My brother had a KE Laser with a head unit very similar/identical to that - and yes, it was ordinary.
I’ve been told (it may have even been on here) that the AWA head units they shipped with the slightly more upmarket models of Fords in that era were AM stereo capable, but I’ve never proven it. My folks had (and still have) a KF Ghia Laser which had one, and I believe the same unit was shipped in the Fairmont of the era, but I never got it to receive an AM stereo signal
Yes, that’s what I understood of the Ghia spec model radio too… to be able to receive AM stereo.
Heres a pic below, not a very good one though.
Today marks 15 years since Nova 96.9 in Sydney went to air, in which they were the first new commercial radio licence to be issued in that city in 21 years. At the time of launch, the station had Merrick & Rosso for breakfast, Bianca Dye in mornings (now at Gold FM Gold Coast drive), Kip Wrightman in afternoons (now at Nova 106.9 breakfast), Ugly Phil in drive (now Triple M), Rabbit in evenings (now at Star 104.5 breakfast) & Corey at late nights.
Its music format for its first few years could be described as a mixture of Alternative & Top 40, emphasising the “Sounds Different” positioner, and could be said to be more adventurous than 2DayFM, which was loosing listeners. Another key point-of-difference for Nova compared to the Austereo stations was that it was very local. Those 2 key point-of-differences are no longer on Nova.
2001 was a big year for commercial FM in Sydney & surrounding areas, in which, apart from the launch of Nova, 2MMM went with a more modern/active rock format to counteract Nova, Mix 106.5 (now KIIS) went more upbeat in its music format also due to Nova, 2WS became WSFM, and C91.3 in Campbelltown was launched in August, which included Rob Duckworth in breakfast & Stuart Cranney in mornings.
…and here’s the first few moments of Nova 96.9 on that day 15 years ago:
Audio credit: Adrian Zorec’s YouTube page
Nova also had its policy of no more than 2 ads in a row which was a big selling point versus the others.
Oh, I forgot about that! 
I was in my mid-teens when Nova first launched, in which my listening habits, along with Nova, also included 2MMM, JJJ, WS & C91.3.
The launch of the Sydney station was just the beginning of the eventual expansion of the Nova network, which had expanded into Melbourne in December 2001, Perth in December 2002, Adelaide in August 2004 & Brisbane in April 2005.
I remember Triple M in Melbourne tried to spoil Nova’s launch by promoting a big competition which was to be launched at the precise time that Nova was to debut 
On the old MS forum, we did discuss the heritage call signs of some legacy regional ABC transmissions which were only launched as Radio National services.
1098 2GU Goulburn (now 2RN)
756 3WA Wangaratta (now 3RN)
But what about these ones… Did they have a legacy call sign before everything got changed to RN? Or were they only launched since RN?
1305 Renmark
1485 Wilcannia
612 Dalwallinu
1269 Busselton (was 1224)
1296 Wagin
All 5 of these locations already have ABC Local on the AM band as well that still has a heritage call sign eg. 5MV 1062 Renmark.
A quick initial response is that as far as I can tell, 5MV used to be on 1305 but presumably when RN started it moved to 1062.
Originally posted by Brianc68:
Some interesting points there and quite true about the Sea FM stations in Bundaberg and Maryborough being one and the sane. I disagree though about Breeze being like Mix 103.5. The music is very different, and Mix has so much talking and NRL.
Just curious… What format did 4MB take prior to conversion to FM? Who owned the station? Similar to 4SS on the Sunshine Coast?
This was how The Sydney Morning Herald on 28 March 1988 reported on the pending changeover of 2SM to Lite 'n Easy 1269, including mentioning the Celebration Of A Station program broadcast over the Easter weekend.
Great article, TVAU.
Funnily enough, in recent years Gareth McCray has returned to 2CH where he’s currently the breakfast presenter!
From the 3rd para"except in the hourly station IDs required by law" - when was this the case?
4IP also changed in 1988 to Lite and Easy.
[quote=“TV.Cynic, post:53, topic:236”]
From the 3rd para"except in the hourly station IDs required by law" - when was this the case?[/quote]
Not sure, but it’s clearly a legal requirement that is long gone.
The article is also a bit misleading in that implying that 3AK had adopted a Nice 'n Easy branding in Melbourne. Not quite. It’s true that it was a slogan used at one point, but it was never in place of the 3AK callsign.
3XY, although following the formats adopted by 2SM and 4IP, went down a slightly different path by calling itself XY Easy Rock.
[quote=“TelevisionAU, post:54, topic:236, full:true”]
I don’t think that is correct regarding the legal requirement. For example, Radio 10 (laster Stereo 10) never once referred to itself by its legal call sign that was 4IO (changed from 4IP) and I don’t think that Light and Easy 1269 used the 2SM ID every hour.
I’d think that format would still do better than 2SM does currently.
other stations at that time such as FM104 Brisbane, 96FM Perth and SAFM Adelaide would have also had to do the same and I’m not aware that they ever did use their proper call-signs in conjunction with those brandings. (Although SAFM did begin originally as 5SSA-FM)
I reckon it was some out-dated broadcasting requirement that had been long scrapped but perhaps SMH hadn’t got the memo!
FM104 would probably have mentioned MMM on air but 5SSA - I doubt it.I wonder when the regulation got changed, possibly in the 60s?
1269 recorded with my trusty Sony AM Stereo tuner
Lite’N’ Easy 1269 sounds incredibly like smooth 95.3
@Cigarettes-n-alcohol
4MB was quite middle of the road before it became Mix 103.5.
Similar to 4SS but maybe a little ‘older’.
4MB had become quite a decent adult contemporary station in the latter half of the 80s, although still not as modern sounding as 4GY. In the mid-80s they started taking overnight programs from 2UW. They were sold to RG Capital before they went FM, along with sister stations 4RO and 4GR.
