relies too much on references to primary sources . please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . june 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message the breeze 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.thebreeze.co.nz 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 . 1 there are 18 stations currently broadcasting throughout new zealand with each station presenting a mixture of local and network shows . contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1.2 change of ownership 1.3 expansion to other markets 1.4 networking 1.5 format change 2 stations 2.1 network 2.2 auckland 2.3 waikato 2.4 mercury bay 2.5 tauranga 2.6 rotorua 2.7 hawke s bay 2.8 taranaki 2.9 manawatu 2.10 wairarapa 2.11 kapiti coast 2.12 wellington 2.13 nelson 2.14 marlborough 2.15 christchurch 2.16 dunedin 2.17 queenstown 2.18 central otago 2.19 southland 3 references 4 external links history edit early years edit 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 . change of ownership edit 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 89.8 zm 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 . expansion to other markets edit the breeze made a return to waikato in 2003 when local station y 99.3 was rebranded as the breeze retaining y 99.3 local announcers but changing music format from adult contemporary to the easy listening format used on the breeze in wellington . in 2004 mediaworks decided to nationalize their local stations in each market in regions where mediaworks operated just one local radio station the station was rebranded as more fm and if a second local station was operating in the region that station became the breeze . networking edit originally all the breeze stations were local 24x7 with the exception of dunedin which was local during the daytime but took the christchurch breakfast show and christchurch night show . in 2006 the breeze was started in the auckland market as a completely new station establishing a presence in auckland allowed mediaworks to later network the breeze to other markets . in april 2007 dunedin and palmerston north were the first 2 regions to replace local programming with network programming for both markets programming was reduced to a local breakfast only queenstown also took a network night show and waikato took a network daytime show . creating a network allowed the breeze to then launch in other markets such as hawkes bay bay of plenty and southland . for most regions where the breeze launched after 2007 the breakfast show was local but not a live show instead a pre recorded show featuring mostly music and very little talk from the announcer and in most cases actually presented by the radioworks programme director for that region . in march 2009 a live networked breakfast show was introduced the show was presented from a second studio in auckland separate from the main the breeze studios as auckland continued to present their own local breakfast exclusive to auckland this show first presented by pete ashdown and later tony murrell . the networked breakfast could only be heard in regions that previously had a local voice tracked breakfast show regions with a live breakfast show were not affected . in 2010 the networked breakfast was replaced with the auckland breakfast show presented by the two robbies . local programming was further reduced from 2009 with local night shows removed from christchurch and wellington local shows outside breakfast removed from waikato and queenstown losing all local programming after swapping frequencies with more fm in queenstown . in 2015 the breeze began increasing local programming with a local drive show introduced in the waikato . the more fm local breakfast announcers in dunedin and hawkes bay were moved to the local the breeze stations in their respective markets and the more fm networked breakfast show networked into dunedin and hawkes bay . format change edit traditionally known as an easy listening radio station the breeze dropped this dated title in 2011 in line with many other stations globally . stations edit network edit city town frequencies auckland 93.4 mhz waikato 99.4 mhz tauranga 95.8 mhz mercury bay 96.6 mhz rotorua 91.9 mhz taupo 100.8 mhz gisborne 106.7 mhz hawke s bay 97.5 mhz taranaki 92.4 mhz wanganui 97.6 mhz manawatu 98.6 mhz wairarapa 99.9 mhz kapiti coast 100.7 mhz wellington 94.1 mhz & 98.5 mhz nelson 97.6 mhz marlborough 89.7 mhz blenheim 98.7 mhz picton 97.1 mhz kaikoura christchurch 94.5 mhz dunedin 98.2 mhz queenstown 99.2 mhz queenstown 96.8 mhz wanaka central otago 96.7 mhz southland 91.6 mhz networked programming on the breeze originates from the auckland and wellington studios . the breakfast was show was traditionally known as the two robbies breakfast show as the show was originally presented by robbie rakete and robert scott . in 2015 robert scott moved to the drive show and was replaced by anna thomas . in april 2016 the wellington breakfast show presented by steve joll and kath bier became the