just for some extra context/trivia as well. That montage played when TTFM ended its simulcast of programming with 1026, then 1026 went into a loop announcement about the switch to 101.1. Then after a few weeks of that, the montage was played just prior to the 1026 transmitter being switched off (as recorded)
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2JJ was also easily received at night in Brisbane on 1540 then 1538 AM. It was also later relayed overnight.
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this currently Triple M-ized station must have been switched to 24 hours once DMG took it over⌠(I guess)
Just remembered seeing an RACV map that listed all radio stations in the early to mid 890âs and it said that a handful of ABC stations on AM remained on-air 24 hours a day. One of them was the station in Albury-Wodonga on 990 KHz which became Radio National (though it may not have been called that at the time) plus one ABC station in Canberra or Newcastle or both.
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I remember when ABC radio in Newcastle, Wollongong, Canberra and Gold Coast relayed 2JJJ overnight every night of the week from midnight (when most ABCâs closed for the night) until 5am. I picked up the Newcastle frequency on my ghetto blaster in Shepparton in 1985 and the music was much better than my local âHits and Memoriesâ station 3SR. It introduced me to the world of alternative and dance music. It all ended around 1988 when ABC local radio stations around Australia went 24 hours with their own programming. I moved to Melbourne in 1989 and used to listen to 3JJJ from test programming onwards. It was a regular listen when I was in regional areas when they started there, it was either that or commercial AM and FM radio (although Sun FM was a great station in Shepparton until JJJ came). JJJ ended for me in recent years when the music became more pop and âmainstreamâ. Now Double J fills the void. Living in Melbourne I also have 3RRR and 3PBS.
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How good was Sun fm. There is very little around about its history
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Sun FM was very good! Too bad the introduction of JJJ and Sun FMâs sale to RG Capital saw its downfall.
Hereâs what I have pieced together over time:
- Licence was awarded in June 1988 under the old beauty parade ABA system to Goulburn Valley Broadcasters (GVB). GVB was associated with the Fairley family (who have had major involvement in Shepparton over the years, eg SPC). Went to air in November 1990.
- Following the rules changes in 1992 to permit two stations in a market, GVB acquired competitor 3SR, who had slumped in the face of Sun FM.
- In January 1998 RG Capital Radio won the auction for a new FM licence. To protect itself, GVB went into a JV with RG Capital Radio and moved the 3SR format to FM and sold off 3SR to Racing Victoria (3UZ).
- In September 2005 the JV sold out to Macquarie Media Group and by May 2006, the Sun set and was replaced by Star FM. The End.
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there used to be a Fairleys department store in Shepparton too? Although google tells me there is only a Fairleys IGA now. I guess the department store got bought out at some stage.
Originally on 107.7 FM as a temporary frequency, later shifted to 96.9. Presumably after some TV services vacated VHF Band II (e.g. Channel 3 Shepparton, Channel 4 Albury)
IIRC, 3SR was in receivership when Sun FM/GVB acquired it. Apparently 3SR (under its previous owner) had the option to convert to FM when Sun FM was licenced, but they resisted. As you mention, it eventually happened under the GVB/RG Capital management.
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As mentioned, - the 3SR programming and identity went to FM- 3SR the station (itâs licence) remained on AM (someone working for ARN refused to accept that the history of 5AD should be on the Cruise 1323 Wikipedia page, so it isnât even though the 5AD licence was never converted).
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It was in a roundabout sort of way, with 5AD FM appearing on 102.3 after the denise of 102FM and even now still uses 5ADD as the callsign with 5DN moving from 972 to 1323.
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Please do not muddy the waters. The licence was never converted - Cruise 1323 is legally the same licence as the 5AD that everyone loved in the 1970s.
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Thatâs not quite how it happened.
The Adelaide commercial stations that converted to FM were 5KA 1197 which became 5KKA on 104.7, then 5DN 972 which became 5DDN 102.3. 5AD and 5KA remained on AM. Meanwhile, the callsign 5MMM belonged to a community station on 93.7 .
Some time in the 90âs, 5KKA became 5MMM while 5MMM became 5DDD. Later, 5DDN became 5AD and 5AD became 5DN (a callsign swap I believe). 5AD later changed the callsign to 5ADD.
Sources: My own memory, various publications in the past, some editions of the WRTH, and a recent Radio & TV Broadcasting Stations (internet edition) by the ACMA.
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Yes, itâs just Fairleyâs IGA (formerly Fairleyâs SSW) supermarket on Numurkah Road these days. The Fairleyâs department store in Maude Street changed its name to Centrefair in 1990 after a renovation, and was sold to Harris Scarfe in the mid-1990s in which it still exists today.
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I hate this side of Wikipedia (and a lot else) - that âhistoryâ of stations gets jammed into what their frequency broadcasts, following what the license does even through conversions and total deaths.
3XY being wedged into the Magic article for example, because despite the station going off air entirely, but coming back as a new frequency on a new callsign, it is somehow the âsameâ station.
Likewise the history of SEN 1116 begins when SEN launched, the station just used 3AKâs frequency - the story of 3AK isnât relevant at all to SEN, and at least in that case Wikipedia is laid out sensibly (despite some efforts to undo that) - with a lengthy 3AK page that can be the historical record of what 3AK was, not trying to wedge it into what 1116 is now.
You end up with the worst of both worlds - you have articles about current stations that are ridiculously history heavy, but also thereâs so much lost in the noise.
4KQâs fairly awful article is a good example of this rot in real time, whole sections are just irrelevantly left changed in tense - most of the article is about the old 4KQ, it becoming SENQ is an aside, so you just get all the old content of the page with âwasâ.
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pairing a stationâs history to its licence makes sense - most modern stations go through lots of marketing names etc.
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Yeah I think youâve got to actually pair it with the actual licence, not brands. If you look at articles on US stations itâs the same, even if they go through radical format and brand name changes. The licence is the station. So any article on SENQ should include the history of 4KQ, as much as it irks me.
The 5AD/5ADD, 5DN/5DDN thing still confuses me though, I still donât think I get it 
.
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I agree. This would also be a problem in the US, where there are lots of stations and many of them change their callsigns from time to time, including using callsigns formerly used by completely different stations in completely different locations.
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And some calls in the USA, e.g. WPOP, refer to long gone formats (WPOP has not played pop music in decades).
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