As well as metropolitan stations, there are some regional areas without ABCRR on FM. Some Queensland ones are Darling Downs, Rockhampton and Townsville. There are also plenty of smaller sites that don’t have a full suite of ABC services.
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I think the ABC should be pursuing some form of national music radio network which appeals to the masses, not dissimilar to BBC Radio 2 in the UK, so I like this news - assuming they put more effort into expanding Double J and perhaps pulling it a bit more towards the mainstream spectrum.
In most major cities where spectrum availability is scarce, ABC Classic FM is often overlapped with the 2MBS, 3MBS, 4MBS and 5MBS classical music stations - so it’s not like cities would be devoid of classical music programming on FM radio. I know that a lot of seniors wouldn’t be too keen on transitioning to a digital radio, though. There’s also the snobs who spit on digital radio saying that the quality is terrible (in a similar vein to the ol’ vinyl vs CD comparison).
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Why though? We have enough commercial radio networks already doing this.
In the CBD? With tram lines and the tall buildings? It’s shit.
Sorry, but I have to agree with TVAU. There are plenty of commercial radio networks who have stations with music formats that appeal to the masses, the ABC’s music stations should be running formats which the mainstream commercial stations won’t touch.
I do agree with ABC Classic FM often overlapping with stations such as 2MBS/Fine Music 102.5 here in Sydney though.
Worth noting the ratings for ABCFM in Canberra where the politicians live 
I can see very strong opposition there to a change that affects the number 4 rated station.
I think this is the latest survey
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I smell a marketing campaign coming.
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A digital radio is more simple than analogue radio. You begin with the receiver tuning in the stations for you. All stations are marked by name, therefore very easy to find.
Setting presets is common across all devices, this is perhaps the most difficult. But to set up and find a station and most listen to only one station is very simple.
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Ausmusic Month - November
ABC Classic will mark Ausmusic Month with a diverse range of live and recorded concerts and broadcast content that will celebrate emerging Australian performers and pay tribute to some renowned Australian composers. Highlights include the Australian National Academy of Music Concerto Competition on 17 November, as well as two broadcast concerts from celebrated music festivals the Huntington Chamber Music Festival (from 22 November) and the Tasmanian Chamber Music Festival (12 November).
ABC Classic will mark Ausmusic Month with a diverse range of live and recorded concerts and broadcast content that will celebrate emerging Australian performers and pay tribute to some renowned Australian composers. Highlights include the Australian National Academy of Music Concerto Competition on 17 November, as well as two broadcast concerts from celebrated music festivals the Huntington Chamber Music Festival (from 22 November) and the Tasmanian Chamber Music Festival (12 November).
ABC Classic FM 95.7 Wollongong has issues with the left/right audio being out of balance (favours the left channel) and it has been like that for over a week now.
No such issues with the Sydney or Newcastle broadcasts.
You really have to wonder if any off air monitoring is done down there, since it’s a major regional transmitter with Local ABC studios and offices.
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I recall a similar thing with one of the JJJs in SEQ.
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JJJ Sunshine Coast @TV.Cynic
Also Classic FM Sunshine Coast is also quite LOUD compared to other nearby Classic FM’s.
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That distortion is ready bad - how can that not have been corrected?
Budget cuts might hit hard on the ABC’s networks.
https://www.radioinfo.com.au/news/closures-and-mergers-rumoured-be-under-consideration-abc
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Interesting. Do you think there is really a chance they could cut Classic FM? What would they do with the frequencies, sell them? It could open up some FM capacity in congested cities on the east coast. Or maybe they could put Double J on FM perhaps. Perhaps they might move ABC Local or RN to FM in the capital cities. While I’d personally prefer they replace Classic FM with a BBC Radio 2 format that won’t happen as it wouldn’t save them any money I guess. Maybe ABC Country on FM might work in smaller regional towns.
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Unfortunately, they likely couldn’t do that. Their legislation is set up for the Minister to reserve spectrum for them. They’d have to relinquish it and then new licences auctioned.
It’s likely they’ll do more with less, cheaper content over the same five slots they have.
Yes, could work, anything to rid Local Radio of that 90min abomination of Myf’s music weekdays.
Wouldn’t that be nice, talk on FM. Local Radio would see an uptick and likely Myf’s show remaining on local.
Love it. They could run an automated version. Same could be done with Classic currently. Employ one station ‘voice’ for announcements.
This would be wonderful.
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Would not be surprised to see Classic FM get axed, to be fair it is an extremely niche service (especially in comparison to something like Double J) that once served a purpose that was far less niche when it launched.
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I think moving ABC Local to FM is the most likely thing to happen if Classic FM gets the axe. I would like to see more music played on ABC Local if this happens. ABC Local used to play heaps of contemporary music back in the 1970s - why can’t they do it today?
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But how expensive is Classic FM anyway? Does it really cost that much given it’s just one program for the whole country.