2SM is an Australian radio station, licensed to and serving Sydney, broadcasting on 1269 kilohertz on the AM band. It is owned and operated by Broadcast Operations Group. The SM call sign is taken from the initials of Saint Mary's.[3][4][5]
2SM's programs are heard across the 2SM Super Radio Network in regional New South Wales, the Northern Territory and Queensland, consisting of over 60 AM and FM stations.
2SM unveiled its denim zipper logo in 1975. Although the logo is inextricably linked to 2SM, it was, according to radio historian Wayne Mac, actually created for Brisbane pop station 4IP by a company called Eagle Marketing and subsequently adopted by other stations including 2SM, 3XY and 2NX.[6]
History
This section needs expansionwith: pre-1992 & post-1996 history. You can help by adding to it. (May 2010)
James Meany, a parish priest at St Mark's Drummoyne, raised funds to allow Archbishop Michael Kelly to form the Catholic Broadcasting Co. Ltd, and it obtained a licence for radio 2SM in 1931.[7] The station, owned by the Roman Catholic Church, was opened by Kelly on 24 December 1931.[8] Apart from the regular Question Box program of Dr Rumble, religious content was, for most part, not its focus; but for most of its life 2SM followed a conservative line in its programming, and it was promoted as "The Family Station".[6]
In 1958 2SM moved to premises at 257 Clarence Street, Sydney, maintaining its style. At the time, the station was run by General Manager Bill Stephenson, who started his radio career at 2UE in the 1940s before moving to 2SM in the 1950s. In September 1963 Stephenson oversaw a radical overhaul of 2SM's format. It started 24-hour service, and was relaunched as a Top 40 station. It had Australia's first team of disc jockeys, dubbed "The Good Guys"—a US-radio inspired format subsequently copied by 3AK, 5KA, 6PR and others. It relied heavily on adaptations of formulaic programming strategies sourced from American commercial radio.[6]
Then in early 1967 2SM became the first station in the country to adopt the new "talkback" technology which enabled presenters for the first time to broadcast phone conversations with members of the public. In November 1968 2SM reverted to an all music format. In 1969 2SM aggressively fought to regain the youth audience it had lost to 2UW. During 1970 2SM established itself as one of the most promotionally active and innovative commercial stations. Rod Muir successfully transplanted the American "More Music" format to Sydney, making minor adaptations for the Australian market. With stringent format policies applying to music flow, commercial content, what announcers said and the placement of jingles, 2SM redefined the whole premise of music based radio in Australia. Key to the More Music philosophy was a strictly limited, high rotation play list of around 30 songs and which at peak times reputedly included as few as 15 songs in one three-hour shift. The new format had several significant effects. First and foremost, it brought to an abrupt end the days of the true "personality" DJs, as exemplified by 2UW's Ward "Pally" Austin and 3XY's legendary Stan "The Man" Rofe. The rigid formatting restricted the on-air presentation, replacing it with a highly affected, American-style presented by a largely faceless and interchangeable roster of "rock jocks". But even more significantly, the "More Music" format took programming decisions out of the hands of DJs and put them into the hands of consultants and back room programming executives.[6]
From around 1970 until the mid-1980s, 2SM dominated Sydney commercial radio. At its peak in the late-1970s it was the highest rating and most profitable station in the history of Australian radio. It epitomised and defined commercial AM Top 40 radio practice around the country for fifteen years and long after 2SM itself lost popularity, its successful programming formula was still influencing its FM band successors.[6]
The introduction of new AM station, 2WS, in 1978, and FM stations 2Day and Triple M at the start of the 1980s saw 2SM's glory days end. In the early 1980s the station retained reasonable ratings with contemporary music formats and slogans such as "More Music", "Rock of the 80s" and "The Power". In 1988 the station dropped its Top 40 format as well as the 2SM brand when it became "Lite & Easy 1269". Its final rating as a Top 40 station had been 6.9%. The years since have seen its format undergo numerous changes, including easy listening and country formats (KICK AM). The ratings never again surpassed 4%.
In the 1990s, the station regained its original callsign (2SM) and recorded some of the lowest ratings ever by a Sydney commercial radio station. In February 1992 a commercial syndicate headed by John Brown attempted to purchase the station.[9][10] In July the station was finally sold to Wesgo, who sacked the entire on-air staff and put the station into automation.[11] Wesgo relaunched the station with a country music format in October.[12] With the station still last place in the ratings, it went back to easy listening in May 1994, adopting the new name Gold 1269 and by Survey 8 1994 hit the heights of 7.1%.[13] In late 1994 Wesgo was purchased by Australian Provincial Newspapers, who later purchased the Australian Radio Network in March 1995, requiring some stations to be sold due to media ownership rules.[14] The station was sold to Kick Media, headed by former INXS manager, Chris Murphy.[15] It was rebranded Kick AM in mid-October with a format comprising country, rock and blues.[16]RG Capital bought a 40% stake in February 1996.[17] By the end of 1996 the station still had low ratings, causing the owners to relaunch it on Christmas Eve 1996 as The New 2SM, with a format of hits from the 60s to 80s.[18]
In 2002 the night time show, hosted by Graeme Gilbert, scored a rating of just 0.1%, the lowest rating ever recorded for a commercial program in a metro market in Australia. 2SM subsequently withdrew from the Sydney radio ratings.
