History
SunMedia was founded around 2000 by Tauranga couple Claire and Brian Rogers. [1] Their SunLive platform and newspapers operate in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island. Following Brian's death in 2022, his wife Claire continued managing the company. [2]
On 5 March 2024, SunMedia and its assets were acquired by the media company NZME. As part of the purchase, SunMedia's 28 employees including 17 permanent/fixed term staff received conditional employment offers from NZME. Rogers said that the NZME acquisition would preserve the viability of local journalism and advertising in Tauranga and the surrounding region. NZME CEO Michael Boggs said that the acquisition demonstrated NZME's commitment to local journalism and its publishing strategy of serving local communities and advertisers, and providing a digital news offering. [2]
Between 2008 and 2024, SunMedia's office was based at the historic Bond Store on 1 Strand Street, Tauranga. The Category 1 heritage building was first built as a storage and customs facility in 1883. Following NZME's acquisition, SunMedia relocated its operations to NZME's office on 405 Cameron Road. SunMedia also donated its newspaper archives to the Tauranga City Library. [3]
Assets and organisation
As of June 2024, SunMedia's assets consists of the SunLive and Rotorua Now websites, the newspapers The Weekend Sun , Coast & Country News and New Farm Dairies, and the magazines Waterline and MySpace. [3] [4] The company also had 28 employees including 17 permanent/fixed term staff as of March 2024. [2]
The Weekend Sun is a free weekend newspaper while Coast & Country News is a rural news publication targeting farmers, orchardists, lifestylers, suppliers, contractors and rural service industries. New Farm Dairies is a building guide aimed at new dairy farmers. Waterline is a watersports and boating magazine while MySpace is a free magazine targeting builders and renovators. [1]
The Bay of Plenty Region, often abbreviated to BOP, is a region in the North Island of New Zealand situated around the body of water of the same name. The bay was named by James Cook after he noticed the abundant food supplies at several Māori villages there, in stark contrast to the earlier observations he had made in Poverty Bay.
Rotorua is a city in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompassing Rotorua and several other nearby towns. It has an estimated resident population of 58,900, making it the country's 13th largest urban area, and the Bay of Plenty's second-largest urban area behind Tauranga.
Newstalk ZB is a nationwide New Zealand talk-radio network operated by NZME Radio. It is available in almost every radio market area in New Zealand, and has news reporters based in many of them. In addition to talkback, the network also broadcasts news, interviews, music, and sports. The network's hosts include Kate Hawkesby, Mike Hosking, Kerre Woodham, Simon Barnett, James Daniels, Heather du Plessis-Allan, Marcus Lush, Andrew Dickens, Jack Tame and Francesca Rudkin. Wellington and Christchurch have a local morning show.
The New Zealand Herald is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand.
Mix was a greatest hits radio station in New Zealand, broadcasting music from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Mix was owned and operated by New Zealand Media and Entertainment. Mix is targeted at 35 to 54-year-olds. Its head office and studios were located in central Auckland, alongside New Zealand Media and Entertainment's seven other radio networks. In September 2020, Mix was replaced with Gold.
News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Corp.
Stuff Ltd is a privately held news media company operating in New Zealand. It operates Stuff, the country's largest news website, and owns nine daily newspapers, including New Zealand's second and third-highest circulation daily newspapers, The Post and The Press, and the highest circulation weekly, Sunday Star-Times. Magazines published include TV Guide, New Zealand's top-selling weekly magazine. Stuff also owns social media network Neighbourly.
Coast is a New Zealand radio network playing a mix of "feel good" hits predominantly from the 1970s and 1980s. The network includes stations in 21 major cities and provincial centres broadcasting from studios in central Auckland, owned and operated by New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME).
Manawa Energy limited is a New Zealand electricity generation company that offers bespoke electricity products to commercial and industrial customers across New Zealand. Manawa energy currently operate 26 power schemes from the Bay of Plenty in the north, to Otago in the south.
Tribune Publishing Company is an American newspaper print and online media publishing company. The company, which was acquired by Alden Global Capital in May 2021, has a portfolio that includes the Chicago Tribune, the New York Daily News, the Orlando Sentinel, South Florida's Sun-Sentinel, The Virginian-Pilot, the Hartford Courant, additional titles in Pennsylvania and Virginia, syndication operations, and websites. It also publishes several local newspapers in its metropolitan regions, which are organized in subsidiary groups.
The Bay of Plenty rugby league team are a New Zealand rugby league team who represents the Bay of Plenty Rugby League in New Zealand Rugby League competitions. Between 1994 and 1996 they competed in the Lion Red Cup competition, while in 2008 and 2009 they competed in the Bartercard Premiership.
The East Coast Main Trunk (ECMT) is a railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, originally running between Hamilton and Taneatua via Tauranga, connecting the Waikato with the Bay of Plenty. The ECMT now runs between Hamilton and Kawerau, with a branch line to Taneatua from the junction at Hawkens. The line is built to narrow gauge of 1,067 mm, the uniform gauge in New Zealand. It was known as the East Coast Main Trunk Railway until 2011, when the word "Railway" was dropped.
There have been a number of proposals to build a Taupō Line as a branch railway linking the township of Taupō in the central North Island of New Zealand to New Zealand's rail network. One proposal proceeded as far as the construction stage before being stopped.
Flava is a New Zealand classic hip hop and R&B music radio network. The network is owned by NZME Radio, and is operated and produced from the company's Auckland offices and studios on Graham Street. It competes directly with MediaWorks New Zealand's Auckland long-running modern urban music station Mai FM.
The Weekend Sun is a regional newspaper based in Tauranga, New Zealand. It was launched by SunMedia in 2000 alongside Coast & Country News and Waterline magazine. In March 2024, the Weekend Sun was acquired by New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME) as part of its acquisition of SunMedia.
New Zealand Media and Entertainment is a New Zealand newspaper, radio and digital media business. It was launched in 2014 as the formal merger of the New Zealand division of APN News & Media, APN New Zealand; The Radio Network, is formerly part of the Australian Radio Network; and GrabOne, one of New Zealand's biggest ecommerce websites.
Magic is a New Zealand oldies radio network owned by MediaWorks New Zealand. The network targets New Zealand's growing population of baby boomers with a line-up of veteran broadcasters. Its breakfast show, is hosted by Mark McCarron.
Media Bay of Plenty is a radio company based in Whakatāne, New Zealand. Its flagship station, One Double X, reaches the entire Bay of Plenty, with specific frequencies Ōhope and Te Puke and live streaming on its website. It also owns and operates subsidiary network Bayrock in the Bay Of Plenty and Ōhope, with an additional frequency in Wānaka in the South Island and similar live-streaming on a separate website.
Gold is a New Zealand radio station playing classic hits and classic rock of the late 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s targeting an audience of listeners above 45 years of age.
Cameron Gib Luxton is a New Zealand politician. He was elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives in the 2023 general election as an ACT New Zealand list Member of Parliament.
