Southern Cross Austereo (Regional)

Pity that the Childers Breeze frequency (apparently) isn’t on air. MMM 103.5 also have to suffer through Ray Hadley in the morning so there is no music alternative to Hit101.9.

That’s right, very poor signals from both. I know people in the area who used to get a very good signal form 4KQ when it was on St Helena Island.

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The joint venture is a joke. All it’s done is remove competition from FM radio in Canberra.
Why did ARN leave the programming of the notionally Mix/KIIS station to SC Austereo? Of course they’re going to favour their own content. They may as well rebrand it Triple M, change it’s call sign to 1MMM and stop pretending it’s anything else.
Whatever they name it next Canberra needs a 3rd FM station to provide some competition, even if it’s a Nova or a WSFM or Smooth FM, something.

It’s a disgrace that the ACMA allowed SCA to control all FM stations in any area and leave no competition in FM radio (with their unrealistic view that AM provided competition).

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As opposed to what happens everywhere else in the country?

Yes 4BU are very “optimistic” when they mention Maryborough/Hervey Bay in their weather reports. Their morning show was also called “Wide Bay Today” which implies it includes Bundaberg, Maryborough and Hervey Bay. The reality is the 4BU signal has never been listenable in Maryborough. Ever so slightly better in Hervey Bay, but only during the day. As you say it’s a real lost opportunity for 4BU. But then their signal is barely receivable in Childers, which is supposed to be within their licence area and they’ve never done anything about that either. I’m convinced they could get an FM repeater for Childers if they asked for one. Despite the obvious drawbacks of the Carralis network, I’m darn sure if he owned 4BU they’d have an FM repeater in Childers.

4GY used to be great in Maryborough/Hervey Bay during the 80s, even ok at night sometimes. Not sure what happened and whether they reduced the power at some point, but it was pretty much a second station in Maryborough in those days.

IMHO they really should have amalgamated Wide Bay in the same way they did Rockhampton/Gladstone. I believe it was an option considered at the time. The Wide Bay has a single TV market. They could have launched 2 high-powered FM’s from Mt Goonanamen and let 4BU and 4MB have repeaters in the other city, just as they did with 4RO and 4CC - although 4RO never took theirs up in Gladstone I don’t think. The 990 signal is pretty good in Gladstone anyway.

The only fortuitous signal into Maryborough is Rebel from Childers, but only in the car. Pity Breeze isn’t on air at least.

As I said “in any area”.
Competition should be one of ACMA’s aims, so if there’s more than one FM station in an area they shouldn’t be controlled by the same company.

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@webguy
I think the point is Canberra is not exactly “anywhere else in the country”. It’s the national capital and deserves better radio. The same applies for larger regional markets where SCA has a duopoly like Maryborough/Hervey Bay. There might be nothing that can be done in smaller markets, but where it’s viable for more than 2 FM stations (owned by the same company) to exist, it should be done.

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Based on how it sounded the last time I was in Canberra - I’d take a networked Greatest Hits formatted Triple M over Mix any day.

Once they get full digital radio in Canberra - rather than squeezing onto the one multiplex next to the ABC, that will help things a lot, if they can make good use of it.

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Yes, one good thing about Caralis is that he has bothered to get translators up and running in many far flung parts of his various licence areas… Coonabarabran, Walgett, Lightning Ridge, Kyogle, Mullumbimby, Condobolin, Cobar just to name a few.

I thought Rebel came from Gin Gin?
Childers is licensed for Breeze, but as you say, doesn’t appear to be on air yet.

I’m not sure whether effectively amalgamating the Maryborough/Bundaberg licence areas will be a good move or not. Given the area collectively has 5 commercial radio stations (including 4FC on 1161 but just airs Racing), I don’t know that it would be sustainable.

In Rockhampton/Gladstone, an example of another effectively “aggregated” market, I thought that I had read that 4RO and 4CC had been reduced to sharing the same programming outside of breakfast (correct me if I’m wrong - as their websites don’t seem to indicate too much in the way of shared programming).

4RO & 4CC were sharing the same (mostly talk-based) programming outside of breakfast at the beginning of last year, but went their separate ways within a couple of months due to backlash from 4CC listeners.

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Pleased to hear that people power won out there…

Yes, I remember Hervey Bay had great KQ reception. Bundy, Bargara adequate too.

4BU signal does improve on the drive from Maryborough to Hervey Bay, slightly better as you say. I remember trying to listen to Stan Zemanek via 4BU one night in an esplanade apartment where signal boomed in during the day but hit with skywave fading at night.

4BU should have asked for a repeater before licence area boundaries were defined in the late 80’s. You’re right, Caralis would have repeaters all over the place.

Edited to add: 4BU had local ownership did it not in the 80’s? A very local lot who kept the station sounding more in the dark ages than 4MB as Brianc68 has often made comment. Surprised they spent money to install the 5 kW DA setup. Therefore unsurprised no progress on wider licence area or translators.

