Radio History

[BendigoTV]

Good one! Sun-FM caused a big stir in Bendigo when it started. Coverage and reception was stronger than expected on the original 107.7 MHz frequency. The local AM stations were quite miffed about losing quite a bit of their audience!

[dxnerd]

Better to fiche by the lake in Canberra than to fish!

[TelevisionAU]

@BendigoTV

Good one! Sun-FM caused a big stir in Bendigo when it started. Coverage and reception was stronger than expected on the original 107.7 MHz frequency. The local AM stations were quite miffed about losing quite a bit of their audience!

it was reported at the time that 3SR was offered an FM conversion in competition with Sun FM (I guess similar to what happened in Geelong when Bay FM was licenced) but 3SR didn’t take it up. Choosing to stay on AM. The station went broke soon after and IIRC it was Sun FM’s owner that bought it out.

[Moe]

@TelevisionAU

but 3SR didn’t take it up

I like how history is littered with these stations deciding not to take an opportunity to convert and failing because of it, yet somehow there’s stations eligible to convert right now that aren’t!

I can’t think of a single counter example. 5DN doing badly just after conversion, but they’ve turned that around now.

Is 3AK at ~4% the best rating station that declined a conversion?

[Radiohead]

2nd last item above says SUN FM was the only inland commercial FM station then.

I think they forgot about NOW FM Moree, which I think launched May 1990.

[Radiohead]

@Moe

I like how history is littered with these stations deciding not to take an opportunity to convert and failing because of it

You could probably add 2HD Newcastle to that, they had the opportunity to move to FM 100.5 in 1992 (along with 2NX and 2KO) but it could be argued it would have failed on FM anyway due to its questionable content!

[TelevisionAU]

@Radiohead

2nd last item above says SUN FM was the only inland commercial FM station then.

it was a claim made by Sun FM that it was the “first inland commercial FM station” and repeated in various press reports, but yes it is incorrect.

@Moe

Is 3AK at ~4% the best rating station that declined a conversion?

I think some of our Brisbane correspondents might recall/confirm 4BH possibly initially knocking back an opportunity to go to FM? And it’s having a great time right now! Or was it 4KQ? or was it both of them? My memory is always a bit fuzzy on what happened in Brisbane in that it only had one FM conversion (4BK to B105) while other major capitals had two.

[Radiohead]

@TelevisionAU

or was it both of them?

Yes both.

[Brianc68]

@TelevisionAU

@Radiohead

2nd last item above says SUN FM was the only inland commercial FM station then.

it was a claim made by Sun FM that it was the “first inland commercial FM station” and repeated in various press reports, but yes it is incorrect.

@Moe

Is 3AK at ~4% the best rating station that declined a conversion?

I think some of our Brisbane correspondents might recall/confirm 4BH possibly initially knocking back an opportunity to go to FM? And it’s having a great time right now! Or was it 4KQ? or was it both of them? My memory is always a bit fuzzy on what happened in Brisbane in that it only had one FM conversion (4BK to B105) while other major capitals had two.

Yes, 4BH won the bid to convert to FM but failed to come up with the money. 4KQ was the next highest bid and ARN in their wisdom decided to save the money and not convert - probably the worst example of a missed opportunity to convert at a fraction of the new cost of the licences for 97.3 and Nova.

It’s worth noting that at the time Brisbane had a quasi 3rd FM station with QFM, which launched in Ipswich at the same time 4BK converted - within a few days of each other.

One question that has always intrigued me is had 4BH or 4KQ converted, would they still have auctioned 2 new FM licences a decade later, or just 1 like Adelaide and Perth. I honestly think it could have gone either way.

[Mechsta]

I seem to recall that 6GL (aka 6IX) were going to move to FM but that didn’t happen.

[TelevisionAU]

@Mechsta

I seem to recall that 6GL (aka 6IX) were going to move to FM but that didn’t happen.

My recollection was that Austereo bought 6IX (and changed the call-sign to 6GL and rebranded it as “The Eagle”) with the aim of scoring an FM conversion, similar to what they did with 4BK in Brisbane. But when its bid failed, Austereo sold off the station (to RadioWest IIRC)

[Radiohead]

@Brianc68

One question that has always intrigued me is had 4BH or 4KQ converted, would they still have auctioned 2 new FM licences a decade later, or just 1 like Adelaide and Perth. I honestly think it could have gone either way.

I always thought the rationale for the 2 new FM licences in Brisbane in the early 00s was to make up for the single only FM conversion the previous decade.

So that BNE, ADL and PER then all had 4 commercial FMs, and BNE still finished ahead overall by having 4 commercial AMs vs 2 in ADL and PER.

[Brianc68]

@Radiohead

@Brianc68

One question that has always intrigued me is had 4BH or 4KQ converted, would they still have auctioned 2 new FM licences a decade later, or just 1 like Adelaide and Perth. I honestly think it could have gone either way.

I always thought the rationale for the 2 new FM licences in Brisbane in the early 00s was to make up for the single only FM conversion the previous decade.

So that BNE, ADL and PER then all had 4 commercial FMs, and BNE still finished ahead overall by having 4 commercial AMs vs 2 in ADL and PER.

Yes I’m sure that was the original rationale for the 2 new FM licences in Brisbane, to make up for the missed conversion in the early 90s. But the demand for those licences and the prices paid were way more than the single licences in Adelaide and Perth.

97.3 licence went for $67M and Nova 106.9 was $80M.

Meanwhile Nova Perth was only $25M and Adelaide was $27M

With the demand being so high in Brisbane, even if there was already a 3rd FM in Brisbane, I think there might have been a chance they would still have opted for 2 additional licences, like Sydney and Melbourne.

[olderfleet]

@NRN11

Was 3AB the first regional Radio National transmitter?

I wonder what it’s callsign is now?

I have some ads for 3AR Melbourne being branded similarly when RN launched. I’ll see if I can find them….

[Radiohead]

@olderfleet

I wonder what it’s callsign is now?

I think all of the Radio National outlets are now xRN (on AM) of xABCRN if on FM (x being the state based numeric prefix).

[ron12]

@Radiohead

I think they forgot about NOW FM Moree, which I think launched May 1990.

Also the two commercial FM stations in Canberra.

[dxnerd]

@ron12

Also the two commercial FM stations in Canberra.

We still get an easterly breeze in the evening, therefore not inland At least that’s what Sun FM were probably thinking.

We’re probably sunnier than Shepparton though, especially in winter.

[4TAB-1008kHz]

RadioTAB (4/5/7/8TAB) Main Racing Studio E. Melbourne Cup Day 2013.

[hatdj]

@Radiohead

2nd last item above says SUN FM was the only inland commercial FM station then.

I think they forgot about NOW FM Moree, which I think launched May 1990.

Correct, 2NOW (NOW FM) Was the first going to air May 19 1990

[TelevisionAU]

@hatdj

Correct, 2NOW (NOW FM) Was the first going to air May 19 1990

would the Canberra FMs beginning in 1988 not count?