network breakfast show presented from the wellington studios . this was due to the auckland station having a local breakfast show reinstated . the workday show has been presented by alison leonard since 2011 previously this show was presented by kerry smith until she died in april 2011 . robert scott presents the drive show and has done so since april 2015 previously the show was presented by mark leishman before he moved to newly created mediaworks station magic . all regions take the networked night show which is presented by tania burgess . overnight the station has no presenters . wellington and christchurch are currently local from 6am until 6 pm at the weekends while waikato s local weekend programming runs from 6am midday . while most content in dunedin was originally networked from christchurch today this is networked from auckland . auckland edit launched on 12 june 2006 on the former solid gold fm frequency with solid gold moving to 93.8 mhz . the auckland station was to replace the struggling kiwi fm canwest s 100 % nz music station . however the new zealand government has stepped in to give kiwi fm another chance . with kiwi fm given another frequency the breeze launch was unaffected . the auckland studio is where most network shows are produced some announcers produce a local show for auckland with voice breaks tailored to the auckland audience and separate voice breaks for those regions joined to the breeze network . in 2016 a local auckland only breakfast show was reinstated with robert rakete & jeanette thomas local programming breakfast presented by robert rakete and jeanette thomas followed by alison leonard between 10am 2pm . waikato edit this station was originally waikato s y99 .3 playing an adult contemporary music format . the station was changed to an easy listening format and relaunched as the breeze in april 2003 this was the very first station to be rebranded as the breeze . originally all shows on this station were live and local but in april 2007 the local daytime show was replaced with a networked show and in august 2009 all other weekday shows except breakfast were replaced with networked shows . weekend programming initially remained unaffected with the waikato station continuing to run local shows from 6am to midnight on saturday s and sunday . this local programming was reduced from the end of 2010 . in april 2014 an announcement was made that mediaworks had hired mark bunting to work on the breakfast show at the time bunting was doing the breakfast show on classic hits waikato . 2 bunting did not start on the breakfast show until 2015 however . at the same time the breeze waikato reintroduced a local drive show with previous breakfast announcer ronny phillips filling this position until the end of 2015 with the drive show now being networked from auckland . local programming breakfast presented by mark bunting and camille guzzwell followed by ronny phillips between 10am 2pm . mercury bay edit the breeze broadcasts in mercury bay on 96.7 mhz and is also available in pauanui tairua on 90.3 mhz and whangamata on 99.5 mhz . the station was originally local with the last local presenter on the station being breakfast presenter mike bain . a decision to extend the coverage of the coromandel breeze seen the closure of the mercury bay studio . mike bain can now be found based at mediaworks coromandel based in thames as programme director for coromandel fm and has oversight of the companies network products operation the breeze and the rock . tauranga edit the breeze launched in tauranga around september 2007 on 96.1 mhz a frequency previously used by radio pacific now 873 khz then by radio live now 1107 khz . rotorua edit the breeze launched in rotorua in 2008 broadcasting temporarily on 96.7 mhz . previously 96.7 mhz had been used to broadcast mai fm into rotorua radioworks purchased mai fm in march 2008 and replaced mai fm with the breeze . however when the radio network purchased the 96.7 mhz frequency in july it switched frequency to 91.9 mhz formerly used by radio live . hawke s bay edit commenced broadcasting 6 august 2007 on 97.5 mhz the frequency previously used by radio pacific now 549 khz then by radio live now 106.3 fm . the station originally generated its own pre recorded local morning this was replaced with the networked breakfast in 2009 . in 2015 a live and local breakfast was introduced when more fm hawkes bay announcers kevin wagg and megan banks moved to the breeze . the more fm station in hawkes bay then started taking the more fm network breakfast . local programming breakfast presented by kevin wagg and megan banks . saturday breakfast is hosted by grant bailey . taranaki edit the breeze originally launched in taranaki in february 2008 broadcasting on 100.4 mhz a frequency not previously used by any other station however after less than six months on the air this frequency was taken over by student station the most fm . the breeze was relaunched on 92.3 mhz a frequency that ironically was previously