Rock FM

Rip It Up, Issue 83, 1 June 1984, Page 4

Rock FM

Twelve months ago the launching of Auckland's second FM radio station, 89FM, was greeted with guarded excitement by most record listeners. The station itself reeked of confidence a new start, the music coming first. Today Programme Director Fred Botica looks wry: "We're a year behind schedule.”

Some first annual report. Butthea fact remains that after reaching a high of just under 10 per cent in Auckland's crowded radio market, 89FM has slipped back to 6 per cent, at the bottom of the commer-

'♦VWAW/ViWWViVAV cial rankings. But things are changing: "We’ve adjusted the rotation of music for a start. We now probably have the slowest turnover of playlist of any station in the country. And we've widened that playlist too

taken in a lot more different kinds of music. I like to think that people are not narrow-minded when it comes to music. If it’s good be it black music, rock music or whatever they'll tolerate it. Not just tolerate it but enjoy it. "And now, apart from the playlist, the jocks are doing their own music."

And New Zealand music? Botica says they’re "hungry" for local stuff but it has to come up to scratch. The observation has been made that the station is now playing less NZ music but a far greater variety of it. The next year will probably be crucial to 89’s future. Botica says he is looking to make 10 per cent of the market in six months’ time. It's confidence in the station's long-

term future that keeps them all going, he says.