– Join Together ENGINEER OF THE YEAR Peter Hitchcock – Only Time Could Let Us Know ARRANGER OF THE YEAR Mike Harvey – Damn The Dam See: 1973 in music Performing arts Benny Award presented by the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand to Ray Columbus. Radio and television Colour television broadcasts begin at 7:45pm on 31 October. The licence fee for a colour television is NZ$35. In December, Fred Dagg makes his first appearance. Feltex Television Awards: Natural History Programme: Bird of a Single Flight Best News, Current Affairs: Election Night '72 Best Light Entertainment: Loxene Golden Disc 1972 Best Drama and the Arts: Gone Up North and An Awful Silence Best Documentary: Deciding Allied Crafts: Loxene Golden Disc set and work on Pop Co. The first ZM radio stations were started in 1973 as 1ZM Auckland, 2ZM Wellington and 3ZM Christchurch. See: 1973 in New Zealand television, 1973 in television, List of TVNZ television programming, :Category:Television in New Zealand, :Category:New Zealand television shows, Public broadcasting in New Zealand Film Rangi's Catch See: :Category:1973 film awards, 1973 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, :Category:1973 films Sport Athletics Terry Manners wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:18:28.7 on 10 March in Inglewood. In the same year, on 1 December, the title is taken over by John Robinson who wins his first national title, clocking 2:15:03.6 in Christchurch. Chess The 80th National Chess Championship is held in Wellington, and is won by Ortvin Sarapu of Auckland (his 12th title). Horse racing From January 1973, all races are run at metric distances rather than imperial. Harness racing New Zealand Trotting Cup – Arapaho Auckland Trotting Cup – Arapaho Soccer New Zealand National Soccer League is won by Christchurch United The Chatham Cup is won by Mount Wellington who beat North Shore United 3–0 in the final New Zealand hosts and wins the inaugural Oceania Cup tournament, beating Tahiti 2–0 in the final Births 25 January: Ruben Wiki, rugby league footballer 20 February: Leisen Jobe, field hockey player 1 April: Stephen Fleming, cricketer 8 April: Nicholas Tongue, freestyle swimmer 27 May: Tana Umaga, rugby player Ian Winchester, athlete 16 June: Shane Reed, athlete (died 2022) 2 July: Andrew Buckley, field hockey player 10 July: Andrew McCormick, rugby union footballer 23 July: Adrian Cashmore, rugby player 31 July: Tasha Williams, hammer thrower 4 August: