Does anyone have much history on when Bill purchased 2SM? Who was the lineup at the time? What was the format? Was it Gold1269 and Bill returned it to talk? What was the lineup and what caused them to all leave over time?
You only ever read of 2SM in the 70s and 80s, but not much talk about the stations format during the 90s and 00s.
I donât have any detailed info but yeah it was a real mess of formats during the 1990s. I think when LiteânâEasy failed it followed a similar path to 3XY and went back to a light/Top 40 format but then it became a country music station. Gold 1269 came in somewhere along the way, plus there was a period (I think after 2WS bought it) that it went fully automated. Somewhere in amongst that it went back to country music with a new name, KICK-AM. Someone here will have a more accurate/detailed record but from my memory it was all over the place during that decade with different owners/formats and nobody really knowing what to do with it.
1991:
1992:
Around the time when Bill Caralis bought it in October 1999, 2SM was pretty much an oldies station, similar to what 2CA Canberra sounded like at the time. It was a clear point of difference to 2WS, which was more of a Classic Hits station with some modern AC thrown in.
Wasnât there some big relaunch of 2SM around Late 1996/Early 1997 where they attempted a 90s version of the music format (including a âdenim wearing CDâ logo, as opposed to the âdenim wearing recordâ of yesteryear) that was so successful for 1270AM two decades earlier?
Donât think that one lasted overly longâŚ
Yeah, Iâd say thatâs about right going by the 1999 airchecks Iâve heard from both stations recently.
Aside from not having on its playlist the modern AC tracks that âClassic Hitsâ 2WS-FM 101.7 had during this era, 2SMâs Late '90s oldies format was probably more upbeat and 60s/70s focused than 2CH was at the time.
That 90âs relaunch format with the CD version of their original famous logo wouldâve been a good era for the station had it lasted.
I wish theyâd do the same, like 2UE and just go back to back music with their original logo and original jingles.
Iâd still keep Marcus Paul and Laws, but increase the amount of music played.
Either let the network talkback come from 2HD, or make 2HD take the same format (as it might help in Newcastle).
Iâm looking at a letter I have from Gold 1269, dated 23 May 1994. It states that they changed name and format two weeks earlier.
Itâs funny that this topic should come up as I was just digitising some AM DX cassettes yesterday and they contained audio from Sydneyâs Hottest Country 2SM and Gold 1269 (recorded in NZ). There was also some 2UW and Mix 106.5 (on 1107) audio on the same tape. I am happy to upload these to the YouTube page if anyone is interested.
In the meantime, Iâm currently working on a presentation from 2Day FM circa 1991. Keep an eye out for that!
The uploads sound great!
Speaking of which, can anybody tell me why they were IDing as âThe New 104.1 2Day FMâ in 1991? Obviously 2Day FM had been on air since 1980, so Iâm assuming theyâd had a significant format change or something?
Yes, I recall 2DAY FM reformatted in 1989 under âGood Times and Great Rock n Rollâ when Austereo purchased it to go head to head against Triple M (who were owned by Hoyts).
That format change didnât work out, so this âNew 104.1â was probably to signal another format change.
Thanks @Radiohead. That makes sense 
So I was just browsing through an archived version of the ABC Local website, and apparently, there was a temporary ABC Radio station that was set up after the 2009 Victorian fires.
It was called 97.1 ABC Kinglake Ranges, and it only lasted five months. And it was really small too, no marketing, no permanent studios, they just set up a studio in a small house in Kinglake, and the rest of the programming came from Melbourne.
Anyone know anything?
I knew it existed but what youâve written exceeds what I knew about it.
I didnât, but interesting choice of frequency given itâs not far from the Dandenongs that have 3MDR on the same frequency. Terrain would provide some sort of a buffer.
Well itâs interesting how ABC Radio can get to places like mountainous Gippsland or Northern TasmaniaâŚ
This just about covers it:
UGFM basically assumed the role of local broadcaster for the Kinglake area.
There is however that 3LO relay in the Yarra Ranges (east of Warburton) on 96.1. I am not sure if thereâs any capacity for local programming for that service. It may just be like the ABC Canberra relay in Braidwood, which also came about as a result of a bushfire crisis.
Forom memory there wasnât a local community station in the area and 774 began providing hyper local coverage for the affected by the fires as the âlocalâ ABC station (the areas affected in Gippsland have their own local ABC service) so quickly established this which was handed over to a community group later in the year.
Slightly off topic, I was in Warburton recently - an area known for poor 774 reception and stumbled upon a local ABC there, an FM relay of the digital broadcast (no sports). Also from memory that was the result of the Royal Commission, bot sure if thereâs any other examples.
Thanks for the info.
Logo wise, was it immediately following Gold1269 when BOG purchased it and changed it back to 2SM with the current logo?
And was it immediate that the Super Radio Network branding was introduced? Or did we ever have a period where it was talkback but with 2SM branding?
I think KICK-AM came between Gold 1269 and the purchase by BOG but I am not sure what was on-air when BOG actually bought it.
EDIT: This post from 2019 sheds a bit more light!
@TelevisionAU is correct. Kick AM came after Gold 1269, although I donât know exactly when the change took place. I stopped keeping notes on Australian stations around that time because I gave up regular DXing. A mate travelled to Sydney in early 1996 and made some recordings for me, by which time 1269 was Kick AM. I next heard 1269 in the late 1990s when I did a spot of casual DXing from Plimmerton (north of Wellington). It was an oldies music format by that stage and was playing what sounded like very old âMore Music 2SMâ sung jingles.
Isnât Apollo Bay 89.5 FM the only FM relay of 774?
I imagine that all regional stations in Victoria may be able to access 774 in one way or another, but not sure about Warburton. The closest regional station to there would probably be ABC Gippsland, though Iâm not sure.