They’d held a number of test transmissions but broadcast as Triple Seven FM. They changed name to Light when they launched the permanent service IIRC.
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I think this is what you’re referring to: https://web.archive.org/web/20040909170502/http://www.aba.gov.au/radio/services/services/nsw/sydney/community/sydney/transcripts.htm
These are a collection of transcripts of the public hearing for community radio licence allocations in Sydney that was held from 14th to 29th August 2000.
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Woah.
I am without speech.
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Two other of the unsuccessful applicants were KISS FM (now a narrowcast licence across Melbourne as “KISS FM Dance Music Australia”) and Nu Country FM. Both had a good chance of succeeding in the Melbourne market as the dance music played on KISS FM was more underground and sounded less commercial than dance tracks on the pop charts, and country music had very much zero presence in Melbourne since 3UZ dumped the format in 1987. I was disappointed when both didn’t get the licences.
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I thought one of the more bizarre applicants was one called GB Radio. From their test broadcast (I’m not sure if there was even more than one), it was largely just tape delays of slabs of UK radio. From what I can barely recall it was mostly talk-based programming. I don’t know if it had any local content.
I thought the station just disappeared when it didn’t get one of the community broadcasting licences but a google search has found that it ended up with a narrowcast licence on 1620 kHz. Is it still even going?
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Long long gone. Became Radio 2’s eastern Melbourne affiliate, and is now 3CW.
As for GB radio proper, I believe they were potentially around as late as 2007-2008 on various frequencies?
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I remember hearing test broadcasts for Laugh Radio and was confused as to how it would be eligible for a community licence. Whilst some of the content was good, I wasn’t sure how broadcasting comedy sketches was really resolving an unmet need of the community.
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I remember Laugh Radio, too. Seemed a very slim premise for a radio station.
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Then how do you explain the Parliamentary broadcasts? Comedy gold that lot are. 
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8 November 1968: 3AK (finally!) becomes a 24-hour radio station. It becomes the last commercial station in Melbourne to switch to 24/7 broadcast.
The station was previously limited to daytime hours only due to a conflict with 2BS using the same frequency in Bathurst. IIRC the matter was only resolved when Frank Packer bought out 2BS and forced a change to directional transmission, enabling it and 3AK to continue to broadcast on the same frequency, 1500.
Why they didn’t just shift 3AK to another frequency I’m not sure? Would have been cheaper than to buy out a whole radio station?
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Probably because there may have not been a spare frequency to move 3AK on to so that 24 hour transmission could be achieved without screwing up another station?
Not the first one to do it, although my example is TV - Darling Downs TV buying TVQ-0 and switching it with DDQ-10.
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Possibly. Although it was only a few years after this that 3ZZ began on 1220, 3EA on 1120 and 3CR on 840. While none were 24/7 stations AFAIK, it appears that there was some space still around the dial.
Maybe, given their niche markets, they weren’t high powered signals so to avoid any conflict elsewhere. I’m not sure.
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Even in your old stomping ground, 2NM moved from 1458 to 981 in 1983 or thereabouts.
Not sure what the reason for that change was though.
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Yes, why did they do it? Even with an old backup 2SM transmitter…is that part right?
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Not long after 3ZZ started 4AK had to move frequency from 1220 to 1240. It said on air that this was because 4AK was interfering with 3ZZ at night. Another strange one, you would think that 3ZZ would have been moved.
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I always thought it was dubious why they switched from from 10khz to 9khz spacing when they could have just expanded the AM band to 1700khz like they did in the 90s.
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Jingles sound better and more varied when numbers don’t all end with a zero… eg. “Twelve twenty four” sounds better when sung than “Twelve twenty” or " Twelve thirty". Ditto “Thirteen Forty One”. For that reason alone, I’m glad we moved to 9Khz spacing.
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Would you rather they still separated them by wavelengths?
“You’re listening to Radio Sydney, on 219 metres… that was BTO and You Ain’t Seen na-na-na-Nothing Yet… next up, the one Nickeback song we play.”
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A recording of part of Jukebox Saturday Night on WSFM - ~July 2014
https://mega.nz/file/eNBFFIRY#KYcG4H3V1GWmcJ7F-FVEHvyx_TrHnxF35zvCvX0Jieo
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Australia had to switch to 9k because of an international treaty that required it. North America is in a different ITU ‘region’, and decided not to make the switch after intense lobbying from US broadcasters
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