OUR STORY

Allied Media has a rich history dating back to the founding of the Otago Daily Times in 1861

From New Zealand's longest-running daily newspaper, we have grown into a modern media company while maintaining our commitment to delivering trusted news and information.
While a lot has changed in 163 years, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to the South Island to inform and champion the communities we serve.
1851

The Otago Witness is born

The Otago Witness
The Otago Witness, a weekly newspaper, is founded by William Cutten, a London-born lawyer turned Otago settler who became a prominent early public figure after arriving in New Zealand three years earlier. It was not an immediate success, struggling to acquire both news and the newsprint to print it on. From the August 21, 1852 issue: “We are happy to intimate that we have received a small supply of paper. Perhaps some of our friends will furnish us with some news to put into it: we are driven to our wits end.”
1861

Otago Daily Times begins publishing

Otago Daily Times
Julius (later Sir Julius) Vogel arrives in Otago after beginning his journalism career In Australia. Convinced that there is demand for a daily newspaper, he enters into a partnership with William Cutten to form the Otago Daily Times and Witness Newspaper Company Ltd. The first issue of the Otago Daily Times is printed on November 15, making it the oldest daily newspaper in New Zealand. 2,750 copies of the first issue are sold at three pence.
1863

The Evening Star begins publishing

The Star (Dunedin)
A competing daily paper, The Evening Star, begins publication on May 1 under the ownership of George and William Henningham, although it suffers from lack of capital. A fire in 1864 destroys its offices on Stafford Street, along with much of the surrounding area, although most of the printing equipment is rescued.
1864

George Bell enters

Otago Daily Times & The Otago Witness
George Bell, an English-born businessman, is engaged by Julius Vogel to join the Otago Daily Times as sub-editor after working in parliamentary reporting in Australia. With Vogel often away due to his political career, Bell effectively runs the paper. He also serves as editor of The Otago Witness.
1868

Vogel and Bell dismissed

Otago Daily Times
Julius Vogel is removed as editor of the Otago Daily Times, seen as too focused on politics and not enough on profit. Five years later, he becomes the eighth premier of New Zealand. Viewed by the owners as a ‘Vogel ally’, George Bell is also dismissed. Expecting The Evening Star to soon be put up for sale, he bides his time by launching a new daily, The Evening Independent, in early 1869.
1868

The Star begins publishing

The Star (Christchurch)
The foundations of what would later become Star Media begin with the launch of The Star newspaper in Christchurch in 1868. From its earliest days, the paper built a reputation for reliable reporting.
1869

Bell purchases Evening Star

The Star (Dunedin)
After years of financial trouble, creditors take control of The Evening Star and put it up for sale. George Bell buys it for £675 and merges it with The Evening Independent, creating a single publication and keeping the Star name.
1876

The Oamaru Mail begins publishing

The Oamaru Mail
The Oamaru Mail is established, becoming the main news source for North Otago.
1877

New ownership for the ODT

Otago Daily Times
In a clandestine reverse takeover, George (later Sir George) Fenwick and G.M. Reed, owners of rival morning paper the Otago Guardian, buy the Otago Daily Times and Witness Newspaper Company for £30,000. The Otago Guardian, under serious financial pressure, is folded into the Otago Daily Times. For Sir George, it’s a return to his roots: he started at The Otago Witness eighteen years earlier at the age of 13, working as a composing room apprentice. Too small to reach the frame, he stood on a box. He would go on to spend more than 50 years at the company, becoming managing director and editor, famously doubling the paper’s circulation by dropping the price from 3 pence to 1 penny to fend off competition from the Morning Herald.
1878

The Mataura Ensign begins publishing

The Ensign
The Mataura Ensign was founded in Gore in 1878. Facing financial trouble in 1970, it was bought by a group of local businessmen in association with Allied Press. The paper was renamed The Ensign in 1973. In 1993, Allied Press took full ownership.
1879

The Evening Star thrives

The Star (Dunedin)
Under George Bell’s editorship, The Evening Star thrives. While the Otago Daily Times had established itself as Dunedin’s morning paper, The Evening Star quickly becomes the city’s other enduring daily. In September 1879, The Evening Star sells 8,300 copies of an issue covering a tragic fire in the Octagon, a record for a New Zealand newspaper at the time. Robert Wilson, then-editor of The Otago Witness, perishes in the fire along with his family.
1885

Bell retires

The Star (Dunedin)
The Evening Star reaches a weekly circulation of 50,000, the largest in the country. George Bell works until the age of 85 before transferring the business to his family by forming a limited liability company. Since then, the company has remained largely in the hands of Bell’s descendants.
1920

Diversification

The Star (Dunedin)
The Evening Star Company diversifies, pioneering envelope-making in New Zealand and operating cardboard-box-making and bookbinding plants. In later years, it into the building industry with a 50% shareholding in Naylor Love Ltd, a well-established construction company.
1928

New premises

The Star (Dunedin)
The Evening Star shifts into a grand three‑storey building on the corner of Stuart and Cumberland streets. Designed by Edmund Anscombe, the purpose-built premises reflected the paper’s growth, housing state of the art printing equipment including an air-pumped ink system described as “a wonder of mechanism” and pneumatic tubes.
1932

The Otago Witness closes

The Otago Witness
The Otago Witness closes after 4,085 issues due to falling readership caused by the rise of radio and improved roads, which allowed daily newspapers like the Otago Daily Times and The Evening Star to reach the rural areas it once served.
1970

