Radio One (New Zealand)

Radio One (also known simply as "The One") is a student radio station operating from the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. It broadcasts on a frequency of 91.0 MHz. it is a member of the b.net group of stations, all of which are run from New Zealand University campuses.

The impetus for the station began with an open letter to the President of the Otago University Students' Association (then Phyllis Comerford) from Alastair Thomson, who had worked on the Waikato University student radio station. This letter brought together other interested parties including members of the bands Netherworld Dancing Toys and The Verlaines. With a grant from the OUSA of approximately $12,000, the station first went to air in early 1984 broadcasting from the OUSA's former boardroom. The station ran on a part-time basis during the university year until the mid-1990s, from which time it has been operating round-the-clock throughout the year in a new annex to the Student Union building which was specifically designed to house the station, the OUSA's offices, and the university's student newspaper "Critic".

In the station's early years, its 100 Watt transmitter was located on the top of the campus's tallest building (the 11-storey Richardson Building, then known as the Hocken Building), but since the late 1980s it has had a transmitter on the top of Mount Cargill, 12 kilometres north of the campus. This gives the station a range which covers much of coastal Otago, from Oamaru to past Balclutha.

Radio One can now be heard anywhere in the world as it streams all content in 128 kbit/s stereo mp3 over the internet.

The station is run largely by volunteer announcers, with a small paid staff. It runs a wide variety of general interest and specialist shows, many of them catering for audiences not covered by Dunedin's other radio stations, such as [http://www.myspace.com/thelocalonr1 The Local] which plays only New Zealand content and [http://www.otagonorml.com/node/5 Overgrown] which is New Zealand's only Cannabis Law Reform themed radio show.

The One Card scheme

In 1986, the station launched an innovative scheme to raise money to support the station - a loyalty card called "The Rad-one Card" (more recently just "The One Card"). This gave subscribers ("Rad-ones") the opportunity to gain discounts at local stores and events, and to enter on-air competitions in return for a small annual fee. The scheme has been widely adopted by other student radio stations around New Zealand.

External links

* [http://www.r1.co.nz/index.php Radio One website]
* [http://stream.r1.co.nz:8090/listen.pls Internet streaming]
* [http://www.myspace.com/r191fm Radio one myspace page]