This is the LAP info for the directionality
3 Likes
I could receive them at home too and in the car ,I was living in Mount Gravatt back then
2 Likes
I can date this radio guide. Friday 6 July 2001. Thereâs references to the first ashes test and an AFL match,
3 Likes
Been doing some more microfiching today at the NSW State Library today. (good weather for it.
A 2WS Top 40 Chart from June 1986.
Some tracks would be out of format for them eg. Uncanny X-Men.
They probably never played the track of a rival FM host either!
3 Likes
4 Likes
Also, Adelaide, program guide from 1st day of 5SSA on 12 Sept 1980.
Now I did not know this, back then, 5EBI was 102.3 and commujity station 5MMM (now 5DDD) was 103.3.
By 1982, 5EBI and 5MMM had moved to 92.9 and 93.7 respectively..
5EBI changed frequency AGAIN (I think late 80s?) to its current frequency of 103.1
I can only think of one another (non TCBL) station that changed FM frequency twice, and that is 2ABC Central Tablelands, from 98.9 to 93.1 and then 102.7. Have there been any others?
3 Likes
No later than 1981, as they were on 92.9 & 93.7 when I was there just after Christmas 1981.
They were still on 92.9 in early July 1988 (went to Adelaide again) so it must have been after then.
1 Like
Always thought this was a terribly un-catchy callsign choice. I wonder who came up with that? I can see why they soon re-branded as SAFM.
Writing it out as â5 Double SA.FMâ is also confusing⌠does that mean itâs 5 SA.FM SA.FM?!
1 Like
I was thinking about that earlier.
I think FM stations back then didnât want an on air ID that was TOO different from any other station⌠so they generally included the number, as well as the next three letters plus the FM bit to differentiate that
eg 2DAY FM, 3 FOX FM, 4 MMM FM, 5SSA FM.
Perth was the main exception (always has been 96fm).
But of course now, only 2DayFM still does this in the metro areas, but for a different reason.
1 Like
Yes, that makes sense. 5SSA was a shocker though to start with. SAFM sounds great though. But really even FM107 would have been better than 5-double SA.
4MMM didnât last long though before reverting just to FM104. Maybe 2 years at most? Even the original logo had FM104 displayed fairly prominently after the 4MMM.
2 Likes
Thatâs a part that always confused me, not being in Brisbane nor alive in 1980, that 4MMM was indeed known at that both before and after (and legally, during) being âFM104â. I had just presumed 2MMMâs owners bought it out later in the decade and took the name north, but it always was that to begin with.
2 Likes
Yes, 4MMM was always the official callsign from the start, however it had no connection to 2MMM. They simply chose to ID on air as FM104 early on and throughout the 80s, until bought out later by Hoyts, bringing them into the same network as 2MMM, with the new owners rebranding them back to Triple M (which didnât go down well as everyone had been calling them FM104 for almost a decade)
2 Likes
Though at the same time, as I recall, FM104 lost listeners to 4BK/B105 when they converted to FM and lost top spot in the ratings to them.
Perhaps if FM104 hadnât lost listeners, they might have remained branded solely as FM104 for longer.
No, they re-branded to Triple M just before B105 went to air, or literally at the same time. It was a really bad move. If theyâd held on to the FM104 brand and format at least for a while after B105 went to air they wouldnât have gotten smashed so badly, so quickly. Itâs been widely criticised as one of the worst moves ever, re-branding and re-formatting such a dominant station at the exact time a new competitor was introduced. They should have done it gradually over a time after B105 entered the market, not before.
I clearly remember they day of the re-brand. I remember getting in my car to drive home from work and the first song that blasted on was just so âun-FM104â. I was like, WTF is this. It did sound so very different, the whole tempo of the station went from smooth sounding rock to up-tempo and cluttered. It was more radical than you might think. Then almost immediately B105 came on air and while more up-tempo than the old FM104 it actually initially sounded more like FM104 than the ânewâ Triple M did. Disastrous.
3 Likes
Wasnât part of it the pending change of frequency that occurred with the restack. FM104 was easier to associate with 104.1 than 104.5.
Not really I donât think. The frequency change happened before the re-brand. They IDâd as FM104.5 for a while but only briefly after the frequency change, then went back to just FM104 for a while before the Triple M re-brand.
It was a bit of a messy time. FM104 moved to 104.5 mHz on November 5 1989, and while still remaining as âFM104â some of their branding changed to FM104.5. I have a FM104.5 Rocks New Farm sticker from that interim period. I think some of their on-air branding incorporated the 104.5 as well, cos I do remember it sounding a bit clumsy at the time.
B105 launched in February 1990, and it was just before that they became Triple M FM104.5. Good opportunity to fully embrace their frequency.
2 Likes
Also around this time 4IP were in their last months as a music station and were getting smashed in the ratings .The debut of B105 was the final nail in the coffin for them.
2 Likes
QFM Ipswich was launched only 1 day before 4BK converted to FM (on 25 Feb 1990, B105 on 26 Feb), quite the busy time in SE Qld radio back then!
Coverage from the Courier Mail of QFM
There was no article for the B105 conversion, just a full page ad.
But all the movements prompted this call from other stations
5 Likes