From 1980 until 1984, 2SM owned a 34% shareholding in Brisbane television station TVQ.[19][20]
Line-up
Monday to Friday
Talk Overnight with Cheralyn Darcy Monday 12pm to 5am
Talk Overnight with David Gubbay Tuesday-Friday 12pm to 5am
2SM airs news bulletins every hour and half-hourly during breakfast.
Related Research Articles
Triple J is a government-funded, national Australian radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays more Australian content than commercial networks.
WBZ is a commercial AM radio station, licensed to Boston, Massachusetts, and owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. Its studios and offices are located on Cabot Road in the Boston suburb of Medford.
Magic 1278 is a commercial radio station in Melbourne, Australia owned by Nine Entertainment, and run under a lease agreement by Ace Radio.
3AK is the call sign of SEN 1116, and the earlier on-air name of a former Melbourne talk-back radio and music station, which, in 2003, leased its licence to sports network SEN 1116. A number of unusual events and precedents throughout the station's history make its story of unusual interest. These events include :
3AW is a talkback radio station based in Melbourne, Australia, owned by Nine Entertainment. It broadcasts on 693 kHz AM. It began transmission on 22 February 1932 as Melbourne's fifth commercial radio station.
2UE is an all-music radio station in Sydney owned by Nine Entertainment and run under a lease agreement by Ace Radio. It currently broadcasts from its studios in Pyrmont, New South Wales.
2CH was a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia, which closed on 10 June 2022, after more than 90 years on the air. It was latterly owned by Sports Entertainment Network.
KCSN is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to Northridge, California, and owned by California State University, Northridge. The station simulcasts with KSBR from Saddleback College in Mission Viejo. The station primarily airs adult album alternative (AAA) and Americana music with a mix of legends, new music, and local music with some specialty programming on weekends.
Broadcast Operations Group is an Australian media company, operating radio stations across various centres across regional New South Wales and Queensland, Australia. Branded as the Super Radio Network, stations carry one of two formats – a news talk and classic hits format based at 2SM Sydney; and a hot adult contemporary format based at New FM Newcastle.
2GB is a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia, owned by parent company Nine Radio, a division of Nine Entertainment Co., who also own sister station 2UE.
In broadcast programming, dayparting is the practice of dividing the broadcast day into several parts, in which a different type of radio programming or television show appropriate for that time period is aired. Television programs are most often geared toward a particular demography, and what the target audience typically engages in at that time.
2HD is an Australian radio station in New South Wales. Owned and operated as part of the Super Radio Network of stations, it currently broadcasts a news talk and classic hits format to Newcastle, New South Wales and the Hunter Valley. First broadcast on 27 January 1925, it was established by founder Harry Douglas – from which the station derives its name – and is based in studios in Sandgate alongside sister station New FM.
Triple M Newcastle is an Australian radio station, licensed to, and serving Newcastle and surrounds. It broadcasts at 102.9 megahertz on the FM band from its studios in Newcastle. It is owned by Southern Cross Austereo.
River 94.9 is a commercial radio station that broadcasts to South East Queensland. The station opened in February 1990, and was formerly known as Star 106.9, which used to operate on the frequency now occupied by Nova 106.9. The station was previously owned by Rural Press & Bundaberg Broadcasters, forming part of the Star Broadcasting Network, followed by Grant Broadcasters.
KIIS 1065 is a commercial FM radio station in Sydney, Australia, on a frequency of 106.5 MHz. KIIS 1065 is one of the flagship stations on ARN Media's KIIS Network. The station's headline show is The Kyle and Jackie O Show.
4CC is a Classic Hit Radio-formatted commercial radio station broadcasting to Central Queensland from Gladstone on 927 kHz AM.
6PR, known as 6PR Perth, is a commercial radio station based in Perth, Western Australia. Owned by Nine Entertainment, its focus is on news, talk and sport, and is Perth's only commercial talkback radio station. It commenced broadcasting on 14 October 1931.
Clive Robertson is an Australian radio and television personality in Sydney who has been heard on both the AM and FM bands for over forty years.
Angela Catterns, is an Australian media personality and broadcaster. Mostly known for her work on Australian radio, she has presented Mornings on Triple J, the National Evening Show on ABC Local Radio, and Breakfast on 702 ABC Sydney. She is also a podcaster, writer, interviewer, MC, facilitator, narrator & voice over artist. She presented with Australian humourist and broadcaster Wendy Harmer a holiday season version of the Breakfast Show on 702 ABC Sydney.
Triple M Central Queensland is a commercial radio station broadcasting from Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia. It is owned by Southern Cross Austereo and broadcasts an Adult Contemporary (AC) format. It features both locally produced content and nationally syndicated content. It has two repeaters, one at Gladstone (95.1FM) and Mount Murchison (101.1FM). It was previously known as '101.5/95.1 Sea FM' until it was rebranded as Triple M in December 2016, alongside many other Southern Cross Austereo stations.
↑ "Meany, James (1879–1953)". Biography - James Meany - Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
↑ "Sydney station takes the country road. (2SM radio station features country music) (Radio)". Billboard. Vol.104, no.45. 7 November 1992. p.72. ISSN0006-2510.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
