Radio Hauraki began as a genuine pirate: on 4 December 1966 the ship Tiri anchored in the Hauraki Gulf outside territorial waters and started broadcasting rock and roll on 1480 kHz to break the state broadcasting monopoly. After 1,111 days at sea — shipwreck, storms and all — Hauraki won a land licence in 1970 and became the first private commercial station of the modern era. Today, as one of NZME's Auckland-based networks, it plays modern and alternative rock nationwide, its rebel origin story still central to its identity.
