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Radio News: Radio New Zealand considers selling off AM assets

Dec 10, 2017 10:50 pm
A Stuff.NewZealand report indicates that Radio New Zealand may soon stop AM radio broadcasting. "RNZ considers it is now time to work with stakeholders to develop plans to, either partially or completely, exit AM broadcasting over time," the company said in a report last week. The company thinks some of the stations are worth more for the real estate they sit on then the airwaves they use. RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson said it would take more than a decade to sell of its transmission sites, and noted that the company recently invested "millions" on a new AM tower in Titahi Bay, Wellington. Currently, some of Radio New Zealand tower sites also broadcast other signals. "We think we're an audience and content organisation, not an infrastructure organisation," Thompson said. The new Labour-NZ First Government may have different ideas, but there is clearly talk in New Zealand about the end of AM radio for the state broadcaster.