On 1 December 1998 Sea FM began broadcasting in Devonport Tasmania on 107.7MHz targeting 18 to 39-year-olds.
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Didn’t they start out as U FM before rebranding to SEA FM?
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The Ultimate?
I think so; it was only briefly though. Perhaps they were based out of Ulverstone initially?
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I was in Hobart when they launched and only knew them as Sea FM
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Not too sure about the rest of this “not so rocky Triple M” but it was in Early 1995 (rather than Early 1996) that Richard Stubbs’ breakfast show from Melbourne was first networked into Sydney:
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Even though Triple M was hard rock in the 1980s, its Top 8 at 8 was very pop-oriented (and yes, based on listener votes) and songs would come and go from the Top 8 at 8 weeks before even hitting the mainstream charts.
The Top 8 at 8 was popular but oddly never inspired Triple M or Fox to really expand into new pop music across the day. 3XY had that market to itself but being on the AM band it was losing listeners even though outside of the Top 8 the FM stations weren’t touching pop.
Fox then adopted “the new Fox mix” sometime around 1990 which was a bit boppier and more dance oriented and gave it a clear difference to Triple M and new FMs TT and KZ which all were becoming basic variations on similar formats. (KZFM later branched out to become Gold 104 and focus on 50s, 60s and 70s hits)
I can’t remember what year it was, maybe 1993 or 94? When Fox and Triple M basically swapped formats. Triple M became the dance and top 40 station and Fox became hard and classic rock. Didn’t last long and the formats soon swapped back.
Was strange though when I visited Perth a couple of years later that Triple M there (the old 96FM) was still the dance and top 40 hit station, whereas Triple Ms over the east coast were back to playing hard and classic rock.
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It was tragic. Triple M probably thought that Stubbs exposure to Sydney audiences hosting Tonight Live with Steve Vizard on Friday nights a couple of years earlier would have given him a leg in, but my memory of his time on Tonight Live was this smug yet uneasy and unsure character who was trying to be cutting edge. It didn’t work.
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In Sydney I think it was 1994 when Triple M went “alternative” and started playing artists like Ace Of Base and they had a networked show at nights across SYD/MEL/BNE/ADL with “The Wall” .
I remember Triple M’s ratings fell below Triple J’s, which was quite a fall from grace given they had been No. 1 for so long only a few years earlier. That format didn’t last long and I think it was less than a year before Triple M went back to rock.
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1994 was also the year that Austereo (who owned 2Day) & Village Roadshow (who owned 2MMM) merged their radio operations, which was made possible thanks to the introduction of the ‘2-station rule’ that came into place a couple years earlier.
In Sydney, this brought an end to the rivalry between 2MMM & 2Day that had been going on since 1980, although it wasn’t until 1990 that the two way battle had really ramped up when 2Day changed to a more upbeat CHR/Hot AC format. In early 1992, 2Day knocked 2MMM off the top spot for the first time.
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Fox had Great Classic Rock in 1992…I think the switch back was after Fox (Austereo) bought Gold104 - as you don’t need two classic rock stations… (before selling Gold104 and buying Triple M).
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Given the current conversation about 2Day’s new AC-oriented music format, I thought it’s worth replying to the following comment on this thread about how it was around 20 years ago.
That’s not entirely true. Many parts of Sydney, particularly the western suburbs, could get One FM 96.1 (later 9inety6ix.1, now The Edge) from Penrith & the Blue Mountains, which offered a more CHR format throughout the day, except for the period of 1998-99, when they had a more Alternative Rock format. Of the main Sydney stations, 2Day’s closest FM competitor was Mix 106.5 (now KIIS), which had a more Soft AC back then, a little similar to how Smooth is sounding today.
During that same era, there was a more interesting battle between Fox & TTFM (later Mix 101.1, now KIIS) down in Melbourne, which targeted a similar audience & were battling between #1 & #2 FM back then, with 3MMM cutting in-between in some surveys.
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During that era, B105 was beaten by 4KQ in the overall ratings for a few surveys in 2005-06, whilst in early 2007, it was beaten by 4BH for two consecutive surveys.
As for SAFM, they had an AC format after 5MMM, which had an adult music format, went after a younger audience in late 2003 in anticipation of the arrival of Nova, which came on-air the following year. As a result, Mix 102.3 had a big boost in the ratings from picking up disenfranchised 5MMM listeners & hit the top by the end of 2004, knocking SAFM off the #1 position.
In 2005, SAFM went back to targeting a younger audience, whilst 5MMM went back to targeting an older audience.
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Yes they did. The stations at the time we’re owned by Mike Willasee & there was a period in the late 80’s where 1026am was silent in Melbourne meaning 4MK’s signal was easy to dx at night & I used to listen to it driving back to Gunnedah after my community radio show in Tamworth on a Thursday night. It was a really good program
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I was a teenager living near Maryborough Qld in the mid 80s and 4MK was probably my favourite station to listen to late into the night. It was always one of the clearest signals although it faded in and out of course. Loved it and I thought it sounded so polished and “modern” compared to my local choices 4MB and 4BU. The other one I loved at the time which also came through well was 4HI.
Yes, 4MK was well received down here into Newcastle via night skip, it was the most northerly signal that I could receive. It was a good listen.
I think 4HI and 4LG Longreach shared night time programming back then, I did listen to it a bit via 4LG (reception of 4HI impossible here due to 2HD), but I don’t remember a lot about it.
Yes they used to id at night as 4HI-LG.
If I recall correctly 4HI was a relatively new station and might have only gone to air in the early 80s. It was a bit top 40 at night, probably moreso than even 4MK.
I used to sometimes get 4RR and 4TO Townsville and occasionally 4CA. But 4MK was definitely the most reliable northern station.
I also recall 2NX-NM as pretty good at night too.
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I read 2uw became more TalkBack when John Laws came from 2ue drive. I am not sure if John Laws program was talk on the drive show, but it seems his show became talk when he was on 2uw. 2uw was pretty popular in the 60s for music and lost some audience due it becoming more news and talk. They built the station around John Laws and that kept the ratings at a higher level. Then I think once John Laws left it never become a very popular music station (consistently ) until KIIS.
Does anyone know when it reverted back to music? Was listening to life and times show on talking lifestyle with Marcela Zemanek. Was too young to listen in the 70s. Was this the catalyst for 2sm when Laws went to 2uw to grow in popularity as the number one music station?
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Never knew Laws was once on 2UW.
That means he has been on at least 4 commercial radio stations in Sydney.
Must be some kind of a record?
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