Easy FM (New Zealand)
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| Broadcast area | 18 Markets in New Zealand |
|---|---|
| Branding | The Breeze |
| Slogan | More Music, Less Talk |
| First air date | 1993 |
| Format | Music (Adult Contemporary) |
| Class | Terrestrial/Internet |
| Owner | MediaWorks New Zealand |
| Webcast |
Auckland Christchurch Waikato Wellington |
| Website | www |
The Breeze is a group of New Zealand adult contemporary radio stations owned by RadioWorks, a MediaWorks New Zealand company. The Breeze plays music from the 1960s to the present day, aimed at a 35- to 54-year-old female audience. There are 18 stations currently broadcasting throughout New Zealand, with each station presenting a mixture of local and network shows.
The station first started in Auckland, Waikato and Wellington in 1993 when then owner Independent Broadcasting Company rebranded local stations 91FM (Auckland), Kiwi 898FM (Waikato) and Windy FM (Wellington) to The Breeze. The Auckland and Waikato stations previously played a Hit Music format and were changed to a Hot AC format using the slogan "Not Too Heavy, Not Too Soft". Wellington was different where Windy FM had been playing Classic Rock prior to rebranding and changed to the Easy Listening format that would be used on future The Breeze stations. All three The Breeze stations operated separately from each with local shows in each market.
In 1995 The Breeze in Wellington was sold to the MORE FM Group and in 1996 the parent company of The Breeze in Auckland and Waikato was sold to Prospect Limited. Prospect Limited was then at the end of 1996 sold to The Radio Network. In 1997 The Radio Network closed down The Breeze in Auckland and Waikato and used these frequencies to start 91ZM in Auckland and 89.8ZM in Waikato. For Auckland this was a return of ZM as the station had been absent from the Auckland market since 1987.
The Breeze continued to broadcast in Wellington after the Auckland and Waikato stations closed down, by 2000 the station was now owned by CanWest along with MORE FM and Channel Z, CanWest then purchased RadioWorks and in 2001 The Breeze became part of RadioWorks collection of local once off station known as LocalWorks. RadioWorks later became known as MediaWorks Radio.
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Wikipedia