known as the Community Radio Network. Established in June 1998, the network retained the local names and live breakfast shows of each station but began broadcasting a network feed from Taupo for other times of the day. The line-up included Mark Bramley (10a - 2p), Aaron Gillions, Scott Armstrong and Brian Gentill (2p - 7p), and Peter Gosney, Corey K and Duncan Allen (7p - 12a). Other voices heard on the network included Geoff Bargas, Rebecca Ali, Nadine Christiansen, Sarah McMullan, Chris Auer, Marke Dickson and Paul Frost.

On 1 December 2000 CRN stations joined the Classic Hits programme fed from Cook Street Auckland, also operated by TRN. Where the station had both an FM and AM frequency the FM frequency was usually used to broadcast a localised version of Classic Hits while the AM frequency was used to broadcast Newstalk ZB. Two stations, Radio Waitomo 1ZW and King Country Radio, have closed down. Others continue to operate as The Hits stations, including Tokoroa's Radio Forestland, Taupo's Lakeland FM, Gisborne's 2ZG, Masterton's Radio Wairarapa and Wanganui's River City FM. It also included South Island stations Radio Marlborough in Blenheim, Scenicland FM on the West Coast, 3ZE in Ashburton, Radio Caroline in Timaru and Radio Waitaki in Oamaru.

Current Networks

The NZME radio networks are the result of the re-branding of the Community Radio Network and several further years of brand consolidation. In 2004, Cool Blue 96.1FM in Auckland became the first Flava station and Jammin' Oldies in Hawkes Bay became the first Coast station. Original stations of The Breeze in Auckland and Hamilton, 2QQ in Palmerston North and The Planet 97FM in Nelson became ZM. Classic Rock 96FM in Hawkes Bay was replaced with Radio Hauraki. The station once known as Easy Listening i has subsequently been rebranded as Viva FM, Easy Mix and now Mix 98.2

In 2014, the entire Classic Hits network was rebranded as The Hits. Newstalk ZB and The Hits now reach 25 markets, and ZM and Radio Sport reach 19 markets. Radio Hauraki reaches 16, Coast reaches 12, and Flava reaches 8.^[10]

References

External links

• NZME Official website
• NZME Radio Official website