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Thanks for the press release, @theGradyConnell.
The Breeze was going to broadcast to Whakatane and the Eastern Bay of Plenty on 92.1FM as a relay station (from Tauranga), but the 92.1FM signal (from the Putauaki/Mt Edgecumbe transmitter), in fact, appears to be switched off - leaving the area with just two MediaWorks radio brands: The Edge (on 104.1FM) and The Sound (105.7FM).
At least Mediaworks wonât have to pay out any redundancies when they inevitably give up on it in a year from now.
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Interesting format will be keen to see how it goes over the next 6-12 months
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Apparently thereâs no ads on the station according to their latest FB post⌠idk if thats true as I havenât listened to it past the 3rd song lol. If true, I wonder how theyâre gonna make money⌠theyâll need to pay for royalties and licenses somehow
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Correction⌠92.1 is still working. The TX is on, however thereâs no link between Kopukairua & Putauaki which creates dead-air. I suspect someone cut the link when they realised ChannelX wasnât intended for Whakatane. Maybe by the end of the week The Breeze (which still lists 92.1 on their website) will leap into action?
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@Baldrick Thanks for the correction.
Back in March, there was a light earthquake going on in Kawerau and access to the Putauaki/Mt Edgecumbe transmitter, which is located on top of the mountain and broadcasts most radio stations to the Eastern Bay of Plenty, is currently limited as a result of the earthquake.
Do you know if 100.6 is broadcasting in Tauranga? Iâd assume they wouldâve switched the repeater off and left the carrier if thats the case. You would need something to block the signal path and angle the transmit antenna away from Putauaki to get dead air on 92.1 if they werenât able to access the transmitter.
Also to add to @PaddyTePou comment, I believe that the local Iwi at Putauaki were limited access because they want the transmitter gone by the end of 2024 as well - causing further problems for changing over the signal. Correct me if Iâm wrong, Iâm not 100% sure this is true
Interesting that they felt George was the stronger play for 95.3/Christchurch instead of clearing Channel X there.
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Except that the link only went off last Thursday around 1pm. That was about 2 hours after they started playing the new station teasers and well after the earthquake swarm.
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Christchurch has a big DnB/Dance scene. Theyâve got 2 other stations with a similar(ish) format thus I think they would be able to perform there. Saying that, Pulzar FM is closing down due to the introduction of George into that market - maybe a calculated move as Pulzar FM is based in the MediaWorks Canterbury building.
Channel X wouldâve been decided on sometime before the 14th of April as thatâs when the website and trademark was filed while George didnât start broadcasting their promos until the 21st so I guess thereâs a lot of support in the company to put George there.
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Missed opportunity by MW to introduce a hot country station into the market.
@medianz On rova, The Breeze and Magic have their own music playlists that are dedicated to country music: Todayâs Country (The Breeze) and Magic Classic Country.
Maybe theyâll be ad-free for the first week or two then bring them in, and they could just have ads for the second half hour or whatever.
Does the station have news or weather?
No news or weather. Possibly? I wonder if they are going to follow Brian FMâs business model and sell 10-15 second sponsor slots mixed in with music that fit in as witty comments or if MW are just going to subsidize it with money from other brands. After all it seems like Channel X is a response to the rising popularity of Brian FM.
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They might do a week or two no ads then sell hour blocks to be âpresented by brandâ (âad-free thanks to brandâ)?
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Maybe. Itâll have to be something like that because I canât see them sticking with a brand that doesnât make money long-term. Its pretty clear that this is an experiment, after all they didnât spend much money at all promoting it - they used us and the clues (and the media to pick up on this) to spread this station which is pure genius to whoever in MW came up with that.
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Frequencies for Channel X are now shown on their website but the one for Dunedin is not there, even though it was on the press release earlier today. The Dunedin frequency was also no longer playing the âThis station will soon be changingâ announcement today.
Maybe they changed their minds at the last minute or are going to change it from More HSH to Channel X at a later date? I hope it does come eventually because I am enjoying the playlist so far and it would be nice to not have two More FMâs.
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Listened to a bit of the station myself this afternoon. Iâm glad itâs a good mixture of familiar High School Hits and stuff thatâs not commonly played on the commercial stations (I mean, how many times have you heard LENâs Steal My Sunshine on the radio in the past few years). The ad/news/announcer-free model definitely is going after a Brian FM crowd. A pretty good effort from MW all around.
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