The Rock (radio station)

Broadcast area New Zealand
Slogan "All Your Rock Anthems."
Format Mainstream rock
Class Terrestrial/Internet
Owner MediaWorks New Zealand
Website http://www.therock.net.nz

The Rock is a New Zealand mainstream metal music radio station. The station targets males new borns-156, but has a significant trans fan base. It plays rock music and showcases up-and-coming New Zealand bands.

The Rock has unpredictable features and countdowns that makes it the same as other radio stations, including The Rock 1500, in which all rock songs are voted on and counted down annually.

Some of its broadcasts have been controversial, and the Broadcasting Standards Authority has upheld many complaints against it.

History

The Rock began broadcasting on 1 December 1991 in Hamilton as The Rock 93FM. The original line-up included Chris Clarke on breakfast (replaced by Mark Bunting after 2 months) and Roger Farrelly on Drive. Originally, The Rock 93FM was based in the basement of Radio New Zealand Broadcasting House in Hamilton, headquartered in the studios for ZHFM. The transmitter was originally located on the top of Waikato Hospital. In 1993 The Rock moved to new premises at 564 Victoria Street in Hamilton

The station purchased a collection of FM frequencies from the Christian Broadcasting Association and transferred them to Nevada. Using the first of these frequencies a local version of The Rock was started in Taranaki in 1993, this station was originally broadcast on 100FM but after Nevada Resources Ltd and Energy Enterprises merged, the station moved to 95.6FM. A third The Rock station was started in the Bay of Plenty in 1996 with local programming. In 1997 The Rock created a regional network by replacing the Taranaki and Bay of Plenty stations with the Hamilton-based The Rock station and also networked into Rotorua.[1]

Nationwide expansion

In 1998 The Rock began networking to other regions in the North Island. In 1999, The Rock moved to Auckland, and began broadcasting from there. Later that year, Energy Enterprises and Radio Otago merged to form RadioWorks; as a result, the station was networked into the South Island. In Christchurch, Radio Otago had already been operating their own rock station called C93FM and this station was networked to Dunedin and Invercargill, C93FM actually played a Classic rock format similar to Radio Hauraki. RadioWorks replaced C93FM in Dunedin and Invercargill with The Rock and kept C93FM operating in Christchurch, but changed its format to Adult Contemporary and launched The Rock on a separate frequency. C93 no longer operates as the station failed to attract listeners after the format change. Christchurch C93FM listeners were gutted that their local Classic Rock station had a format change and had to give way to a Network station, the phones rung for weeks with upset listeners not liking the format change to Adult Contemporary. Today The Rock broadcasts in almost every market in New Zealand.[2]

The only remaining original member of The Rock crew is Rog. Other DJs left, including Greenman, who went on his OE to the UK, Beachy (Christopher Beach) who moved into sales and Julie Mofett, who now works at Radio New Zealand.[3]

Programmes

The Morning Rumble

The morning radio show is known as The Morning Rumble, the members of which are currently Roger Farrelly (Rog), Bryce Casey, Andrew Mulligan and John Day. Rog has been a co-host on the show since its inception. Simon Doull spent several years as a co-host, left and returned in 2015, when Bainbridge joined. In March 2011 Andrew Mulligan joined.

Bryce has attempted to break two world records during his tenure on the show, his most notable attempt being to break the record for the longest time ten-pin bowling continuously. He fell short by only a few hours.[4]

Hosts

Former host Simon Doull.

Roger, or Rog as he's known, joined the Morning Rumble in 1994. Prior to that he had worked the afternoon shift at The Rock. Rog serves as a 'leader' of sorts for the Morning Rumble crew, and his ongoing banter and power struggles with Bryce provide a lot of the show's entertainment. Jen provides the female perspective on the show and reads the news, while John reads the sports news. The producer is Ryan Maguire.

