Also known as: Alpha, Chalk, Summit 96.1, Jacked, The Attic, Embr, The Garage, Tracks, Rewind, Basement, Waves, Bassline, Kokako 96.1
Frequency: 96.1FM
Coverage: Christchurch city and surrounds (Kaikoura to Timaru)
Location: 150 Madras Street, Christchurch (Ara Institute of Canterbury)
Format: Student radio / training station – brand and format changes annually
Founded: c. 1984
Active: 1984-present
Transmitter: Sugarloaf, 16kW
Website: kokako.media (current season) | nzbs.com
History
The New Zealand Broadcasting School (NZBS) at Ara Institute of Canterbury – formerly the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT) – has operated a full-power FM licence on 96.1FM in Christchurch since the mid-1980s, making it one of the longest-running training stations in the country. The school traces its roots to 1984, when Christchurch Polytechnic established what would become the premier national provider of applied broadcasting education in Aotearoa New Zealand.
In its early years, NZBS maintained close links with Plains FM, Christchurch’s community radio station, using that relationship as a live training environment for first-year students. As deregulation reshaped New Zealand broadcasting from the late 1980s onward, those ties gradually loosened. The commercial radio sector’s growing appetite for trained presenters, producers, and salespeople pushed NZBS toward a more industry-focused model – and eventually toward operating its own full-power station, with a transmitter at Sugarloaf giving the signal a reach stretching from Kaikoura to Timaru.
The defining feature of 96.1FM is its annual rebrand. Each year, second-year Bachelor of Broadcasting Communications students pitch competing station concepts to a panel of senior industry figures – executives from networks including NZME and MediaWorks have served as judges – who select one format to go to air. The winning team then builds the station from scratch: designing the brand identity, appointing student managers, hiring on-air talent from within the cohort, selling advertising to local businesses, and launching a full broadcast schedule, typically in May. A second phase later in the year sees the radio brand expand into a multimedia entity, with students producing digital video content, managing social media channels, and sometimes publishing news through NZBS’s associated MetroNews platform.
The competing pitches in any given year reflect the tastes and research of the cohort. In one documented round, the three finalists were Embr (an alternative pop format aimed at young professional women), Fuse (hip-hop and EDM for young men), and Echo (an alternative music and talk station) – Embr won and went to air on 96.1FM. The same competitive model produced Bassline, a pitch centred on R&B, soul, and funk, which beat out The Lab 96.1 and The Yard (a country music concept) to take the frequency in 2024. The judging panel noted that all three proposals had been of outstanding quality, with NZME Christchurch General Manager Ben Harris describing the calibre of student work as evidence that New Zealand broadcasting was “in good heart.”
Over the decades, the 96.1FM frequency has carried many brand identities. Among those known by name are Alpha (active c. 2009), Chalk, Summit 96.1, Jacked, The Attic (2013), Embr (c. 2017), The Garage, Tracks 96.1 (2020, a country format), Rewind (c. 2022, a 1990s nostalgia format), Basement 96.1, Waves 96.1 (2023, indie rock and alternative), Bassline 96.1 (2024, R&B and soul), and Kokako 96.1 (2025, indie rock with a local Christchurch focus). Earlier brands include Mode 96.1, referenced in academic literature as a name used during periods between branded seasons. Years between confirmed brands – and any brands not yet documented – reflect gaps in the publicly available record rather than gaps in broadcasting.
The Attic, the 2013 brand, gave this entry its original title. Like its peers, The Attic was created and run entirely by students covering all departments of a commercial radio operation. No significant separate public record of its programming or events survives online, which is typical of the earlier brands before social media made student projects easier to archive. The annual model means each brand is inherently temporary: students know from the outset that their station will be replaced the following year, which mirrors the reality of a media industry where formats and brands are constantly refreshed.
The station has produced a remarkable number of prominent New Zealand broadcasters. Clarke Gayford – television presenter and host of Fish of the Day – studied at NZBS before building a career across Channel Z, More FM, and George FM. Mike McRoberts, one of New Zealand’s most decorated television journalists, completed his journalism diploma at NZBS (then at CPIT) in 1986, having begun his broadcasting career as a cadet at Radio New Zealand in 1984. Kris Faafoi, who became the Minister of Broadcasting in the Sixth Labour Government, is an NZBS journalism graduate who went on to work at TVNZ and the BBC before entering politics. Jack Tame, long-running host of Q+A on TVNZ and weekend breakfast presenter, is among a later generation of NZBS alumni. Miriama Kamo, journalist and television presenter, and PJ Harding, producer and broadcaster, are also among the school’s graduates.
The current brand, Kokako 96.1, launched in May 2025 with the tagline “Indie Beat, Local Heat.” The team behind the winning pitch chose the name of the native forest bird deliberately. Sales Manager Jacob Matsas explained: “Just as the Kokako was once considered critically endangered and threatened with extinction, our radio industry now faces similar challenges from the rise of large streaming platforms.” Content Director Keira Blair positioned the station against Auckland-centric networks: “We’re serving our local Christchurch community. Bigger stations have an Auckland focus or are centred elsewhere; we want to focus on being based here with local content by young people for young people.” Kokako 96.1 is streamable live via iHeart Radio and maintains active social media channels on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
The station continues to operate on the same frequency it has held for more than four decades. Its transmitter at Sugarloaf provides a signal reaching well beyond Christchurch city, and its on-air seasons – though measured in weeks rather than years – consistently generate real commercial revenue, with student teams setting and chasing advertiser targets that in recent years have exceeded $60,000 per season. The NZBS model of wholesale annual reinvention remains unusual in world terms: few training stations anywhere ask students not just to present and produce, but to conceive, brand, launch, sell, and ultimately close an entire radio station within a single academic year.
Getting to run a real radio station is invaluable learning as the students take on every role you would see in a commercial radio station. Because it is their station, they commit a lot of time and effort in trying to make it the best it can be.
Brendan Reilly, NZBS tutor, on Rewind Radio 96.1FM – Ara Institute of Canterbury, 2022