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This article refers to the defunct New Zealand radio station. For other uses, see Other Channel Z's

Channel Z was an alternative music radio station broadcasting in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, New Zealand. In early 2005 the station was relaunched as Kiwi FM and only plays New Zealand music.

Early Years

Channel Z appeared on the air in Wellington, New Zealand, in mid-August 1996. Its founding programme director was John Diver. Channel Z was part of the More FM Group of stations, later to become the CanWest-owned RadioWorks Group. Early presenters included: Martin Devlin, John Diver, James Coleman, and Olivia.

Later Years

In 1998, long time presenter Pheobe Spiers and breakfast hosts Jon Bridges and Nathan Rarere joined the station. Channel Z Christchurch was launched in 1999, with Willy Macalister presenting a local daytime show, Melanie Wise on the night time show and networked mornings and drive shows. In 2001, major changes to Channel Z were made, including the abolishment of local shows in both Wellington and Christchurch and everything being networked from Auckland. This was obviously not a positive move, especially for Wellingtonians (where Channel Z began). Jon & Nathan's breakfast show was also later canned in favour of a new show featuring James Coleman on his own, with Bomber and Clarke Gayford moving from Nights to Drive.

The End

In January 2005, Channel Z announced it was to relaunch as Kiwi FM on February 6, 2005. The station would only play 100% New Zealand music. This announcement came with mixed views with skeptism that it would not work.

In mid-2005, an online petition was started to bring back Channel Z to New Zealand airwaves. Although banners, newspaper articles and flyers were produced to attract attention, the campaign was ultimately unsuccessful. Many state the reason why they loved the station so much was its non-mainstream playlist, entertaining and down-to-earth presenters, and youth-oriented talkback.

Other Channel Z's

• Channel Z was the title of a song by the B-52's about a fictional radio station whose motto is ‘‘Channel Z: All static, All day, Forever!’’

• Channel Z GmbH is a film production, HD post-production and visual effects company in Germany. The company did the screen design for the final draw for the 2006 World Cup in Germany for the ARD (Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen).

• Channel Z was also the name for the prototype Amiga 1200 computer by Commodore.

See also

• Channel Z: The Best Of Vol. 2

External links

• An article on the history of Channel Z
• Bring Back Channel Z petition

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