I actually drove past the transmitting station in Humpty Doo, but yes I didn’t have a way in the car to see if it was doing anything.
My thoughts exactly re an AM beast out there - one transmitter could (storms aside) do a great job at covering a good area.
Thanks @tamago_otoko for making the point so clearly why the domestic shortwave transmitters should never have been turned off and why they should be recommissioned.
Not sure what topic to pop this into but have chosen ABC. As a Melbournion have never listened to talk radio so much as now . We really only have 2 options. 3AW and 774 ABC. I find ABC do some programs really well (especially Virginia and Raf), where 3AW are pretty consistent all the time. What are everybody else’s thoughts on getting good talkback thru this pandemic??? . I find AW are very biased and opinionated where ABC present the facts only. More people I know seem to listen to AW. Keen to know everybody else’s thoughts???
AW is unlistenable due to the sheer amount of ads they play, it’s rarely any program it’s just ads. Plus Neil Mitchell is very long in the tooth these days and loves the sound of his own voice and Drive is appalling with Tom, he’s useless.
I see nothing much has changed radio-wise since I last went to NT a decade ago.
I had a campervan, and during the drive from Alice Springs to Uluru I was surprised all radio stations including the ABC cut out not too far out of town. Not being prepared for it, I had a very tough drive trying to stay awake. I ended up occupying my mind by trying to calculate when we would go past the next km marker.
Out of sheer desperation I bought an overpriced SD card for my GPS, which had could read MP3 files and had an FM transmitter.
Listening to Sunday morning Nick Mcallum & Heidie Murphy & Darren James. Good show but heaps of adds. That’s where abc leaves them for dead.
Yep the ads are very annoying, often pop over to AW to see what they’re talking about and go straight into an as break.
That’s why I mostly listen to AW shows via their podcasts
Some ABC movement in New South Wales.
Firstly - Statewide Drive presenter Fiona Wyllie has finished up with the ABC. From Monday there will be a a number of different presenters filling in until the end of the year, when a permanent host will be announced. Ewan Gilbert the ABC Central West breakfast presenter will initially be the first presenter to fill in.
And also Statewide and Sydney afternoons presenter James Valentine is taking holidays for the next two months, returning in November.
Can he take permanent holidays? He is about as funny as a fart in an elevator.
Who’s going to replace him? Lucky to have 2 months off.
The Sydney EPG guide says Josh Szeps.
The milquetoast of Sydney radio. Utterly boring.
it’s a prime example as to why satellite radio works. I once drove from LA, down to Houston and through to Orlando in a car with Sirius and almost never lost reception - i’d say i had it 99% of the way and thats though some remote parts of Arizona and Texas. Surely something can be done locally
It’d be a massive gamble now, maybe ten years ago it could’ve worked. That and it’s not in the CRA’s interest for more competition.
I’m not even suggesting the whole multi-hundred channel sirius experience. stick all the ABC / SBS services on it if it’s govt funded or subsided like VAST and others can pay for access if they want it
Sabra Lane and Linda Mottram
Sabra Lane and Linda Mottram, presenters of ABC Audio Current Affairs flagships AM , Saturday AM and PM , are on the move.
In October Mottram will relocate to Bega, in south-east NSW, while Lane is planning a January move to Hobart.
Locating content-making roles in more parts of Australia is one of the key goals of the ABC’s Five-Year Plan, and being closer to our communities is integral to ABC NEWS’s “More Relevant to More Australians” editorial strategy, helping us tap into the concerns and perspectives of the broadest cross-section of Australians.
Basing national current affairs programs in regional NSW and in Hobart is also a boost for the local teams, opening new possibilities for bringing original and relevant stories from those centres to the nation.
Melbourne-born Lane has been based in Canberra for 13 years, leading AM for the past four. She says she has been contemplating a change of scene for some time.
“A couple of years ago I fell in love with Tasmania and its glorious native forests and had a dream to move there,” she says. “I asked if it was possible to present AM from Hobart and was delighted the answer was yes. I’ll still be keeping a ferocious eye and ear on Federal politics and national affairs.”
“It’s been an honour to be part of the ABC’s Parliamentary Bureau team — it’s a powerhouse of reporting. But a new path awaits and I’m looking forward to joining my new ABC family in Hobart.”
Lane will broadcast from one of the ABC’s main Hobart studios, which are fully equipped with the latest technology to connect with audiences and ABC networks across the country and around the world.
The move also means she will relinquish her role as President of the National Press Club.
“It’s been a tremendous honour to serve on the National Press Club Board as a director and President,” she says. “It’s a wonderful institution. I shall miss the club and fellow directors.”
Mottram will broadcast Saturday AM and PM out of ABC South East, located in the town of Bega.
Originally from Perth, Mottram has worked all over the world, including being the ABC correspondent in the Middle East and Moscow, and has been presenting PM for almost three years, out of both the Sydney and Gosford studios.
“We’ve never been a family that sits still for too long. We’ve travelled the world to work and just on a whim,” Mottram says. “Our family has south coast history from way back and there has been a real pull.
“Planting PM in a regional centre will also bring deeper understanding of rural communities and ties to their stories.”
AM can be heard Monday to Friday at 7.10am on RN and at 8.00am on Local and Regional Radio. Saturday AM is on each Saturday at 7.10am on RN and at 8.00am on Local and Regional Radio.
PM can be heard Monday to Friday at 5.00pm on RN and at 6.30pm on ABC Local and Regional Radio.
I think this isn’t the first time a national program is broadcast from a regional ABC station. Saturday Night Country (when it was hosted by John Nutting)?
Late Night Live came out of ABC Upper Hunter at Muswellbrook for a little bit - Phillip Adams still owns property out Gundy way.
I believe Saturday Night Country comes out of Gosford mostly these days - as that is where Felicity Urquhart is based. Also it’s not uncommon for national programs on weekends on the Digital channels and over Summer to come out of regional locations. Angela Catterns for example was presenting the National Sunday Drive program, during the pause on sport caused by the pandemic between April to June from the Lismore studios).