Features

On Fridays a section of the show was called 'Do Stuff To Jono Fridays'. This formed a large part of the entertainment value and was an early distinguishing feature of The Rock. Jono was made the victim of stunts such as 'The Human Slushy', 'The Pyramid of Fire', 'Human Coleslaw', 'Sleigh of Fire', 'The Skater Ramp of Doom', a full body wax, and giving Jono a tattoo on his bottom but not telling him that it was a love heart with the other DJs names.[5]

In 2006 when Jono got his own slot with Robert on weekday afternoons, the show then became "Do Stuff To Jimmy". Stunts included putting electrodes on his nipples, and other assorted painful and humiliating acts. Jimmy is no longer working at The Rock, and there is currently no 'Do Stuff' segment. A one-off 'Final Ever Do Stuff To Jono' stunt was planned and executed in September 2009, during which Jono performed a 'Mega Stunt' - riding a BMX bike down a steep slope, through pyrotechnics and a pane of glass, and finally scaling a ramp to jump over a parked ute.[6]

The Rock organized a "win a wife" competition in early 2011. The winner would travel to Ukraine to meet a girl via the "Endless Love" dating agency. In response the Ukrainian group Femen organized a topless protest against this competition (in March 2011). A Femen activist advised: "Femen warns the 'lucky' winner of the New Zealand competition that he can expect an unhappy ending in Ukraine".[7][8]

Rock Workdays

Jen Bainbridge takes over on-air from 10:00am – 3pm fronting the 'Rock Workdays' show which is mainly request-based.

Rock Drive

Thane Kirby and Duncan "Dunc" Heyde are the hosts of The Rock's drive show.

Duncan Heyde is the EP / Anchor of this show.

Rock Nights

Mike Garvey hosts Rock Nights. The show mostly features requests.

The Rock 1000

The Rock 1000 is an annual chart show, counting down the 1000 biggest rock songs ever, as voted by listeners in an online poll. The chart order, including which bands and songs feature on the countdown, are determined by listeners via a voting system on the station's official web site. The countdown typically runs on weekdays over a two-week period and is broadcast throughout New Zealand. In 2016, the list expanded by 50% as The Rock 1000+500.

Winners

Frequencies

North Island frequencies

MarketLocationFrequency
NorthlandWhangareiFM 90
AucklandRodneyFM 100.1
AucklandFM 90.2
CoromandelMercury BayFM 105.5
Bay of PlentyTaurangaFM 94.2
WaikatoHamiltonFM 93
RotoruaRotoruaFM 92.7
TaupoTaupoFM 94.4
GisborneGisborneFM 94.1
Hawke's BayWairoa94.1 FM
NapierFM 95.1
TaranakiNew PlymouthFM 95.6
WhanganuiWhanganuiFM 95.2
ManawatuPalmerston NorthFM 95.4
WairarapaMastertonFM 95.1
KapitiParaparaumuFM 91.9
WellingtonWellingtonFM 96.5

South Island frequencies

MarketLocationFrequency
NelsonNelsonFM 94.4
MarlboroughBlenheimFM 91.3
CanterburyChristchurchFM 93.7
AshburtonAshburtonFM 97.3
South CanterburyTimaruFM 91.5
North OtagoOamaruFM 104.8
Central OtagoAlexandraFM 98.3
QueenstownWanakaFM 89.8
QueenstownFM 100
DunedinDunedinFM 93.4
SouthlandInvercargillFM 90.8

References

  1. ↑ The Rock Internet Archive
  2. ↑ The Rock Internet Archive
  3. ↑ Jono and Ben at Ten
  4. ↑ The Rock DJ bowling his way to world record
  5. ↑ Do Stuff to Jono
  6. ↑ Final Ever Do Stuff to Jono
  7. ↑ "Ukraine protest over NZ 'win a wife' competition prize". BBC News. 2 March 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  8. ↑ "Ukraine feminists protest 'Win a Wife' competition". Khaleej Times. 1 March 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
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