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Solid Gold FM
Solid Gold FM became The Sound, and was a New Zealand radio network station owned by MediaWorks New Zealand. Solid Gold began broadcasting on October 13th, 1997 and was rebranded as The Sound on January 01st, 2012. The station has a classic rock format, playing "the greatest music of all time" from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. It appeals to an older audience than most popular and rock music stations in New Zealand. Starting as Solid Gold FM in Auckland on October 13th, 1997 (broadcasting on 93.4FM). This frequency was previously used to broadcast Kool 93, a station that delivered a similar format to Solid Gold. After The Radio Network purchased Kool 93's parent company, Prospect Media Limited, the Commerce Commission ruled that The Radio Network had to sell or dispose of some of their Auckland frequencies as a condition of the sale, and as a result they closed Kool 93, with the frequency going to Energy Enterprises. For several months during 1997, 93.4FM was used to play a temporary programme advising listeners of the launch of a new station coming soon. Solid Gold's original line up was Breakfast with Blackie and Jennifer (Kevin Black and Jenny Marcroft), Adam "Boom Boom" Butler (10:00am — 2:00pm), Big Tony Amos (2:00pm — 7pm) and Brian Staff (7:00pm — 12:00midnight). Following the launch in Auckland, Energy Enterprises (which later became RadioWorks) rolled the station out across New Zealand as they were able to secure frequencies in each market. In some markets, however, local stations were closed down and replaced with Solid Gold, as there were markets where RadioWorks had taken over more than one local station. Solid Gold was eventually available in 25 markets across New Zealand. During the station's early days, the playlist featured mostly music from the 1950s and 1960s, and music from the 1950s was dropped in the early 2000s, with the station focusing on 1960s and 1970s music for most of the decade. The station has run several promotions sending listeners overseas, for example, to see Bruce Springsteen, to Graceland, 10 friends to Fiji, 10 friends to The Gold Coast, the 1000 Greatest Hits of the 60s and 70s countdown and more. In 2009, long-term Breakfast host Kevin Black retired, and Blackie's Big Breakfast (featuring Alan (AJ) Whetton and David Burke-Kennedy) was replaced by Muzza in the Morning, with host Murray Inglis. A former breakfast host on Auckland's Radio Hauraki, Black was once the highest-paid private-radio DJ in New Zealand. His 12-year spell with Solid Gold between 1997 and 2009 was his last on-air role until he died in 2013, just short of his 70th birthday. Murray Inglis left the breakfast show in late 2010 and was replaced by Mark McCarron. From December 25th, 2010 the station changed their positioning statement to "The Greatest Hits Of All Time", and no longer played only 1960s and 1970s music. Daytime announcer Macca, who had been with the station since 1998, had his last show with Solid Gold on December 30th, 2011 and did not continue on to The Sound. Afternoon host Rick Rennie and former night host Peter Dakin also left. Solid Gold FM was a strong supporter of ROCKONZ during the Festival's four-year existence.
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