New Zealand’s number one radio station, ZB turns 100

New Zealand's number one commercial radio station turned 100 over the weekend, marking a century as a home for some of the country's top hosts, the best talkback and the most trusted news and current affairs. ZB is celebrating the hosts and team, the loyal listeners and its long-term advertisers.

To mark the century, the station has released a special podcast series hosted by Mike Hosking and available on iHeartRadio, with new episodes dropping every Sunday, telling the stories that shaped a century through the voices who defined it.

A commemorative magazine was also produced and included in Herald on Sunday, in NZME’s regional papers, and available digitally. The magazine features the people, stories and moments that has shaped the station for the past century, from Aunt Daisy and Uncle Scrim through to today's hosts.

Will Maisey, Newstalk ZB Head of Talk, says the milestone belongs to everyone who has been part of the station - on air and off.

"For a hundred years New Zealanders haven't just listened to ZB, they've shared their lives with us. We've been in kitchen radios before dawn, in cars on long drives and in living rooms during the moments that mattered most to this country – through wars, natural disasters, elections, Olympic golds, sporting wins (and losses!).

"But the story has never only been the voices people hear. It's the producers, journalists, newsreaders, engineers, digital and commercial teams, coordinators and support staff who make it possible. We're custodians of something the people before us built, and one day we'll hand it on to the next generation, and it’s a privilege to play a part in that,” he says.

NZME CEO Michael Boggs says a century on air is the result of constant adaptation for audiences.

"Audio is changing faster now than at any point in ZB's history. Our audience listens on the radio, on their phones, in the car, on smart speakers and in podcast feeds, and increasingly on their own schedule rather than ours. That is why we keep investing in digital, leading with the iHeartRadio app, in podcasts and in the newsroom that feeds all of it. The technology will keep moving and we will keep moving with it, because the job is to meet the audience where they are without ever changing what makes ZB, ZB.

"Very few brands anywhere reach 100 years, and none of them do it alone. Our commercial partners have backed ZB, many of them clients for decades, and that support is what lets us keep delivering such an exceptional product. A hundred years of trust is built one day at a time, and it is built by people. A hundred years on, the way people listen will keep changing. The reason they listen hasn't," he says.

ENDS