@TV-Expert can find anything. Maybe not Harold Holt, though.
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Gold 104.3 turns 30 years old today, it was 7 October 1991 when KZFM first became Gold 104. Back in those days the playlist was probably lots of Elvis, the Supremes and J OâK.
IIRC the concept was trialled over a number of âGood time oldiesâ weekends and I guess the reaction was good enough for them to make it full-time. Plus it also gave them a clear point of difference over the other FMs because at this stage all four of them were beginning to sound like variations of the same thing.
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104.3? Isnât that the Mildura frequency for ABC Radio? I guess the transmitter canât really reach that far.
On another note, I did a bit of really shit DXing last night and I turned my alarm clock to 97.3FM and I managed to pick up Nightlife on ABC Illawarra! (I live in North West Sydney)
Mildura is about 500 kms from Melbourne, not much fear of their FMs clashing with each other 
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There would be some spots where Melbourne and Mildura would clash, though not in their respective licence areas and probably only during tropo. I have had 3MA (now Triple M) on 97.9 as far south as Bendigo before, clearly too.
Agree, around Bendigo is the most likely spot for co channel interference.
104.3 ABC Mildura was pretty weak around Swan Hill even when I was there in June 2020.
Wouldnât ABCâs 91.1FM and 104.3FM clash at Bendigo in that case?
Not sure what you mean as they are on totally different frequencies? I donât think Mildura FM is permanent into Bendigo in any event, per Radioheadâs observation above at Swan Hill.
There is no Mildura station on 91.1 either.
If you mean that listeners in Bendigo would tune to Mildura over the local 91.1 service when thereâs tropo about , I donât think it works like that for the average listener 
Only DX nerds would even notice. ABC Swan Hill- which I think runs the same programming as Mildura- might be permanent into Bendigo (on 102.1) but its local programming would be fairly irrelevant to Bendigo listeners.
Getting back somewhat on topic, 104.3 Mildura was once known as âOasis FMâ. I have rarely heard the station, only via Sporadic E from Cromwell New Zealand of all places (it was taking the cricket) and via tropo into Portland Victoria and Hay NSW. Canât remember if it was there in Bendigo; I only remember 97.9 and 99.5.
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and the success of Gold 104.3âs Good Time Oldies prompted 3MMM and 3FOX to both go âclassic rockâ predominately from the 60s and 70s as a response. Perhaps the only radio stations in Melbourne that play Elvis, the Supremes and J OâK these days are Magic (albeit they have a repetitive playlist) and 3MP.
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That SOOOO reminds me of this TV ad on YouTube
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And before Gold 104 took off, it was reported that 3XY was all but ready to go down a similar path with a 60s/70s format with a new owner about to buy the station, but the sale fell through at the last minute, and the format didnât eventuate. Then AWA stepped in and bought it instead and went to relaunch it as 3EE.
And at least TTFM stepped away from âclassic hitsâ to offer a more contemporary alternative, and Bay FM, for anyone that could get it in Melbourne, offered some alternative with a âeasyâ-type playlist. But with so much âclassic rockâ, it created a market starved of decent FM music to be snapped up just as aspirant community FM licences were becoming available. Hitz FM came along and made a huge impact.
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Itâs not. And Gold 104.3 from Melbourne is barely audible at some of the higher spots around town.
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Agreed, not much of an issue. Where you do get some co-channel battling in that area is on 105.1 which is shared between Lifefm Bendigo and Melbourneâs TripleM. Very interesting choice of frequency there!
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Agree, same deal on 106.7 too with Phoenix and 3PBS.
I would have thought 104.5 and 106.1 would be better choices.
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Yep, could not believe they chose to co-channel those Bendigo stations with Melbourne. I know Melbourne doesnât get into Bendigo well but given the proximity there were surely better choices
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Life FM and Phoenix FM transmits from Specimen Hill (in Bendigo itself) instead of Mount Alexander, and are both at 150 watts, it would make little impact with Melbourne stations on those frequencies. I have been able to receive Phoenix FM on my car radio as far as Stanhope in the east (82km away) and Daylesford in the west (similar distance), both 3PBS and Phoenix FMâs signals fights it out 10km south of Daylesford.
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I once got Phoenix up near Deniliquin, in NSW, it does pretty well for a little 150 watter.
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Hereâs their website from November 1999:
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Wow havenât things changed. Ashame you canât navigate thru it to see programs, announcers etr
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20 years ago today Brisbane got its 3rd commercial FM station .Happy 20th Birthday to 97.3FM
15/10 /01 was their first official on air start though they had had test broadcasts before then.
Itâs been years since Iâve listened to them ,and I wonât be ever again,unless they completely change their format ,a Smooth type playlist would be great
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