It certainly did
Survey 7/1992 0.7% (3MP was No.1 on 15.0%)
8/1992 1.0%
9/1992 0.9% (for some reason there were 9 surveys in 1992?!)
1/1993 1.2%
2/1993 1.2%
3/1993 1.0%
To give those ratings some context, 3EE was literally at the bottom of the ratings. (3AK doing Radio Italia was not surveyed)
Then 3MP took over simulcast on 3EE from 28 May 1993
Magic 693 launched in March 1994 to a debut rating of 2.5% (Survey 3/1994), then more than doubled to 5.2% the next survey.
Does that mean 3MP was simulcasted on 693 for about 10 months?
I thought they got in trouble from the authorities for doing that.
So I’d be stumped if it went for THAT long…
Yep thats still their offical ACMA Callsign but it is never used on-air, only Hitz 9 3 9 is said on-air
The ABA or whoever it was at that stage were probably never known for acting too fast 
I do remember over the summer of 93/94 they did what I suppose was a trial for Magic, by having 693 break away from 3MP simulcast after midnight with a program called Magic after Midnight or Memories after Midnight or something like that. I can’t remember the exact title but it probably acted as a pilot for what would become Magic 693.
Am I right in thinking 693 broke away for AFL on Saturday afternoon or did they take a break until Magic started up?
Possibly did, I’m not familiar enough to know what happened with football broadcasts on 693 in 1993.
Although Magic 693 did launch on the evening of 26 March 1994, just after the station’s Round 1 coverage of the AFL that year. Their first song was Magic Moments by Perry Como… which may or may not have also been the last song played on Magic 693 before it switched to 1278 in 2006.
EDIT: I am informed that it was indeed both the first and last song played on Magic 693
My understanding was that when AWA bought 3XY, it came with a multi-year AFL broadcasting agreement - when BayFM and 3XY were simulcasting, they would diverge for the AFL. Eddie Macguire was 3XY’s main caller, whereas I think 3EE “The Breeze” used Kevin Bartlett (not as confident on this one)…and the 3EE requirement and team carried over to Magic.
IIRC, Ian Major (ex 3KZ) was chief caller for 3EE but i don’t know what happened when 3MP took over 693 with the simulcast. Did 693 continue with the football separate from 3MP?
I seemed to remember their once being an AFL match broadcast on Magic 1278, which was the first time that Magic had broadcast AFL in many years. This was because there was something like four games all on a Saturday afternoon in Melbourne and Geelong…and it was AFL media rights renewal time.
Anyway some possibly legitimate cross referencing to wikipedia that refers to Magic 693 not having their AFL rights renewed in 1999:
And an even worse link identifying that Kevin Bartlett was at some point, the main man at Magic 693 Footy…
It was a match at York Park- and since 6PR was already there to call that game for Perth, they took that call.
York Park makes absolute sense. As I barrack for the Hawks, I was almost going to say it was a Hawthorn match (why else would I remember this??)…but didn’t want to put my foot in it…coz we’re a happy team at Hawthorn…
The Age Green Guide’s article on the approaching launch of 3EE – acknowledging the station had to postpone its debut at the last minute
Not quite the no “fly by night” and “we’ll suffer the losses” operation promised by AWA.
Thanks for the first page, what’s on the next page? (yes, there’s always one who asks!)
I love the “Green Guide”.
Whenever I’m in Melbourne, I always make sure I get the Thursday edition of “The Age” just to read that.
I didn’t have a scan of that page. I’ll see if i can find the original
This is the story of 3XY’s fall from grace, in a nutshell:
1988: 3XY gradually changed its format from “hot hits” CHR to a more adult sound, by November it was positioned as “Easy Rock”. It nosedived rapidly in the ratings.
1989: Bay FM launched in Geelong. It bought 3XY’s licence and the CHR format (which Bay FM had at the time) returned to 3XY. Eventually it was a 24 hour simulcast between Bay FM and 3XY.
1991: Bay FM changed format to easy listening, 3XY stopped simulcasting with Bay FM and was a stand alone station transmitting from Bay FM’s studios in Geelong. 3XY was sold to AWA Media which closed the station in September. Bay FM still continues to this day on 93.9FM in Geelong.
1992: 3XY returned to the airwaves with a new frequency 693 kHz, a new easy listening and lifestyle format, a new callsign of 3EE and a new slogan "The Breeze"
1993: 3EE tanked in the ratings, AWA sold the station to Wesgo (owner of 3MP), they began simulcasting 3MP on 693 kHz, taking advantage of its weak signal on 1377 kHz to the north and west of Melbourne (the 693 kHz transmitter was located at Mt Cottrell in Melbourne’s west).
1994: The Australian Broadcasting Authority ordered Wesgo to stop simulcasting 3MP, hence creating a new station “Magic” on 3EE’s 693 frequency. Later that year Greek Media Group bought a narrowcast licence for the 1422 kHz frequency, and bought the rights to the 3XY name, they were known as “3XY Radio Hellas”. They are still on air on this frequency today.
1995: Southern Cross Broadcasting acquires 3MP and Magic, but to comply with media ownership laws they sold 3MP and 3AK and kept Magic.
2006: Southern Cross Broadcasting swaps the frequencies of 3AW and Magic, 3AW moves from 1278 to 693 and Magic from 693 to 1278.
2010: Pacific Star Network launches digital DAB+ station “Koool” playing hits of the 70s and 80s that would have been played on 3XY at that time. A sort of tribute you can say.
2017: Magic 1278 becomes Talking Lifestyle with a lifestyle/advertorial format. Ratings plummetted.
2018: After a 0.3% rating in Melbourne, Talking Lifestyle will relaunch as a sports radio station. Who knows if it’s a success or not.
The successors of 3XY:
"A cheap to run music format ‘All Time Greats’ proved successful last half 1985/first half 1986(it actually brought back old 2UE listeners). "
Does anyone remember this? I got this from a comment . The comments are the best part of the article. 
.
Looking at the old Sydney radio ratings from that era, 2UE got around an 8% share, in which they were outrating both 2UW & 2SM. This was also when 2CH, which had a “Beautiful Music” format, was the 3rd most popular station behind 2GB & 2MMM.
I think I remember hearing a jingle for an “All Time Great” music format in one of the medleys 2UE had on their website for the 90th birthday celebrations.
But since that programing format happened before my time, I don’t really know much about it (even though I’d really like to! ) or how long it lasted, etc.
