2ZA
| City | Palmerston North |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Manawatu |
| Frequency |
97.8 MHz 927 KHz until 1994 |
| Format | Adult contemporary |
| Language(s) | English language |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°21′07″S 175°37′06″E / 40.3518459°S 175.6182481°ECoordinates: 40°21′07″S 175°37′06″E / 40.3518459°S 175.6182481°E |
| Owner |
Radio New Zealand until 1996 The Radio Network after 1996 |
2ZA was a radio station in Palmerston North, New Zealand.
2ZA was started by Radio New Zealand, at the time was known as the National Broadcasting Service, in 1938, broadcasting on 940AM. The station was branded as call sign 2ZA. In 1978 the station moved to 927AM after New Zealand changed from 10 kHz spacing on the AM band to 9 kHz spacing.
In 1991 2ZA began broadcasting on 97.8FM in addition to the 927AM frequency. On air the station became known as AM-FM 2ZA. In September 1992 AM-FM 2ZA was divided into two separate stations. The FM frequency was relaunched as a music station as The New 98FM and later shortened to 98FM, the AM frequency was used to run talkback, news and sports shows as The Manawatu's 2ZA.
In 1993 Radio New Zealand began rebranding most of their local heritage stations as Classic Hits. At the time of rebranding there was already a local independent station in the Manawatu market branded as Classic Hits 828 and 98.6FM as a result Radio New Zealand chose to rename 98FM as Greatest Hits 98FM instead of Classic Hits, the station used the same logo as the other Classic Hits stations and on air imaging was similar to all other Classic Hits stations. At the same time the 927AM frequency used to broadcast The Manawatu's 2ZA was used to launch network station Newstalk ZB into the Manawatu with some local content initially retained.
In 1994 rival station Classic Hits 828 and 98.6FM was rebranded as Magic 828 & 98.6FM and as result Radio New Zealand were able to rename Greatest Hits 98FM to Classic Hits 97.8FM.
In July 1996 the New Zealand Government sold off the commercial arm of Radio New Zealand, which included, among other things, the Classic Hits branded stations. 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.
...
Wikipedia