Probably should be this:
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Interesting that 3AK was only 2,000 watts and had its transmitter at Altona. Wonder when they moved to the Viewbank area and increased power to 5kW like the other Melbourne commercial AM stations?
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Iâve no idea, but wondering if it did when it extended to 24/7 in the late 1960s after it resolved its interference issue with 2BS
In those days, there were a variety of owners across a number of the above stations.
In around 1996:
Sun FM/3SR - Goulburn Valley Broadcasters (A.E. Fairley)
Classic Rock 102.5/2QN - Rich Rivers Radio (Robertson Family)
3BO FM/3CV - Broadcast Media Group
Source: Media Ownership Update 1996
In late 1996, Broadcast Media Group were bought out by DMG. By the late 90s, RG Capital bought Sun FM/3SR, initially in a JV with Goulburn Valley Broadcasters before owning them outright by the early 2000s. Rich Rivers Radio merged with North East Broadcasters (3NE/Edge) in 2002.
3SR moved from AM to FM into a new licence in October 1998, whilst 91.9 Star FM in Bendigo launched in October 1999, which was basically 3CV moving to FM, with Easy Listening 1071 launching on 3CVâs former AM licence under a new callsign of 3EL.
Today, around 25 years later, the same above stations are owned as follows:
Edge FM/2QN - ACE Radio
Hit 91.9/93.5 Triple M/95.3 Triple M/Hit 96.9 - SCA
Gold Central Victoria (the former 3CV AM licence) - Grant Broadcasters
Hit & Triple M across both Bendigo & Shepparton now carry the same playlists, a stark contrast to how it was when the same Bendigo & Shepparton stations were owned separately from one another. It certainly makes radio listening in Northern Victoria & South-Western NSW less interesting compared to what it used to be, as other posters mentioned above.
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Great summary. I think what was the final nail was when RG capital and DMG were allowed to merge. Within a few months Sun became a Star. Prior to that I believe Sun was still fairly local with some afternoon networking from GC with Kahuna and benchwarmers etc but none the less offering something different to Bendigo.
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Interestingly, there was a time back in late 2002 when RG Capital nearly bought 3BO & Star FM Bendigo from DMG. This came about as part of an ill-fated asset swap with two Central Coast stations, which wouldâve saw DMG acquire Sea FM from RG, whilst DMG would sell 50% of the then un-named new 104.5 commercial service (which had yet gone to air at that point) to RG. The ownership of 2GO under RG would remain unchanged.
However, it was called off after both groups failed to agree on key financial terms and due diligence threw up some fundamental differences.
Source: SMH, 18th December 2002
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From a Central Coast radio perspective, itâs probably a really good thing that asset swap didnât happen. If it did, weâd probably right now have Hit 101.3, Triple M 107.7 and a 104.5 positioned in a way which doesnât make it too competitive with the two âlegacyâ Central Coast stations = boring!
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Out of interest: does anyone have a copy of the opening of the old ABC studio in Wagin? Tried to access it via archive.org and Pandora but apparently wasnât archived. Also after a bad stint trying to contact ABC Archives for footage, really donât want to go to them againâŚ
hahhah it would certainly solve some of the reception issue of AM radio especially on the Northern Beaches.
In the old days the ABC was broadcasting from Coogee. I believe it was at Higg St Coogee. Found a photo from back then.
Whilst our idea we might think is good , I guess it is a no go, we donât want revisit the pain faced by the residences of Randwick and Coogee back in the 30s. They may not be able to listen to SEN 1170 if we moved the 702 transmitter back to its roots at Coogee or worse still 2GB. 
Here is another interesting article from 1939 on 2BLâs proposed move to Liverpool.
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Kurnell could be a goer: sandy soil (itâs basically all sand out there) and enough land for an MW stick or two. 50 kW would enable plenty of DX reception from far Kurnell.
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Good point but they picked Liverpool. Maybe the land was cheaper. It probably was crown land.
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I thought 702 transmits from Prestons? But yes, in the Liverpool LGA which incidentally had a 2BL 702 logo on their black bottle recycling bins back in the dayâŚ
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Yeah in those days it might have been just called Liverpool. But you are right, Prestons is probably more accurate.
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I see what you did there 
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On this day in 1991, 6KY Perth converted from 1206AM to 94.5FM in the 2nd of two FM conversions in Perth at the time.
6PM converted a few months earlier from 990AM to 92.9.
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Also 28 years to the day that 2WS converted from 1224AM to 101.7FM! 
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The logo in that sales ad (along with the slightly different version used while on 1224AM) was the best in 2WS/WSFM history, I think.
The worst was probably that relatively shortlived one from 2001-02 which tried to go for something inspired by the old âJukeboxâ logo" and perhaps the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but didnât quite hit the mark.
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Iâm not a real fan of the current one either, The brown-gold colours are a bit boring.
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I wouldnât say that WSFMâs current logo is the best ever by any stretch, however itâs probably my pick of those weâve had since ARN has standardised the branding of their Classic Hits/Pure Gold stations.
The 2002-04 logo looked like something youâd expect to see on a packet of prescription medication, while the first âguitarâ logo from 2005-13 was too bland.
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