From TV History thread:
I remember CBC rated terribly in Sydney but I donât think it was as much a car crash as 3AK which was already coming off a very low base. At least 2UE was able to build up from the failure of CBC to become a talkback giant with Alan Jones and so on, 3AK couldnât get anything to work â talkback or otherwise â until it became SEN in 2004.
What was 2UEâs format before CBC?
And I had an old B&T article somewhere from around the time the first ratings for CBC came out. Iâll see if I can find it.
It was a talk station but I donât remember it being as news focused or opinion driven in the early 1980s. They had Gary OâCallaghan on Breakfast and Laws on Mornings before 2GB lured him across with big money.
What station has rebranded as much as:
3DB - 3TT - TT FM - Mix - Kiis.
Smooth in Sydney is a close competitor in only a decade:
- vega - Classic Rock - Sydneyâs 95.3 - smooth
Sydneyâs changing call signs include:
2SM
2SM - LiteâNâEasy - GOLD 1269 - KICKAM - 2SM
And:
2UW - Magic 11 - 2UW - Mix - KIIS
Some stations have never changed their ID. Examples would include 2GB, 2DayFM and 2CH.
Sydneyâs Triple M use to be 2TripleM in the 80s so I did not include it. WSFM has removed the â2â as well.
In Brisbane
4IP - Radio 10 - Stereo 10 - Lite & Easy 1008 - 4IP - 4TAB - Radio TAB
If I recall right was 3CS Colac a country station for a while back in the 80s?
Iâm not sure but would be interesting to know.
I believe 4CD Gladstone (later 4CC) started off as a country station.
4KQ Brisbane was country for a while.
So was 3UZ for a year or so. Never really took off and then they got the racing back.
4KQ will be 70 this Sunday having commenced in 1947.
Did 2CH change to magic? Or that does not count. They did occasionally say Magic 2CH.
As far as I know 2CH only ever went as far as Magic 2CH without dropping the 2CH. Unlike 4BH which was dropped entirely to Magic 882
Although it was de-emphasised a little with the Magic Network branding and even the 2014-16 âHappy Daysâ branding which came before that, 2CH never dropped the callsign from itâs branding.
I loved listening to this grab from 2SM in 1977 with Ron E Sparx.
2SM was rating over 18% and there are three things I notice that is so different to music radio today:
- Ron E Sparx is playing Top 40 music and he has a real voice for radio. So many of the KIIS, Hit and Nova announcers today sound like their voices have no broken. Mind you - WSFM often broadcasts without a DJ (last Saturday afternoon was an example). Ron E was also given some freedom to show his personality.
- It was rare for 2SM to play more than one song in a row. There was an ad break after nearly every song. No wonder 2WS (which came on the scene in 1978), 2UW (which became the New 2UW in 1980 and used the slogan âBetter Music and Less Commercialsâ) and the FM stations were able to eat into the SM audience. Too many ads.
- The news service was top quality.
I canât remember 1977 but how good was the music!
What is it about those top 40 (or CHR) stations today?
Youâre right. Most of the announcers sound like little kids on a community radio station screaming into the microphone. And with the same level of skill. It seems to be a very Australian thing. Never hear that in the UK or US.
I agree. Itâs not just the top 40 stations either. Theyâre either high pitched and squeaky or overly bogan sounding these days. UK sounds generally better.
Nova started it!
When Nova started in Sydney is sounded quite different for several reasons (no pun included). One of the differences was that their DJâs had the voices of your average 16 year old. In the 70s, 80s and 90s music radio (and talk radio) was predominantly deep voices that really resonated. They were voices that belonged on a phone sex service.
Todayâs Top 40 radio DJâs sound like they belong in a Year 10 locker room.
in the Wimmera:
3HS - 3LK - 3WM
Adelaide:
5DN - FM102 - X102 - AM 1323 - 5DN - SEN - Cruise 1323
5KA - KA-FM - Triple M
5AD - 5AD-FM - Mix 102.3
Townsville:
4AY - 4RR - Hot FM - Hit103.1
Sunshine Coast:
4NA - 4SS - Mix 92.7
Melbourne:
3XY - XY Easy Rock - Bay FM/3XY - 3XY - 3EE - 3MP (simulcast) - Magic - Talking Lifestyle
Thanks for posting this. Canât believe this was 40 years ago, the year I started school, and Ron E. Sparks is still around broadcasting on WS-FM Mornings and Dennis OâKane can be heard on 3AW reading and reporting the news. I didnât realise Laurie Wilson had been reporting politics for Seven way back then, also. So much great music came out of that era.
And then, just as heâd decided âI donât want to do this anymore,â the radio star was approached âout of nowhereâ by an overseas station.
âI got offered a job in London to go and work there and I just needed to get away,â he said.
Ugly Phil was replaced on the Hot30 Countdown by Kyle Sandilands and together he and Jackie O went on to form one of the most formidable on-air partnerships in Australian radio history.
As for Ugly Phil, he returned from the UK in 2001 to help launch Nova 96.9 in Sydney.