NZ On Air are commited to providing a primary strength community radio service to every community of 500+ people.
With the assistance of past funding, transmission coverage for community radio has achieved 99.6% as a percentage of the population.
NZ On Air funding is used to provide radio transmission coverage to low population areas of New Zealand, which the broadcasters consider are not commercially viable for them to provide transmission services to.
When NZ On Air was set up in 1989, National Radio reached about 89% of the population and Concert FM about 80%.
National Radio now reaches about 97% and Concert FM around 92%, thanks to 16 new transmitters funded by NZ On Air.
National Radio extensions in South Waikato, Rotorua were all funded by NZ On Air.
Concert FM coverage extensions in Southland and other areas were all funded by NZ On Air.
In recent years, the responsibility for maintaining and extending Radio New Zealand's coverage of National Radio and Concert FM has passed to Radio New Zealand, with NZ On Air maintaining only a small contingency fund.
Radio New Zealand now also operates the 'Tiny Towns' Scheme conceived by NZ On Air to bring coverage to small, rural communities on a cost-sharing basis (see Community Self Help Scheme page).
Since 1999, the Radio New Zealand signals have also been transmitted on Sky's Satellite service. Channel 101 for National Radio and Channel 102 for Concert FM. Effectively this means that there isn't any part of New Zealand that cannot receive National Radio and Concert FM.
In 1995, NZ On Air developed a community self-help scheme" (also known as the "Tiny Towns" Scheme) to get a National Radio service into small and remote communities outside the reach of the main National Radio transmitters.
Examples of Tiny Towns; Twizel, Takaka, Tekapo, Omarama, Te Anau, Te Kuiti, Golden Bay, Wanaka, Milford Sound and Te Kuiti.
The scheme was established to help get National Radio to the last 4% of the country, which had been missing out.
Under the scheme, Radio New Zealand supplied the programming, NZ On Air met the annual cost of satellite distribution, and the costs of harnessing and rebroadcasting the signal are met by the community.
Back then, costs to the community were estimated to be $15,000 for a one-off cost to establish the site and purchase transmission equipment and a further $1,500 per annum was estimated as the cost for operating the transmission site.
But since then, costs have come down even further.
Communities which were interested in the scheme were not on their own. Radio New Zealand provided technical support, and acted as a point of contact and practical advice for communities.
NZ On Air is governed by a 1989 Ministerial directive "to ensure that every community of 1000+ population is served by a primary strength community radio signal".
What is a community radio signal?....where a radio station gives the community local news, weather, information, sport and can broadcast a civil de fence emergency to get information out to the community.
Since NZ On Air's establishment the communities we have funded include; Murchison, South Westland and the Mackenzie Country. In 2000, NZ On Air commissioned a study into the number of communities of 500+ population which do not receive a community radio service of primary strength. The results of the study showed that there were 22 communities of 500+ population (13 with less than 1000 and 9 greater than 1000 population) without a community radio service.
Upon reviewing the study's findings the NZ On Air Board approved a policy amendment beyond the existing Ministerial directive to include a one-off subsidy for capital equipment to communities of 500+ population who are not served by a community radio service of primary strength.
In order to manage expenditure on this activity, allocations to support a maximum of three new community radio services per year will be made.
