I had the impression that 4MBS didn’t move to 103.7 until late 80s? It was at that time the ACMA instituted its ‘grand band plan’ & started moving stations around left right & centre…
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Yes, sorry I meant at the same time as 4MMM, not 4ZZZ.
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yes 4MBS also had to change frequency at the same time as 4MMM in 1989.
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Some great stuff on there! Thanks for sharing.
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Also worth noting that JJJ started (rather late) in Brisbane not long after in Nov 1990.
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Yes Brisbane was the last of the major capitals to get JJJ I think. JJJ continues to do well in Brisbane though, along with Perth.
I particularly enjoyed the QFM and 4GGG air checks - really took me back.
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I thought it was around when Canberra started in 1993? Seems I was wrong. Thanks @TV.Cynic
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JJJ actually expanded into Canberra in August 1990, whilst it expanded into Newcastle the month before. This meant that both of those cities, along with Hobart & Darwin, got JJJ before Brisbane did.
Sources: Department of Transport & Communications Annual Reports, 1989-90 & 1990-91
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JJJ’s Brisbane opening was part of a massive expansion on 30 Nov 1990 that also included Albury/Wodonga, Alice Springs, Ballarat, Bendigo, Broken Hill, Cairns, Dubbo/ Coonabarabran, Gold Coast, Goulburn Valley, Kalgoorie, Lismore, Murray Valley, Rockhampton, Sunshine Coast, Taree/Pt Macquarie, Townsville, Wollongong plus late addition Orange.
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Those other centres didn’t get JJJ until 26th January 1995.
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JJJ opened in all those centres at the same time according to the tape I have of the opening day. Must have my tapes mixed up 
Edit: Found the Brisbane opening tape for JJJ Brisbane where former Premiere Wayne Goss was featured including playing a selection of music he chose. The opening at 12pm was live from Queens Street Mall.
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FUN FACT: Triple Js Canberra frequency was originally going to be 100.7, but was changed to 101.5.
Not sure why it was changed, I wonder if this had something to do with potentially affecting the audio for WIN-4 in some areas?
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Yes, the frequency change for JJJ Canberra was due to WIN-4, which didn’t vacate the VHF-4 frequency until 31st March 1991.
The closure of WIN’s VHF-4 service also allowed ABC’s Wollongong station 2WN to move from AM to FM as ABC Illawarra, along with ABC-FM (now ABC Classic) moving from 107.9 to 95.7. It also eventually saw the launch of 94.9 Power FM, as well as the AM-FM conversions of 2WL (Wave FM) & 2OO (i98).
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Were they all on the same day? I thought the regional expansion came some years after the capital city + Newcastle rollout was completed in 1989/90
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you may also remember, some Triple Js had local IDs for a while. “Triple J Hobart…92 point 9”
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All the regional Triple Js (beyond Newcastle) didn’t commence until early 1995.
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I would like to see them do this kind of thing again, including regional areas eg. “You’re listening to the Mid North Coasts 96.3 Triple J”. Shouldn’t be too hard or too expensive to do?
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From TRV, 4SS Sunshine Coast (now Mix FM) from May 1988. @Brianc68 would remember this, as I remember reading his posts from long ago (most likely from the previous version of MS) that he listened to 4SS along with the Brisbane stations back in the day, even when within Brisbane.
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I always thought when they went to FM, they would become Triple S, not Mix93.
Maybe that sounded too close to Triple M.
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Is Triple J even a localised feed? I’d assumed everything on there is national and just delayed to other states - not even local state news.
Just rolling out RDS everywhere with accurate AF set up would help.
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