Channel X (New Zealand radio station)
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | 15 markets in New Zealand |
| Frequency | 91.2 MHz - 106.3 MHz |
| Branding | Your Throwback Playlist |
| Programming | |
| Format | Classic alternative |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Mediaworks |
| History | |
First air date | May 8, 2023 |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | channelx |
Channel X is a classic alternative music station playing tracks from the 1990s to 2010s. The station is aimed at 25 - 56 year-olds (those in generation X and millennials) who may not be regular radio listeners. Channel X began broadcasting at noon on 8 May 2023, broadcasting on Rova and across 15 markets on the remaining former-Today FM frequencies that were not allocated to other existing brands. The station does not host any shows or DJs, instead they play uninterrupted music 24/7 with witty comments between each song[1]. They do not air any news, talk or have any ad breaks as of yet and mainly focus on playing popular songs from the 1990s and 2000s, as well as classics that don't normally air on commercial stations.
History
Channel X was made possible by the disestablishment of Today FM, a former news station on March 30th, 2023. Two weeks after the station was taken off the air, Mediaworks trademarked the Channel X brand name and domain channelx.co.nz on the 14th of April 2023. All remaining frequencies after May 1st were allocated to Channel X.
The station was announced on May 3rd through an encoded message playing on what would become Channel X's frequencies with the station's name. This was visible using an audio spectrogram on the audio. On May 5th, the loop was updated to encode the date and time the station would begin airing.
At noon on May 8th, 2023, the station began with a countdown where they encoded "5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1.. hello :)" into the audio before introducing that the radio station "doesn't have any prizes, or shows." Followed by a skit referencing the NOW That's What I Call Music! album compilations that were popular in the late 90s. After this, the station has played non-stop music with the occasional station imaging or witty comment. The first song to play on the station was the 2006 single "When You Were Young" by The Killers.
Frequencies
Channel X broadcasts to 15 markets on these frequencies[2] and on Rova:
- Auckland: 106.2 FM
- Hamilton: 104.2 FM
- Tauranga: 100.6 FM
- Rotorua: 95.1 FM
- Hawke's Bay: 106.3 FM
- Manawatu: 94.6 FM
- Kapiti: 99.1 FM
- Wairarapa: 98.3 FM
- Wellington: 104.5 FM
- Nelson: 96.0 FM
- Blenheim: 95.3 FM
- Timaru: 105.9 FM
- Oamaru: 100.8 FM
- Queenstown: 91.2 FM
- Southland: 94.0 FM
References
- ^ "MEDIAWORKS MEDIA RELEASE: MEDIAWORKS WELCOMES A NEW MUSIC ONLY RADIO STATION TO THE WHĀNAU" (PDF). MediaWorks. 2023-05-08. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
- ^ "Channel X - Your Throwback Playlist". channelx.co.nz. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
External Links