The station was started by Radio New Zealand (which was known as the National Broadcasting Service at the time) in October 1949 broadcasting on 1200AM with the callsign 2XA. The callsign was later changed to 2ZW and the station was rebranded as 2ZW.
In 1978 2ZW moved to 1197AM after New Zealand changed from 10 kHz spacing on the AM band to 9 kHz spacing. 2ZW was rebranded as River City Radio in 1988 and 89.6 River City FM in 1993 after the station began broadcasting on 89.6FM.
In 1998 The Radio Network grouped all their local stations in smaller markets together to form the Community Radio Network. River City FM continued to run a local breakfast show between 6 am and 10 am but outside breakfast all stations part of the Community Radio Network took network programming from a central studio based in Taupo.
In 2001 the Community Radio Network was discontinued and all stations become part of the Classic Hits FM network, as a result River City FM was rebranded as Classic Hits 89.6 River City FM. The station continued to run a local breakfast but now outside breakfast all programming originated from the Classic Hits studios in Auckland. At the same time the original 1197AM frequency was replaced with Newstalk ZB.
On 28 April 2014, all stations part of the Classic Hits network were rebranded as The Hits. A networked breakfast presented by Polly Gillespie and Grant Kareama was introduced to almost all The Hits stations with the former breakfast announcer moved to present a 6-hour show between 9 am and 3 pm. The local daytime programme is presented by Jesse Archer who can also be heard on The Hits Manawatu.
The current station is located on the corner of Guyton and Campbell Streets, Whanganui.
