Channel Z launched on 99.3FM in Christchurch in August 1999, bringing alternative rock and New Zealand music to a city that had few non-mainstream options on the dial. Its two years of local programming — Willy Macalister on days, Melanie Wise on nights — gave Christchurch a genuine alternative voice before the network consolidated all content from Auckland in 2001. The station became Kiwi FM in 2005 and was relaunched as a Christchurch online stream in 2019.
Radio Control 99.4FM is Palmerston North's student radio station, broadcasting from Massey University since 1981. Founded as Masskeradio — New Zealand's first commercial student radio — the station launched the careers of Steven Joyce (RadioWorks, National MP, Minister of Finance) and helped shape the Manawatū alternative music scene across four decades.
C93FM was a Christchurch independent FM radio station that broadcast on 92.9MHz from 1986 to 2001. Founded as a classic rock station, it passed through several formats — 93FM Gold, Classic Hits, Adult Contemporary — before closing in April 2001. Its most significant contribution to New Zealand music was the 1988 Rockquest, a local band competition conceived by station employee Ron Kjestrup that grew, under new organizers, into the national Smokefreerockquest.
