4XO

Radio 4XO was a local radio station in Dunedin, New Zealand which began on 20 November 1971 as one of the first privately owned commercial radio stations in the country. The callsign/station identity 4XO was assigned because 4 meant the area of Otago, the X meant private (not a government station) and O stood for the province Otago. The station was originally known as "Radio Otago 4XO" and was always involved in local events and was one of Dunedin's most well-known and popular stations. Music played was from the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s & today with all announcers and voice overs local.

4XO

Broadcast area	Otago New Zealand
Frequency	97.4 FM 1206 AM
Slogan	"Otago's Music Choice 4XO"
Programming
Format	Adult Contemporary
Ownership
Owner	Canwest
History
First air date	1971
Call sign meaning	4XO

History

Radio 4XO broadcast firstly on 1210 AM (shifting to 1206 AM in 1978 when the AM frequencies in New Zealand were adjusted to 9 kHz spacing), before adding a stereo broadcast on 97.4 FM in 1990. It broadcast throughout the 1970s and 1980s, mainly from studios in Radio House in Lower Stuart Street (central Dunedin). In the mid-90s the station moved to the seven storey Radio Otago House Building from which RadioWorks still operates its stations - including Radio Dunedin which remains live and local.

4XO could be heard throughout Otago. During the early '90s, 4XO broadcast a network show at night across other stations in the Radio Otago group, including Radio Central in Alexandra/Cromwell and Resort Radio in Wanaka and Queenstown. In the mid-1990s, Resort Radio changed to networking Foveaux FM in the evenings.

The station's final slogan was "Otago's Music Choice 4XO" & another voice over said "From Oamaru in the North, to Balclutha in the South, this is Otago's Music Choice". The station was closely involved with the website seenindunedin.co.nz which provided 4XO with a website page. However, it was publicly announced in November 2004 that RadioWorks was to rebrand 4XO and merge with the station 98 More FM to be known as Dunedin's 97.4 More FM.

During the 1990s, 4XO became 4XO Gold, and reverted to playing a "Solid Gold" mix of music. For a number of years, 4XO struggled to maintain a stable, well-rating breakfast show.

In 1994 Radio Otago started new radio station in Mosgiel called Mosgiel FM. The station broadcast on 95.4FM and coverage including Mosgiel and Taieri Plains. Programming was limited to a local breakfast show with the 4XO program aired on this station outside of breakfast. The purpose of this station was to provide 4XO coverage in the Mosgiel and Taieri area where reception was limited on the main frequency. The local station was closed down in approximately 1997 when it proved financially unviable and the 95.4 frequency was used to broadcast 4XO at all times.

Mark Bunting joined the station in 1997, and the format was changed to be that of a contemporary adult station, similar to 98 More FM at the time. This was shortly prior to Radio Otago being sold to RadioWorks. He left after around 2 years, seemingly frustrated with the management's decision to aim for an older audience to avoid direct competition with 98 More FM.

Eventually, Damian Newell was brought in to host breakfast with Charlotte Butler - "Damian and the Butler" The breakfast show was renamed "The Blue & Gold Brekky Show" when Breffni O'Rourke joined as his co-host with Elvis the Pigeon. The final breakfast team before 4XO became 97.4 More FM was Damian Newell, Breffni O'Rourke and Grant McLean.

Damian Newell still hosted the breakfast show on 97.4 More FM until April 2015. He now hosts breakfast on sister station 98.2 The Breeze.

Frequencies

• 97.4 FM Covered most of Otago (Official Frequency). This frequency now broadcasts More FM.
• 1206 AM Dunedin Area (Official Frequency) Note - started on 1210 AM and then moved to 1206 kHz in 1978. This frequency now broadcasts BSport.
• 95.4 FM Unofficial frequency for Mosgiel, used initially by Mosgiel FM
• 93.7 FM Operated from Balclutha as Big River Radio from 6.00 A.M till 12.00 P.M