When Bay FM commenced back in 1989 the slogan was Bay FM rocks the 90s. They were more modern than K-Rock who had just converted from 3GL and were still a little bit on the daggy side. I think there were different owners back then and there was competition between the two. Bay FM at that stage played predominantly modern music probably similarly to 3XY in the mid 80s. When they purchased 3XY, 3XY were a little bit softer than Bay FM at that time. It was around 1991 when Bay FM adopted the softer style and K-Rock became more of a rock station.
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I’d keep all stations well away from the event which is nothing more than a pre election campaign sweetener to fool an easily led population who have been subjected to some of, if not the most protracted and punitive covid restrictions in the free world.
At the time, 3GL/K-Rock was owned by Hoyts Media (Triple M) and there was a period when K-Rock and 3MMM simulcasted in the evenings. Hoyts Media sold the station to Grant in the early 90s.
Bay FM was a licence issued after a beauty parade of 9 applicants to the ABT. The successful applicant was GLFM Pty Ltd (named as a blocker to FM conversion of 3GL) which was 52% owned by Ridley Corporation (a local salt producer), 10% by 3CV and 38% by other Geelong investors. GLFM bough 3XY for $900k and then simulcast 3XY and Bay FM until instructed otherwise. When GLFM went into liquidation in 1991, the liquidator could not sell the BayFM licence due to a legislative requirement that prohibited licence transfers within two years of issue. The path to Grant’s ownership included the Geelong Independent and ACE along the way.
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Fascinating info, thanks for sharing that. I particularly like the idea of blocking 3GL from the ‘GLFM’ name, that’s great. In a way I like to think it may have led to the birth of one of the great (and unique) regional radio stations in K-Rock as a result.
Do you remember exactly when Grant finally took ownership of Bay? I recall maybe mid-90s? There were some disparaging references made at the time about them merging to become ‘Bay-Rock’.
Sad also to note that 3XY wasn’t even worth a paltry $1m when it sold despite it being THE station of the 70s/80s in Melbourne.
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I think AWA got the licence for even less… around $500,000 but all it really got was a commercial AM frequency. It essentially had to build the replacement station 3EE from scratch.
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I believe Grant Broadcasters acquired the remaining 50% in Bay FM from ACE in 1994
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There’s now a transmitter power outage affecting Bay and K-Rock
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…just happens to be in the Grand Final.
Welcome to Geelong – where the teams at Bay 93.9 and K Rock are abuzz with nervous excitement as the Cats prepare to do battle with the Swans on the hallowed MCG turf this Saturday.
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They will start from Monday 17th October, coming in from doing breakfast for Hit across Regional Victoria.
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Mathers informed staff yesterday that Friday January 20th, 2023 will be his last day as General Manager at Geelong Broadcasters.
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…step in as acting General Manager of Geelong Broadcasters for the next 3 months, effective from this Monday, January 23rd.
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PLEASE return BayFM as being the soft easy listening station & K-Rock as being the rock station.
Stop this mish-mash, especially now that they have local ownership on their side.
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Bay to soft ac is a slam dunk I’d say - Smooth and Mix before it abandoned that segment, and 3MP is on AM and not modern enough. It fits the ‘coastal’ town of Geelong and is a unique segment against the Melbourne stations.
K-Rock I’d be less confident on - I’m nostalgic for it as a rock station, but I’ll admit there’s maybe not as much of a market for rock radio these days. But their current format isn’t differentiated enough from Bay, let alone a compelling offering over Fox, Nova and KIIS.
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What about something in between Triple J and Nova for Krock?
Grant’s two Geelong stations are no longer part of the network of stations now owned by ARN, do what they do on the Sunshine Coast give them their own unique playlists. I think they still share their logs with ARN regional?
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Yes, Bay & K Rock still share their logs with ARN Regional.
As for ARN doing their own unique playlists on the Sunshine Coast, I don’t think it’s the case, given that the logs on Hot 91 & Zinc are also heard on other stations within the network. You’re probably thinking of Sea & Mix, who are owned by GSL Media, and therefore have their own logs, given they’re independently-owned stations.
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Yes I was think of Mix and Sea fm.
Does Sea fm still do RnB Friday’s they were doing it at one stage.
Looking at Lava from last Friday, it appears that Sea FM Sunshine Coast are still doing RnB Fridays.