After 15 years of owning and running Aotearoa radio station Base FM, Jasmin (Jazz) Ziedan has announced that she will be moving on, with new owners coming on board in the first week of October.

Now based in Kingsland, Auckland, the station began broadcasting in May 2004 out of the then George FM Ponsonby studios. It has become an iconic community radio brand with a collective of over 100 DJs that cover the electronica, funk, soul, hip hop, reggae and RnB scenes.

Born in Cairo and raised in Germany, Ziedan bought the station from George FM in 2008 and has been very successful in proactively building the independent station’s profile and footprint. She says the decision to sell was not an easy one, and will stay on in a consulting role and as MD of Island Base, a not-for-profit dedicated to educating Māori and Pacific rangatahi through music.

“After dedicating my life to Base for 15 years I felt like now was the right time for a change. With a family on the way, and the focus of my life shifting, it’s time to give the station new leaders who can alleviate and solidify its place in the market.”

The new owners, George Ngatai and wife Raewyn Bhana, are well known as prominent members of Destiny Church and active in other business areas, including the Destiny-linked Whānau Ora Community Clinic in south Auckland and other medical centres nationwide.