Bundaberg is in Qld, Bunbury is in WA
Pre pandemic, Hitz had its own music director, its own log.
Via natural attrition or redundancies, that position vanished and the log was sent from elsewhere in the network as @TV-Expert has covered so well analysing the Lava website.
As music takes up the largest part of the content, Iād say they are integrated for the most part. Voice content in breaks of shows is a minor component.
You do recall correctly @Brianc68, Hitz was the first s.39 FM station in Queensland and it was welcomed with open arms as commercial stations in the region had long focussed on an older audience via 4BU and 4MB.
Out of coverage of Bundaberg, 4CC and 4GY as Radio 56 were the closest AM stations with a more contemporary format.
Despite the non local music log, the talk content and local promotions trades on the legacy established. Hitz still sounds a great regional station that captures the local essence of the city far better than stations in larger markets.
It is but one music format and when you consider whatās available in Bundaberg (next to no overlap/differing content), overspill of Breeze and Rebel are welcome choices.
As early as 2008/9, local clients within Bundaberg had signs up for Rebel/Breeze. Now at 2022, thereās a lot of recognition in the market despite of course the usual CRA closed shop on audience measurement.
Commercial radio as we know is selling airtime to clients to benefit their business. If clients on Breeze and Rebel are getting results, the audience measurement isnāt so much a concern. Certainly needs great sales staff who understand these nuances and more.
Great observations @crankymedia
Yes 4MB and 4BU were both older-leaning. As someone who grew up in the region 4BU in particular was on another planet for a teenager in the 80s. I used to listen to stations across Qld at night and 4BU really stood out from the others. 4MB in the 70s was a bit more hip and in the 80s was still better than 4BU at playing some contemporary hits, but youāre correct that Radio 56/4GY and 4CC were the hit music stations. Luckily I could receive 4GY pretty well in Maryborough. Then Hitz came along followed by 96.1 Heat from Gympie. I still remember the TV ads for Hitz when it went to air. Pretty simple just featuring CD album covers but very slick for Wide Bay at the time.
I grew up there at the same time, and totally agree with your recollections. I used to also tune into other stations (Radio 10 then Stereo 10) at night.
Ah a fellow '68 Wide Bay boy! Class of 1985
4MB was aligned with 4BC for a while. Probably before your time it was funtastic
No, not before my time. I still remember the jingle āFuntastic 4MBā and all the words to it. Would have been mid to late 70s or even very early 80s.
āā¦itās good to just be free,
Funtastic 4MBā
So sad that they reminisings help highlight the lack of diversity in especially regional radio.
In Rocky , I always remembered 4RO was for the oldies and 4CC was for the young. Back then, I loved listening to 4CC and some nights listening to 4AK. 4MK wasnāt bad either. It was very similar to 4CC from memory.
The case of Triple M appearing in the Sale survey I think is because they have the 97.9 FM frequency which extends it further out to East Gippsland. Where I am in Western Gippsland we donāt get a good signal for TRGM or Gold. As for 3GG I have no clue why they are in the Sale survey.
Iām guessing because Traralgon is part of the Sale survey/licence area?
I was class of ā84. I started school a year early.
I recall this from my uni days in Rocky.
The first radio ratings survey for 2023, both metro & regional, has been released today for Mt Isa.
Hit 102.5 remains at #1 with 49.8% (-3.1 from 2020), followed by ABC North West QLD with 14.4% (+6.2), JJJ with 6.8% (-3.2) & 4LM with 6.5% (-4.8).
Hit wins every demo (10+, 10-39s, 40+, 18-54s), as well as every timeslot.
The Other Stations rating is at 18.4%, up 5.4 from 2020.
Resonate (4LMās owner) would be disappointed by that but thatās the price you pay for not having a locally produced breakfast show and local news just covering Mt Isa.
What format is 4LM? If itās talkback then Iām not surprised by the low ratings. Surely with Hit as the only other station in the market, then 4LM should just be wall-to-wall classic hits/AC.
Talk format. Ray Hadley yabbering on about traffic in Sydney or talking to NSW politicians has zero relevance in Mt Isa.
Yes a wall to wall music format would work better.

Talk format. Ray Hadley yabbering on about traffic in Sydney or talking to NSW politicians has zero relevance in Mt Isa.
Yes a wall to wall music format would work better.
Wall to wall music with a local breakfast seems like a no brainer. Most people 35 - 55 donāt want to listen to Hit and have zero interest in Hadley.
Yes, Blyton Group should buy it, convert it to FM and with a Forever Classic format, and just watch the ratings skyrocket!