Radio Waitomo

Radio Waitomo 1ZW was a radio station that broadcast on 1170AM in Te Kuiti, New Zealand. The station was started on 15 March 1985 by the Radio New Zealand Commercial network. Local content was limited to just a few hours per day, programming was shared with King Country Radio at other times an on air at these times branded as King Country Radio and Radio Waitomo.

In July 1996 the New Zealand Government sold off the commercial arm of Radio New Zealand, the sale included Radio Waitomo. The new owner was The Radio Network, a subsidiary of APN News & Media and Clear Channel Communications, which operated as a division of the Australian Radio Network.^[1]

In 1998 The Radio Network grouped all their local stations in smaller markets together to form the Community Radio Network. Radio Waitomo continued to run a local breakfast show between 6am and 10am but outside breakfast all stations part of the Community Radio Network took network programming from a central studio based in Taupo.

In 2001 the Community Radio Network was discontinued and all stations become part of the Classic Hits FM network, as a result Radio Waitomo was rebranded as Classic Hits Radio Waitomo. The station continued to run a local breakfast but now outside breakfast all programming originated from the Classic Hits studios in Auckland.

Classic Hits Radio Waitomo closed down on 11 November 2003.

The Voice of Waikato/Waitomo Trust took over the station and it came back on air as The Voice of Waitomo in January 2004. The station changed back to its original name, Radio Waitomo 1ZW, on 31 July 2004.

Radio Waitomo closed down permanently in June 2005 due to lack of local support, lack of funding and poor management.

More recently the Frequency Right has been sold to an individual who is working on re establishing the station.

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