Radio frequencies in New Zealand
from the NZ Listener (first published 25 November 1995)
Includes listings for Newstalk ZB, Radio Pacific and Radio Liberty.
When it came to talk radio, Radio Liberty was launched on 3 April 1995 as an alternative listening option to that of Newstalk ZB and Radio Pacific. The station was broadcast on 1386AM in Auckland and 1233AM in Wellington, in addition to new frequencies in Hamilton (576AM) and Christchurch (1323AM), but closed its doors less than a year later.
The 1386AM frequency in Auckland was used to launch Radio Tarana, which has been broadcasting to the city since. Over in Hamilton and Wellington, the frequencies were used to launch the Radio Rhema Broadcast Group’s Southern Star (now Star) network by 1997.
Today, Tarana broadcasts to Auckland on 1386AM and Star broadcasts to Hamilton on 576AM. Meanwhile, Magic Talk broadcasts to Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city, on 98.9FM (from the Kaukau and Haywards transmitters) and 1233AM (from the Horokiwi transmitter).
The 98.9FM signal covers the greater Wellington region and the Hutt Valley, and contrasts with More FM and The Breeze which broadcast on two frequencies each. For example, The Breeze can be found on 94.1FM (for coverage across the greater Wellington region) and 98.5FM (for the Hutt Valley and parts of the capital sheltered from the 94.1FM signal). The Breeze was also broadcast to the capital on 891AM until April 2015 when that frequency was used to launch the Magic network.
