Early years

The ZM station in Wellington has a history dating back to 1937 as local station 2YD which originally broadcast on 1130AM. The station was started by the New Zealand government owned Radio New Zealand (which at the time was known as the National Broadcasting Board). In 1969, the call sign was changed to 2ZM and in 1973, 2ZM was joined with 1YD and 3ZM in Christchurch to form to youth orientated ZM network, 1YD then became 1ZM.

The first 2ZM breakfast DJ (6 am to 9 am) was Stewart Macpherson, who had just returned from broadcasting in the UK with both the BBC and Radio Luxembourg. Using the show title 'Macphersonland', his innovations included introducing News Bulletins onto the station (despite management opposition), and a weekly published Top 40 chart available at leading music stores. In 1978, 2ZM moved to 1161 kHz after the AM band spacing in New Zealand was adjusted from 10 kHz to 9 kHz.

FM broadcasting

Wellington's 2ZM was the first ZM station to broadcast on FM from 21 December 1985 as ZMFM 91 (90.9). As the Mount Kaukau transmitter could not cover parts of the Hutt Valley effectively, the station continued to broadcast on AM until 1986, when a second transmitter at Towai (on the Wainuiomata Hill between Seaview and Wainuiomata) was commissioned broadcasting on 93.5 to cover the Hutt Valley. Its AM frequency (1161 kHz) was reallocated to Maori station Te Upoko o Te Ika. During the late eighties ZMFM relocated its studio from Broadcasting House to Alder House (on the corner of Vivian and Victoria streets in Wellington). Slogans used by ZMFM included Hit Radio, ZMFM The Music Leader, Rock of the Nineties ZMFM.

In late 1994, ZMFM Wellington became known as 91ZM sharing the same name that had been used in Christchurch since 1989, and the studios were relocated their current location on the corner of Taranaki and Abel Smith streets in Wellington.

In March 2007, ZM altered its Hutt Valley frequency from 93.5 to 90.9, to form a synchronous transmission with the signal from Mt Kaukau, also on 90.9. This meant that commuters no longer had to switch their radio dials between the two frequencies when driving between Wellington and the Hutt Valley. In June 2008, Easy Mix was networked on ZM's old 93.5 frequency.

Privatisation

In July 1996, the New Zealand Government sold off the commercial arm of Radio New Zealand, which included, among other things, the ZM 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.^[1]

90.6ZM Manawatu station

ZM originally commenced transmission to Manawatu on 9 March 1987, on 90.6 MHz. The programme was a relay of the Wellington ZMFM station with local commercial breaks and station identification. ZMFM Manawatu also ran its own breakfast show – "Jackson and The Morning Crew" featuring Pete Jackson. In 1989, 90.6 ZMFM re-branded as 2 Double Q (2QQ), subsequently dropping the relay of ZMFM Wellington and beginning a seven-year absence of the ZM name in Manawatu. The ZM brand did not return to the Manawatu market until 1997 when Classic Rock Q91FM (formerly 2 Double Q) reverted to ZM (as 91ZM). The new ZM programme created in 1997 used a computerised automation system to provide a local programme recorded minutes before from the Wellington studio. 96ZM in Dunedin and Invercargill used a similar system to receive their programming from 91ZM Christchurch. In 2000, ZM switched to a single network feed with all networked ZM stations now receiving their programming from Auckland, as a result 91ZM Manawatu now contained the same programming as 91ZM Auckland instead of Wellington.

91.1ZM Kapiti station

ZM began broadcasting on its own frequency in the Kapiti region in 2004 with localised advertisement breaks for the Kapiti region. While ZM in Wellington did contain some local programming at this point the Kapiti station took all network programming from Auckland despite the 'Top of the Hour Station id' mentioning the Wellington 90.9FM frequency.