And that didn’t last long, it was changed back to the more conventional “Ninety Five Point Three FM” ID within 3 months - Melbourne was the same as well I think.
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I remember reading a feature on 95.3 Sydney in 2004; I think it was in The Guide and written by Sue Javes (@TV-Expert, you may be required again)!
It had words to the effect of ‘the new FM licence must find its format, and fast, if it wants to attract an audience’. The article then speculated what formats the new station may take, ranging from classic rock to easy listening.
What actually happened:
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Vega, rather than shooting for the stars, never left the launchpad. I agree that the problem was in the execution and an intelligent, broad ranging music station could work if done properly. BBC Radio 2 is the standard bearer here. As @tamago_otoko once quipped in a Melburnian Italian accent, the format was ‘pretty vague, ah?’ But I think audiences are prepared to be challenged musically from time to time.
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95.3 did take years to find its audience and floundered as a result. Most of the formats that Javes mentioned were indeed tried!
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It finally found its audience with Smooth FM, though now the original concept has been diluted and ratings have suffered. It might be time for another puff piece on the changing fortunes of 95.3 MHz in Sydney (and 91.5 in Melbourne)?
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Yes, it was on SMH The Guide. I tried to find the old article on the SMH website to share here (they do keep some old articles on there), but nothing about it there. I did manage to have it on my personal archive, with the article titled “Missing link” from 8th March 2004.
You can find the article via one of the NLA’s databases, such as NewsBank, with your library card. 
Other possible proposal formats for the then-upcoming commercial FM licence included:
- FM Talk (Vega sort of tried that, next to its “40 Years of Music” format)
- Smooth Jazz (similar to what 2CCR (now Alive 90.5) had at the time)
- Country Music
- Christian
I highly doubt that, considering that Smooth in Sydney is the #3 station, and is getting over 10% overall share. Smooth in Melbourne on the other hand though, that’s a slightly different story. 
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I agree. I think Vega could have worked with better execution. I think the music was the biggest problem. It was a bit too eclectic. BBC R2 find the perfect balance between rare and mainstream songs, and mix genres seamlessly.
I think the name didn’t help either. Unlike Nova, it just sounds weird.
They might have been better off with no brand at all, at least at first. Just emphasize the frequency, similar to 97.3 in Brisbane.
Speaking of 97.3, when Vega was launching they also had the domain registered for vega973.com.au along with vega95.3.com.au and vega91.4.com.au. So at least at some stage they had hoped for a 3 station network. DMG ended up with 50% of 97.3 along with ARN.
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Oops- shows how much I pay attention to the ratings these days. Nevertheless, wasn’t Smooth #1 for a time in Sydney? My general point about a ‘move to the middle’ or format dilution still stands though; the original Smooth FM was quite differentiated from its competitors with its soft AC format (now it’s just a run-of-the-mill AC).
And here I go again waffling on about the formats that we MediaSpy nerds want, rather than looking at the harsh commercial realities of radio. Look up the Hotelling model in economics- it explains a lot about commercial radio.
And have you saved every media related article that you’ve ever read, @TV-Expert ? I expected nothing less from you, but still. And yes, I do have an NLA card like every good nerd.
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#1 FM, yes. Overall, no.
I’ve saved most of them, but not all of them, in which I keep them across a few Word documents, depending on the topic.
So do I, as well as my State Library of NSW card. 
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A You Tube aircheck of 3MP from 1999.
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Three 1993 ads for SA FM featuring Peter Moon as The Guru.
YouTube: Mark McCreadie
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The good ol days. Such an act would give the “mob” multiple coronaries these days.
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2 posts were merged into an existing topic: Nine Radio (Talk)
Good find!
I’m surprised that the Yanks would even be interested at all.
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Interesting! Sometimes it’s easy to forget how huge B105 was in the early 90s, rating 30%.
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Fun times. I was a volunteer at a couple of the Hitz FM test transmissions, including at Moorabbin and later when it was at St Kilda Road.
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2GF in Grafton celebrates its 90th birthday this week with a special liftout on the local newspaper, Clarence Valley Independent.
https://clarencevalleynews.com.au/2gf-90th-anniversary-feature/
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Great find!
And congratulations to @Paul_Covo_Covington and the team at 2GF on a wonderful milestone!
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3GL’s old frequency of 1341 KHz is back on the air with a test transmission They’re playing classic music mainly from the 60’s, along with some 3GL jingles from a wider period of time. Some of the jingles sound new and talk about classic hits.
One more thing, they have time pips at the top of the hour.
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Any chance of a MP3 aircheck of it?
http://sdr-amradioantennas.com:8075/
type in 1341khz and listen live
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