Community Radio

Discussion of community radio.

Thread on previous forum

Well done to local radio station in Brisbane BAY FM that was live and local last night with listener requests until about 1pm.

So was 101fm Logan.

So in the Brissy area, there are suburban licences for Bayside, Logan, Redclliffe and Caboolture (and Beaudesrt and Boonah, though they’re a bit further out).

I have wondered though, has there ever been a push for the Ipswich area to get one?
It is a bit unusual for an area of that size to have a commercial radio station, but not a community one.

To my knowledge ACMA has never allocated a frequency for an Ipswich community station, however, I agree it is a big anomaly for an area that size to not have one. There is a station at Esk - Valley FM as well as the one at Boonah that you mentioned.

Ah yes, thanks re Esk.

And Wild Horse up at Yarraman, which co-channels with Redcliffe.
I don’t imagine you’ve been able to get 4WHO anywhere in Brissy?

@Radiohead - no, not with Redcliffe at 2kW

ah, thanks TVC!

Former ABC sports broadcaster Glenn Mitchell has joined 6MM based at Mandurah, south west of Perth. He will present Summer Sportsline with Jack Crawshaw.
Nice to hear Glenn has a new job after quitting the ABC a few years ago as he battled mental health problems.

6MM is a commercial station, not a community station.

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The University of Adelaide has delayed a decision on the fate of 101.5 Radio Adelaide. The studios of the community broadcaster on 228 North Terrace remain scheduled to be demolished on July 1.

(via radioinfo.com.au)

Following ACMA approval, control of 101.5 Radio Adelaide will transition to a non-profit, independent organisation from July this year, in a move that will see the educational broadcaster co-sited with Fresh 92.7. (via the University of Adelaide)

Excuse the treble post - I’m hearing a lot of people involved with RA aren’t particularly happy about this. From what I can gather, this agreement came between the University and Fresh without consultation of Radio Adelaide or its broadcasters.

What shows on community radio do you like? Here are a few I enjoy:

“InPhase”- 2SWR Blacktown, Sat 1000-1200. Mainly retro music.

“The Open House Mix”- 2SSR Sutherland, Sun 0900-1300. Mainly retro music.

“The Velvet Doghouse”- 2RES Waverley, Sun 1600-1800. A great mix of Americana, soul, oldies.

Unfortunately, the Mechie Show is no longer.

Suppose I can let it out now, not exactly a re-launch, but sometime in the next couple of weeks CoastFM 96.3 Gosford will have all new imaging on air.

I heard them all a few weeks ago, & look out Star104.5 & SCA Gosford. They sound fantastic, very professional (& so they should).
Station manager’s a bit worried about getting complaints about sounding too commercial (not from the commercial stations though, from other community stations).

They were voiced by Bob Peters (currently at NEWFM) & produced by Dan King (Sarah King of 2GO’s brother).

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That’s good to hear!

No reason as to why they should. If it’s possible - financially and technologically - to sound “commercial” while still meeting the remits of the community license, then why the hell wouldn’t you?

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Is "sounding commercial a good thing though?

Depends what you define “commercial” as.

If it’s trying to make your station sound professional, without resorting to the homogeneity and the “icy cold cans of Coke” mentality, then I see it as a good thing. It varies by market too - it can work for the ‘general’ community station in Gosford, but not a sub-metro station in Sydney. Case study: 104.1 Territory FM in Darwin.

That said, I’d try to create my own sound to stand out. The stalwarts of the sector - the likes of 3RRR and FBi, for example, do this well.

Thanks for the heads up!

Will certainly give Coast more of a listen when the change happens.

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Rhema Central Coast is appealing to raise $65,000 to move transmitter sites, claiming the existing site is to be “pulled down”. https://www.facebook.com/rhemacentralcoast/posts/1151817744843000

@RFBurns - do you know more about this? The ACMA database says the current Rhema site is on Mt Penang, alongside Coast, 2GO and the ABCs.