 In July 1996 the New Zealand Government sold off the commercial arm of Radio New Zealand, which included, among other things, the Classic Hits and Newstalk ZB branded stations.The new owner was The Radio Network, a subsidiary of APN News & Media and Clear Channel Communications, which operated as a division of the Australian Radio Network.In 1999 Classic Hits 90FM was reduced to just 4 hours of local programming between 6 and 10 am 7 days a week.