Christchurch, May 29, 2022
Ara Institute of Canterbury’s second year radio students are turning back the clock to everything 1990s on their newly launched channel – Rewind.
From Backstreet Boys to Spice Girls and Britney Spears, Rewind Radio 96.1 FM will be playing jams straight from a 1990s kid school disco.
The 1990s are considered one of the most musically diverse eras, featuring various genres of music such as techno, hip hop, pop, grunge, and alternative rock. Research shows that music plays an important role in the connection to our memory and that it has the ability to take us back in time or elicit different emotions.
Unique Station idea
In the annual New Zealand Broadcasting School (NZBS) radio station competition, teams of students develop a unique station idea before presenting it to a panel of industry professionals from both Mediaworks and NZME, along with their tutors.
Lizzie Solly, Rewind Radio Promotions Manager said, “We chose to do a 1990s theme because we are after the nostalgia element. People will recognise the music we play, and it will remind them of past events when they were younger.”
The radio station will run for eight weeks and will include a promotional launch event to raise awareness and attract audiences to listen to Rewind. To promote their radio frequency, the students have decided that a boyband flash mob would be the ideal way to attract an audience.
“We wanted to do this because, in the 1990s and 2000s, there was quite a big following of boy bands so with our flash mob we are kind of paying homage, but also representing the brand and type of music we are playing,” says Lizzie.
Invaluable learning
NZBS tutor Brendan Reilly is looking forward to seeing what students come up with each year.
“Getting to run a real radio station is invaluable learning as the students take on every role you would see in a commercial radio station. Because it is ‘their’ station, they commit a lot of time and effort in trying to make it the best it can be,” he said.
“The boy band flash mob will be a challenge as most of the students are talkers, not singers or dancers. Whatever they come up with, it will certainly be a laugh!” he said.
The announcers are live now so tune in to 96.1 FM and keep an eye out for the funky 1990s content the students have planned.
