Media Releases

RNZ to retire Waingawa AM transmission mast

Released at 11:13 am on 16 January 2025

RNZ is retiring its AM transmission mast at Waingawa, Masterton. The mast has reached the end of its service life and overlapping signals from other AM/FM sites already cover the transmission region.

The closure will mean AM listeners in the Wairarapa area who currently listen to RNZ National on 1071 AM will need to retune to either 101.5 FM or 567 AM by 1 February 2025 to continue to listen. New Zealand Media and Entertainment owned radio station Newstalk ZB will also be impacted and listeners who currently tune in on 846 AM will need to retune to 103.9 FM or listen via iHeartRadio.

RNZ Chief Technology Officer Mark Bullen said the Waingawa transmission mast was put up at a time before the advent of FM transmission.

“FM does a better job in more built-up areas and RNZ can still deliver AM from other transmission sites providing rural coverage to the Wairarapa region. It’s time to retire the Waingawa mast that is 60 years old and getting to the point where it needs significant investment to replace it.”

Waingawa is the first of four AM masts that RNZ will retire around the country in 2025. All of these sites are all well covered by alternative FM and AM coverage from RNZ’s other transmission locations, and all have reached a point where they can no longer continue to operate without significant investment.

While use of AM radio has declined since the introduction of FM, it still has an important role to play, achieving further reach and providing wider coverage than FM, this is especially important for those living away from the main city centres or in remote areas of rugged terrain.

Under RNZ’s AM Management Plan, 15 resilient AM sites will remain operational, providing nationwide coverage to 97%* of New Zealand’s population till at least 2032. Masts which achieve the best population coverage have been prioritised and will be either replaced or repaired.  

The RNZ AM Management Plan also specifically recognises RNZ’s role as a lifeline utility and the need to support New Zealanders during and after significant civil defence events and therefore RNZ is maintaining sites with a smaller population coverage that are unable to receive other ways of accessing RNZ because of their remoteness.  

The 1071AM frequency will be repurposed to serve the East Coast of New Zealand and extend RNZ National coverage to provide more resilience for remote areas of Tairāwhiti.

* Rural Grade AM signal, a minimum of 54 dBuV

ENDS 

Note to editors: More information about the closure can be found at www.rnz.co.nz/Waingawa