Agree Binjang’s a good listen, comes in fairly well from north of Dubbo right down on the way to Parkes. Certainly a lot more interesting than the SCA/SRN commercial offerings in Dubbo.
2 Likes
I’m trying to understand the community station license areas in Gippsland and have been browsing the ACMA website.
I’ve found these five license areas each with only one station allocated to each area:
-
Leongatha RA1 (3MFM)
-
Warragul RA2 (3BBR)
-
Latrobe Valley RA1 (3GCR)
-
Latrobe Valley RA2 (3GCB)
-
East Gippsland RA1 (3REG)
However I find it interesting that no license area covers the town of Sale or nearby Maffra, Stratford and Heyfield. Although Latrobe Valley RA2 comes very close!
Am I missing a community station and license area in Sale? However I do note that 3GCB (Life FM Gippsland 103.9) are actually based in Sale, but their license area falls short of the actual town.
1 Like
I don’t think is a community radio station that is licensed to serve Sale. I suspect Gippsland FM wanted a licence to serve Sale but one wasn’t made available?
As that sounds similar to the situation with 2OLD 97.3, licensed to serve southern Lake Macquarie but has its studios outside the licence area at Budgewoi. 2OLD were asked by the ACMA to move its studios to within the licence area, but they said doing that was too expensive and that would force them off air permanently.
2OLD started out as a Central Coast TCBL, but I suspect missed out on a Central Coast licence and picked up the Lake Macquarie one instead after 2MAQ folded.
3 Likes
There is no community radio stations serving Lithgow to my knowledge, does anyone have some insight to why that is?
2 Likes
There was one on 90.5 (2EZY) but I think that folded a few years ago. It was a real crock of a station whenever I tuned in, though.
It’s far from the only major centre without a community station, though. Nearby Mudgee comes to mind, as does Muswellbrook. I don’t think Mudgee has ever had a community station; Muswellbrook had Mount Helen FM at one stage.
Ultimately it comes down to the will of the community. The ACMA don’t hand out community licences for the sake of it.
3 Likes
My home town of Murray Bridge has never had one but there is reception of community radio from Mount Barker, Goolwa and Adelaide
4 Likes
Provisions have been made in several LAPs for community radio in major regional centres that were never taken up.
Mudgee 97.1 (now reallocated to 2MG for its FM conversion)
Moree 104.5
Gunnedah 104.7
It seems more likely to see community radio pop up in smaller centres that don’t have their own commercial station, such as (in NSW) Forster, Deepwater/Glen Innes, Tumut, Dundeoo/Coolah and need I add, Dorrigo/Bellingen and Braidwood! 3MFM is another similar one in the West Gippsland region of VIC. Most of those still receive commercial radio from a nearby larger centre as well.
Its those smaller towns that have a stronger sense of community - where “everyone knows everyone”, the larger towns lose some of that. Community radio is a great fit for those smaller towns.
1 Like
yes indeed if you look at the very small towns such a Walgett in outback NSW, they have a couple of community radio stations servicing them plus Rebel / Breeze.
Re Mudgee the closest community station is 98.7 2KKR fm servicing Kandos / Rylstone.
2 Likes
Yes- a good little station. I can’t remember how well they are received in Mudgee but there are a few sponsors from there, most notably Hardly Normal (but Kandossians would shop there I suppose, a bit like how Dubbo businesses advertise on 2WEB).
4 Likes
Deniliquin is another regional centre that doesn’t have a community radio station.
3 Likes
I believe one is coming, a youth station called The End FM on 88.9, https://endfm.com.au/
A funny name considering my station is Starter FM.
8 Likes
Interesting choice of frequency, being only 120 km away from the 6kw Radio National outlet at Hay.
3 Likes
The logo is eerily similar too…hmm.
3 Likes
So too is their website…
2 Likes
End FM is named after the street they are located on.
Regarding Mudgee, Lithgow and some of the other communities wirhout a community station, its a tough gig and expensive to run a community station, consider transmitter site and studio leases, equipment costs and maintenance, electricity, internet, production costs, marketing, etc. In the case of Mudgee, it has a nearby community station 2krr which services Mudgee and many of their volunteers come from Mudgee. Also Mudgee has a vibrant narrowcaster called Magic 87.6, which along with the 2MG, Real FM would suck up much if not all of the advertising revenue from the town. Lithgow is similar in many ways. One of the big issues for community radio these days, is (unlike years past) councils and antenna site owners want commercial market based rents and they dont care who you are, its all about the dollars and many of these smaller communities just dont have the resources to make it work.
7 Likes
Another factor again making life hard for community radio stations is that ACMA are pretty strict and ruthless in how they treat community radio licensees. The complete opposite of their approach to commercial radio which is all warnings and hugs and second and third chances.
6 Likes
Agreed. Braidwood FM’s Mt. Gillamatong site doesn’t come cheap (and we have to pay for power now as well). We are lucky to have a relatively stable arrangement with the club for our studio premises.
4 Likes
Maybe a solution for Lithgow would be to put a translator in place for Bathurst community radio 2MCE to cover Lithgow city.
If you listen to 2LT / Move fm there is quite a bit of coverage for Bathurst, weather, advertising etc so why can’t a community radio station do this too. There are no high powered frequencies available from Mt Lambie so it would have to use the same frequency, site and specs of the old 2EZY. Does 2MCE also have a translator in Orange?
2 Likes
Yes they do, on 94.7 MHz.
3 Likes
There may be a case for a s212 retransmission if links between the 2MCE service and Lithgow could be established, e.g. through Charles Sturt University. Out of area retransmissions must have written approval from the ACMA. There is a precedent; I think Sonshine FM Perth has a transmitter down at Katanning on 97.3. There is also 3GV’s Bemm River translator (104.5) that falls under s212.
If the Perth ‘God Squad’ can manage to procure a service down in Katanning then I don’t see why not.
2 Likes