I think it depends on the radio re: Geelong stations in Melbourne. I get Bay FM and K Rock clear on my car radio pretty much anywhere that I drive over Melbourne, but my indoor radios at home barely pick them up. Likewise I can get Warragul, Ballarat and (sometimes) Bendigo stations on FM on the car radio but not at home… but I’ve no reason to want to tune in to them for any prolonged period,
I get an OK signal on 3GG but its programming is hardly compelling enough to make me want to tune in for a signal that gets a bit scratchy.
I would also guess that they are.
The Jindabyne transmitter is the most local to the studio, as well as a relay point for the STL to the 918AM transmitter in Cooma.
Thredbo is fed by a digital link, and I believe that Charlotte Pass and Perisher are off air relays from Thredbo. (This is the same for both 2XL and Snow FM).
As for Bombala, I pretty sure someone on the old forum said that it’s not switched on yet, and I think it would be unlikely that it ever will be given the small population of the area and the distance that would be required for an STL to reach.
2XL’s website does list 92.5 FM for Bombala. But yes, with a population of only 1,000 odd and not really in the tourist area as such, I could see why they may hesitate to activate it.
There are a lot of websites that reminisce about Sydney’s hit music station of the 70s and 80s - 2SM. There are also several Facebook pages remembering the once-mighty 2SM.
Yet there is no such fondness for Triple M, 2DayFM or even 2UW even though they were also hit music stations in the 70s or 80s.
What’s the lasting power of 2SM? Was it the logo? Powerful jingles? Music? DJ’s?
I just bet if we fast forward two decades no one will be thinking about the KIIS, Nova or the 2DayFM of 2016.
What etched the sound of a 70s and 80s radio station into so many minds?
In the case of Triple M, haven’t they always been (and still are) a rock station? I’m sure that 2DayFM has been mostly a Top 40/CHR-based station since the 1990s as well.
How long was 2SM a predominately hit-based music station for? Maybe about 15 years or thereabouts? If 2SM remained mostly the same for at least 25-30 years with only a gradual evolution of the music format, DJs and so on like Triple M and 2DayFM have been, I somehow doubt that there would be many websites or Facebook pages reminiscing about the 2SM of old.
Could the fact that 2SM is currently a pretty amateur-sounding (with possibly a rare exception for John Laws) talk station also help fuel the nostalgia that many have for 2SM in it’s 70s and 80s heyday?
Unfortunately I wasn’t around to experience 2SM’s glory days, but I think it would’ve been a fantastic radio station to listen to back in the day judging by the little I’ve heard online. One wonders if 2SM would still be a music station today if it had decided to convert to FM in the '80s or Early '90s. Although with that in mind, it’s probably highly likely that 2SM as a music station would’ve somehow eventually changed formats if it converted to FM, knowing what happened to 2UW, 2WS and 2KA (the commercial station, not the country music narrowcaster which was still on until about 18 months ago) when they converted from AM to FM in the Early '90s.
I think it is because 2SM was such a powerhouse, had a very good news service, had an influential Top 40 chart (it was the only chart available at the two music stores I frequented), sponsored the very popular 2SM Coca-Cola Surfabout, and had the legends Ian MacRae, George Moore, Frank Hyde and John Brennan. The Italian program, and the Catholic social affairs program (where Warren Boland got his start iirc) on Sunday night probably didn’t rate that well I would think, but the rest of the week 2SM blitzed the competition. I have fond memories of 2SM.
Probably also the fact that the FMers are still around in something like their original formats ie. it’s still classic or modern popular music one way or another.
Whereas 2SM is nothing like what it is, it exists in name only.
And that there are no rock/pop popular music stations left on AM in metro areas anymore anywhere really. A station like 4KQ is as close as you get to that anywhere in metro areas.
Triple M has not always been a rock station. When 2SM stopped playing the hits in 1988 Triple M did venture into Top 40 radio for a few years. It picked up 2SM’s audience and ruled the airwaves until 2DayFM decided to go after a younger audience in the early 90s.
I also reckon the the reason that Nova, KIIS and 2DayFM don’t resonate with Sydney like 2SM did it that the FM stations today are so “same same”.
I don’t remember 2SM in the 70sand early 80s but I am always interested the way so many people treat the station like it was part of their heritage.
I agree. As a result, Brisbane is lucky to still have a real ‘classic hits’ station that plays plenty of 60s & 70s music, something that Sydney doesn’t have these days, either on FM or AM, despite it being a much bigger city than Brisbane.
Looking at the playlist on their website (via iPhone or iPad), Triple M Brisbane plays far more classic rock tracks than Triple M Sydney, mostly due to the fact that the former doesn’t have both a Pure Gold & Smooth stations on the FM band. It’s probably the same reason why River 94.9 from Ipswich plays a wider variety of music than the closest equivalent for Sydney, C91.3 from Campbelltown, which the latter is more CHR-based (as if the Sydney region doesn’t have enough stations with that format already :sarcasm:).
On the subject of “iconic” Top 40/Rock AM stations from the mid 1980s, we know that the following stations fitted that bill the best in each major city
Does anyone know what happened in Adelaide?
Was it 5KA or 5AD that best provided this there?
I think 5KA used to air “Take 40” back then, but I think I remember 5AD getting mentioned on “Countdown”.
I think 5KA used to identify as “The Rock Station” in the 1970s, but then it went on to other formats like country music and then Hits And Memories and so on before it went to FM.
5AD was probably the closest match to the AM Top 40 stations interstate in the early 1980s. I seem to recall 5AD banners when Culture Club visited Adelaide. But then 5AD became easy listening by the end of the 1980s.
I spent yesterday listening to the radio in Sydney. Particularly KIIS, Nova and 2DayFM. Three hit stations battling it out against each other but all with fairly boring slogans relating to the word “hit”.
2DayFM is "Hits and Old School"
KIIS is "Non-Stop Hits"
And Nova is "Fresh Hits.
I like the Nova slogan the best but all three are fairly uninspiring.
Can anyone think of a better hit slogan? All I could come up with was:
Hit Machine
Hit Energy
Hit Power
Maybe even a line afterwards like:
Hit Energy. Can your radio handle it?
Hit Energy. Your radio will love it.
Hit Energy. Like no other station.
Hit Energy. Feel the Power.
Hit Energy. Feel it.
With all three stations using the word “hit” surely there is a better way to stand out from the pack. With all these stations playing basically the same hits (think of Justin Timberlake’s Can’t stop the feeling - and I love that song) surely one of the stations can try to own the word “hit” a little more.
Any ideas?
I liked what 2Day used when KIIS came on - Hits. Always.
It’s just a simple positioner and says everything it needs to.
OT but that Pommie on Nova is bloody dreadful. The voice is so grating. Listened to him this week and while he’s an excellent communicator he just stands out like a sore thumb.
