I think Martin/Molloy started in '95 but not sure what time of the year?
No, I don’t remember them taking M/M from the start, I think they only took the last 18-24 months, so '97, '98, as NXFM wasn’t an Austereo station when M/M started, & they were proudly local until Austereo took over.
Austereo bought Radio Newcastle (KOFM & NXFM) in about February '96 I think, & they kept the Always Great Rock N Roll format for I guess 6-12 months, by then Austereo had started to bring in management from Sydney, moved a few good people to Sydney or Melbourne, & dropped in some from Sydney who weren’t good enough, & the networking began.
Memory is a bit vague around that period, there was a lot happening in Radio then, times were a changin’ not necessarily for the best either.