Remember, Caralis bought the 3rd commercial licence in M’bo, $700 000, multiple extensions granted by ACMA as he tried to have the TX site moved to Mt Goonaneman. ACMA/ABA rejected this and he gave up on it, passing the licence for auction price to RG Capital (now SCA).

Caralis, for all his FM repeaters, does not keep up the maintenance on 4GY Neusavale. 4GY haven’t had an engineer on staff for years. Staff do have training to do some work, but that’s it. Engineers come from Toowoomba or Tweed Heads for major work.

Who knows, might have turned down 4GY to make a case for FM 107.1 translator?

Always frustrated me that 4GY could broadcast its AM signal (in the 90’s for me) into the Sunshine Coast, but 4SS faded rapidly once beyond the little school at Federal.

Yes, I haven’t heard a need for a translator for 4RO. TX site is on salt flats at Port Alma, so it’s on the way to Gladstone anyway.

Northern end of the licence area, around Yeppoon , Capricorn Coast towns, 4CC signal is not good.

I wonder if a 3rd FM in Canberra would work? Enough ad dollars to support it?

Despite being the nation’s capital, commercial radio is a business, if the ad dollars don’t support enough revenue, the service will be limited.

Many of the towns mentioned are adjacent to Remote NE licence area, he had to get translators on air or risk the remote services eating into his area. It also provided more standing to convince ACMA to reject or wind down the applications for transmitters of the Remote NE services.

Each existing licence could have a condition placed on it to serve its original area first or similar.

Yes, the Rocky/Gladstone AMs did share programming, but that was a disaster and never done before.

4RO was always run older, on the Toowoomba log when RG Capital (SCA) owned, they were once all Alberts stations. When 4RO was bought by Prime, it took the talk programming. 4CC (4CD before) was always a younger station, Gladstone has always had a younger population and the thinking was to grab some Rocky audience with a younger format. That continues today.

Prime did a lot of things wrong when Ronnie and Rob left but they never stuffed up those two stations as much the Camerons with the shared programming.

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Good point re Caralis being adjacent to Remote, but despite having 2RE and MAX FM on air in Gloucester for years, that still didn’t stop Breeze FM from being able to move in.

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There is provision in the LAP for a 4CC repeater in Yeppoon. It’s just never been activated, probably due to Yeppoon being so far from Gladstone which is still the main focus of 4CC.

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Yeah, 4CC wanted that on FM from Mt Archer (same main site as Hit/MMM) to replace 1584 but it got knocked back of course!

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That was a funny one, I’m sure they wanted it directional towards the Capricorn Coast, like that would help.

So Luke Bona’s wonderful style of talkback is to be heard on more regional stations tonight.

No Queensland regional SCA station is taking it yet.

Mt Gambier is on live. So it is going live across regional feeds. As an AEDT test, it’s on 2CS, so should be on the regional SCA heritage stations in NSW and Vic.

2GO is too. 2KO is not. Neither is 4TO or Gold FM Gold Coast. Mix 106.3 Canberra is not either despite comment to the contrary. Not on 4GR either.

An interesting inclusion is that of Luke’s station in Bathurst, it is on the Camplin’s B Rock FM.

Edit: have listened to most of Rex & Dobbo’s AM stations on night skip, music running on all stations, many have different logs.

Ok, so the dopes on the Gold Coast obviously forgot about daylight saving, regional Qld stations have begun taking the program one hour in at midnight local time (one hour late).

KO still doing its own thing.

Radiowest stations also taking the program. Unsure if first hour went to air on their stations.

Sunshine Coast’s Mix FM is not either. Shame, thought they’d been to have live, quality content air. Bricey dropped the ball.

The metro MMM stations seem to be having problems with the ad pulsing to finish commercial breaks, this didn’t happen prior to tonight.

Just went through a whole commercial break of dead air for the metros on digital or music on the FM.

I assume you were streaming through the 4GC website? In that case, the stream is just of 4MMM permanently due to 4GC not streaming.

I grew up in Mackay. It is and always has been a part of Central Queensland.
It’s a common misconception from pretty much anyone further south that Mackay is “North QLD” but it certainly isn’t.

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For all those playing at home. Look at the map. If you’re in a small town and your ‘big town’ is Mackay, you’re still in central Qld. If you’re in a small town and your ‘big town’ is Townsville, you’re in North Qld.

So that’s between Proserpine and Bowen.

Also the changeover stretch for TV from the Mackay market to the Townsville market. Where once TNQ signal ended and MVQ started or vice versa.

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Yes that is true. Although there is still a bit of debate on the boundary. A lot of Mackay locals now identify as North Queenslanders rather than Central Queenslanders. Don’t think they like being associated with Rockhampton :slight_smile:

Similar situation in Bundaberg which is officially southern Qld but is often referred to as the start of central Qld these days and even has a campus of Central Qld Uni just to confuse things :slight_smile:

I think the confusion with Mackay stems from the breakaway movement to create a North Queensland state which would definitely include Mackay if it ever happened - which it won’t :). Rocky on the other hand would like stay in southern Qld.

Anyway I’m a guilty Brisbane-ite and call Mackay as North Qld. Sorry :slight_smile:

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