River City FM (Wanganui)

River City FM

City	Whanganui
Frequency	89.6 MHz 1197 KHz until 2001
First air date	1949
Format	Adult contemporary
Language(s)	English language
Transmitter coordinates	39°55′48″S 175°02′56″E / 39.9299418°S 175.0490149°ECoordinates: 39°55′48″S 175°02′56″E / 39.9299418°S 175.0490149°E
Owner	Radio New Zealand until 1996 The Radio Network after 1996

River City FM was a radio station in Whanganui, New Zealand.

The station was started by Radio New Zealand (which was known as the National Broadcasting Service at the time) in October 1949 broadcasting on 1200AM with the callsign 2XA. The station callsign was later changed to 2ZW and at the same time rebranded to 2ZW.

In 1978 2ZW moved to 927AM after New Zealand changed from 10khz spacing on the AM band to 9khz spacing. 2ZW was rebranded as River City Radio in 1988 and 89.6 River City FM in 1993 after the station began broadcasting on 89.6FM.

In July 1996 the New Zealand Government sold off the commercial arm of Radio New Zealand, the sale included River City FM. 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. River City FM 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 River City FM was rebranded as Classic Hits 89.6 River City FM. The station continued to run a local breakfast but now outside breakfast all programming originated from the Classic Hits studios in Auckland. At the same time the original 927AM frequency was replaced with Newstalk ZB.

On April 28, 2014 all stations part of the Classic Hits network were rebranded as The Hits. A networked breakfast presented by Pauline Gillespie and Grant Kareama was introduced to almost all The Hits stations with the former breakfast announcer moved to present a 6-hour show between 9am and 3pm. The local daytime programme is presented by Darryl Mallett and can also be heard on The Hits Manawatu.^[2]

The current station is located on the corner of Guyton and Campbell Streets, Whanganui.

References

1. "Radio Network says expansion possible". The Christchurch Press. 21 September 1996. p. 29.
2. "Darryl Mallett". Thehits.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-06-06.