Tariffs that created a parallel universe in Australia. My Grandad trained in radar then civilian RF and electronics, often identified the lesser build quality of Australian electronic manufacturing. Preferred Jap & Euro products.
Also remember that after local vehicle manufacturing ended, govts retained tariffs and in the current era of expensive battery powered vehicles, they’re all above the luxury car tax threshold.
Perhaps authorities then were as now, foolishly led by the most protectionist of all sectors, the commercial radio lobby?
Had all stations converted in the 80’s, the TV band II clearance would have been expedited and the listening experience far improved. Would have also saved many stations that were sold or relaunched.
Ugly Phil (with Jackie O as co-host) was on Triple M Adelaide from the station’s launch in 1993 until maybe mid-1994 when I took over. Phil and Jackie were poached by Austereo and they moved to The Fox. Form there the show gradually spread out around what was then the Today Network including back into ADL on SAFM. And the rest as they say is istory…
I think it was just a temporary thing. John Kennedy ended up hosting Triple M nights, “Radio Free Sydney” comes to mind.
This was after 2day fm cemented itself as the #1 station in Sydney.
Also from memory Radio fFree was also used in Newcastle on New fm nights too. This was when New Fm was still #1 in its market before the BOG / SRN takeover.
New fm seemed to feed talent to Triple M back then Mobbs and Fletch, and when their was a live simulcast, it would be on New fm / Triple M.
New fm was one of my first ever dx catches at my parents home at Oatley back in 1989, shortly after it launched, yes I was dxing at 13 years of age!!!
New fm was actually a permanent but weak signal back then on my parents Yamaha integrated amp and tuner. with the brand new digital tuning display. There was no Sky Sports Radio on the same frequency back then. Maybe New fm transmitted more signal to the south back then too???
Musically they were rock with the occasional pop song , but their playlist was much broader and more adventurous then Triple M.
An example New fm played What I say by INXS.
This was a rarity on Triple M Sydney. I also heard do the Bartman, possibly during Mobs and Fletch. This was not played on Triple M.
I actually was dxing New fm from Oatley in southern Sydney when the Newcastle earthquake occurred. I remember the lounge chair shaking at home, and the announcer freaking out on air with the studio shaking violently. I wonder if that air check exists???
I remember turning on the TV shortly afterwards and it was all over the news on every channel.
That’s because NEW FM was not officially, but closely linked to Triple M Sydney, Mike Webb the original owner of NEW FM (who I believe came from Triple M Sydney at the time), built NEW FM based on Triple M Sydney, the NEW FM studios were near identical to Triple M Sydney from the start & were built to last, they used the exact same components to make them up, the transmitter set up was also almost identical, again using the same components, you could’ve walked out of the NEW FM studios & into the Triple M Sydney studios & known exactly where everything was located, how it worked & what every button on the desk did.
The original equipment in the NEW FM studios moved every time the studio location moved, it even all went to Sandgate when they moved in with 2HD, in fact, unless it’s been replaced recently (which I doubt) a lot of the original NEW FM studio stuff is still in use in the NEW FM studios at Sandgate.
One of the original NEW FM transmitters has been replaced, but I think the backup transmitter is still one of the original 1989 NEC tube transmitters?
The original NEW FM logo was also based on the Triple M logo, & the music format of both stations was also near identical.
Back in the glory days, before the brand was wrecked, NEW FM was Triple M Sydney, without being Triple M, it was Newcastle version.
Was all of this done simply to block Triple M ever coming to Newcastle?
I recall reading on this forum where NewFM heard whispers of KOFM changing to Triple M and reverted back to its previous rock format literally overnight.
Yes, I recall driving from Sydney home to Brisbane a couple of times in the early- to mid-90s when NEW FM was the only FM in Newcastle. I found them to be kind of halfway between 2MMM and the old FM104. Rock focused but broader than 2MMM with a lower key presentation style like FM104 had in the 80s. Overall I liked NEW FM more than 2MMM but not as much as FM104.
I definitely would agree with that, from memory the playlist was much broader.
I also listened to New fm over Triple M, when tropo provided a good signal.
Ah the good old days when the FM band was very sparsely populated. In the early days - apart from TV audio carriers, the first station you got to heading south from Brisbane was 2NCR (now River FM 92.9) that was a university station like 4ZZZ. It could be received in high parts of Brisbane.
When New FM went back to a rock format in 2001, the station’s ratings went up throughout much of the year. In the last survey of 2000, it only had a 6.8% overall share, then in the first survey of 2001, it shot up to 9.6% before peaking at 12.7% in the final survey of the same year. It continued to rate well over 2002, but then after the station dropped its rock format at the beginning of 2003, the station’s overall ratings fell back down to around what it had in the final survey of 2000, and have not fully recovered since.
For comparison purposes, KO, NX & 2HD were rating at around the high-teens/low 20s during that period.