Rugby News begins publishing

Rugby News
The first edition of Rugby News magazine was published, growing to become the country’s most-read rugby magazine.
1972

Mountain Scene begins publishing

Mountain Scene
First published in 1972, Mountain Scene has grown into an award-winning voice of Queenstown, known for its strong local reporting and connection to the community. In 2013, Mountain Scene was purchased by Allied Press.
1975

Allied Press is born

Allied Media
Two of the oldest newspaper companies in New Zealand, Otago Daily Times Limited and Evening Star Company Limited, merge to create Allied Press Limited. ODT staff move into The Star building. Julian (later Sir Julian) Smith, having previously joined the board of the Evening Star Company in 1974, becomes deputy chairman of the holding company, a director of the ODT, and chairman of the Evening Star Company Limited.
1979

The Star moves to twice-weekly

The Star (Dunedin)
Competition for advertising from commercial radio and television affects the viability of most evening papers in two-newspaper towns. The Evening Star ceases daily publication on November 3, relaunching the following week as twice-weekly community newspaper The Star Midweek and The Star Weekender. In 2002, it would move to a weekly paper, continuing to serve the Dunedin community.
1979

Local ownership protected

Allied Media
The Otago Daily Times gains circulation following the closure of The Star. Allied Press becomes a takeover target. To protect local ownership, Dunedin-based produce and markets group John M. Fraser and Co Ltd partners with Allied Press shareholders to form Otago Press and Produce Ltd (OPP). This new company, chaired by Tom Fraser, combines newspaper and produce interests. Julian Smith, managing director of John M. Fraser and Co and an independent director of Allied Press, becomes OPP’s group managing director and deputy chairman.
1985

Ashburton Courier begins publishing

1985
First published in 1985, The Ashburton Courier would later become the leading newspaper in Mid Canterbury with the largest circulation in the district.
1986

Back in the family

Allied Media
The wheel of ownership that began with George Bell in 1869 comes full circle in 1986. The Smith family leads a management buy-out of Otago Press & Produce, re-establishes Allied Press Ltd, and returns the business to private ownership. Sir Julian Smith becomes principal shareholder, chairman and managing director. His brother, Nicholas Smith ONZM, is a major shareholder, director and business manager. Five generations of the family have served as directors of the business: After George Bell’s proprietorship of The Evening Star (1869–1895), his daughter Hannah Smith (née Bell) served as director from 1896 to 1933. Her son, C. Stanley Smith, followed from 1902 to 1943. His son, S. D. Smith, was director from 1933 until his death in 1974, when his son Sir Julian Smith took over the role, later joined by Nicholas Smith. Today, three of their children are involved in the company, continuing the family connection into the sixth generation.
1991

West Coast expansion

Allied Press purchases a majority stake in the Greymouth Evening Star, later renamed the Greymouth Star in 2006, expanding its reach across the South Island.
1995

Television too

Channel 39 and 9
Channel 39 first commenced transmission in 1995 as a tourism station. In 1997 the station was expanded into a news-carrying local station called Channel 9. In 2003, the channel became a division of Allied Press, before closing in 2023.
1998

April Fools

Otago Daily Times
On 1 April, the Otago Daily Times runs a story claiming Speight’s is giving away free beer from a street-side tap. Dozens of hopefuls show up with flagons, only to discover it’s an April Fools joke. It’s a reminder of the Otago Daily Times’ impact.
1998

Re-equipment programme

Allied Media
A major re-equipment programme includes the computerisation of typesetting and printing operations and the installation of a new Goss Universal HT70 press.
1999

Home show launches

The Christchurch Home & Leisure Show
The Christchurch Home & Leisure Show launched as a space for fresh ideas and practical advice, connecting businesses with homeowners looking to improve or renovate their homes
2011

2011 Christchurch Earthquake

Star Media
A tragic moment in Allied Media’s history came on 22 February 2011 when the Christchurch earthquake devastated the city. The collapse of the CTV Building claimed the lives of 115 people, including 16 much-loved colleagues from the Canterbury Television team, then part of Mainland Media (later renamed Star Media).
2013

More notable acquisitions

Star Media
Mainland Media purchased The Christchurch Star and Oamaru Mail from APN New Zealand Media. At the time, Mainland Media was owned by Pier and Charlotte Smulders, and chaired by Allied Press director Nick Smith. Following its acquisition of The Star, the company changed its name to The Christchurch Star Company Limited.
2018

And more...

Allied Media
The company’s operations continue to expand with purchases of Star Media (including The Christchurch Star, founded 1868, events, a stable of magazines) and Clutha Leader (founded 1874), in addition to parent company, Fraser Smith Holdings, previously acquiring a majority interest in the Greymouth Evening Star Company (including the Greymouth Star, founded 1866), giving the group reach across the West Coast. Other notable acquisitions include Gore Publishing Company (1993), Mountain Scene (2013) and Oamaru Mail (2015). It would go on to purchase Wānaka Sun (2022) and Blenheim Sun (2024).
2024

Blenheim Sun

Allied Media
Allied Press purchases the weekly newspaper, The Blenheim Sun, which reaches more than 18,000 homes each week.
2025

Allied Press becomes Allied Media

Allied Media
Allied Press celebrates 50 years. Shortly after, Allied Press rebrands as Allied Media, reflecting its strength as a multi-channel media company with formidable reach across the South Island through its newspapers, magazines, events and websites.

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