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Broadcast area | Queensland and New South Wales, Australia |
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Frequency | Various |
Programming | |
Format | Top 40 (CHR) |
Ownership | |
Owner | Southern Cross Austereo |
Sea FM was an Australian radio network, consisting of stations in Queensland and NSW owned by Southern Cross Austereo. Some Sea FM stations were later sold to meet media ownership requirements. Prime Television Limited purchased Sea FM Townsville in Queensland and Grant Broadcasters purchased Sea FM stations in Devonport and Burnie in Tasmania. All Sea FM stations currently owned by Southern Cross Austereo except Cairns, Mackay and Rockhampton / Gladstone, are part of the Hit Network after Southern Cross Media merged with Austereo. [1]
The Sea FM brand name and logo was created by Gold Coast Broadcasters for one station - 90.9 Sea FM - after the Gold Coast was granted a new commercial FM licence.
90.9 Sea FM began broadcasting in 1989 with programming consulted by Austereo. [2]
The original Sea FM on-air line-up was a strong team of experienced Announcers, many having made their name previously in capital city radio including - Craig Bruce (FOX FM) & Sammy Power, Ian 'Lofty' Fulton (4IP), Grahame "Durry" Rodgers (2SM & 2NX), Sue Moses (2MMM & Channel 10), Gregg Easton (2UW & 4BK), Joe Miller (3XY & EON FM), Dean Miller and Simon Franks. In the same year the Gold Coast's existing AM station 4GG was granted permission to convert to FM as 92.5 4GGG (later KROQ).
In the early 1990s Gold Coast Broadcasters purchased KROQ and also Sunshine Coast Broadcasters' 92.7 Mix FM on the Sunshine Coast in 1995. [3] [4] The Sunshine Coast's 91.9 Sea FM was subsequently launched as a supplementary licence.
Gold Coast Broadcasters later became known as RG Capital with financial backing provided by Australian Media Tycoon Reg Grundy.
With the further purchase of existing radio stations and the launch of newly granted supplementary FM licences, RG Capital expanded the Sea FM brand name and logo throughout Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. In 2004, RG Capital sold their regional stations to Macquarie Regional RadioWorks (now Southern Cross Austereo). Following RG Capital's purchase by Macquarie Regional Radioworks, RG Capital's FM stations in Victoria were rebranded to Star FM.
In 2013, the Grant Broadcasters owned and operated 99.7 Sea FM in Scottsdale, Tasmania dropped the Sea FM branding and relaunched as Chilli FM, bringing it in line with sister station 90.1 Chilli FM Launceston.
Also in 2013, Southern Cross Austereo offloaded both Sea FM and Mix FM on the Sunshine Coast to EON Broadcasters who paid $17.7million for the stations in a forced sale following a technical breach which occurred in 2011, when the Austereo and Southern Cross networks merged. The merger resulted in the same company owning too many radio assets in a region where two markets (Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast) overlapped, prompting the Australian Communications and Media Authority to force the company to sell two of its assets. [5]
In February 2016, Southern Cross Austereo owned and operated 100.9 Sea FM in Hobart, Tasmania dropped the Sea FM branding and relaunched as Hit 100.9, bringing it inline with other stations to the Hit Network.
It was announced in September 2016, that all Sea FM stations would be rebranded in December 2016 to hit branding. [6]
However, the company decided that the flagship Sea FM station on the Gold Coast & Sea FM Central Coast in Gosford would retain the Sea FM name but adopted the brand and feel of the Hit Network, including the elements of the Hit logo (like Fox FM & 2Day FM). [6]
While Sea FM in Maryborough dropped the name in favour of hit101.9 Fraser Coast, [7] the station in Bundaberg retained the name of Sea FM [8] as changing to Hit Network branding, such as hit93.1, would have been too similar to Hitz939, the existing Grant Broadcasters station in Bundaberg which has been broadcasting to the Wide Bay region since 1993. [9]
The Sea FM station on the Sunshine Coast also retained the Sea FM branding, as it is no longer part of the Southern Cross Austereo network [5] and therefore didn't partake in the Hit Network re-branding.
On 12 July 2019, SCA announced the Gold Coast’s Sea FM would rebrand becoming Hit90.9 from 29 July 2019, bringing all their remaining Sea-branded stations under the 'Hit' brand. [10]
In August 2021, Hit90.9 was rebranded back to Sea FM.
The network's stations are aimed at the under 40's section of the market, playing Top 40 and popular music. Most stations provide local breakfast and daytime programming, and also include a variety of networked programmes.
Southern Cross Media Group Limited, doing business as Southern Cross Austereo, is an Australian media company which operates broadcast radio and television stations. It is the largest radio broadcaster in Australia, operating 86 radio stations, and has a reach into every state and territory.
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The Hit Network is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 41 radio stations broadcasting a hot adult contemporary music format, as well as 6 digital radio stations.
Triple M Hobart is part of the Southern Cross Austereo network of Triple M Network radio stations, Based in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
hit100.9 Hobart is commercial FM radio station owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo's Hit Network based in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
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SAFM 96.1 is an Australian commercial radio station based in Mount Gambier, South Australia, owned by Southern Cross Austereo. It commenced broadcasting on 16 May 1998 under the name FM 96.1.
91.9 Sea FM is a commercial radio station licensed to, and serving the Sunshine Coast and surrounding areas. It broadcasts on 91.9 MHz on the FM band from its studios in Maroochydore. It is owned by Great Southern Land Media Group, and is sister station to 92.7 Mix FM.
Central Queensland's Triple M is a commercial radio station broadcasting from Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia. It is currently owned by Southern Cross Austereo and broadcasts an Adult Contemporary (AC) format. It features both locally produced content & nationally syndicated content. They have two repeaters, one at Gladstone (95.1FM) & 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. It is a part of the Triple M - Greatest Hits network.
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The Australian state of Tasmania has several newspapers, magazines and television stations local to the island, and has historically had a strong mass media production environment.
Triple M Gold Coast is an Australian radio station in Queensland. Owned and operated as part of Southern Cross Austereo's Triple M network, it broadcasts an Mainstream Rock format to Gold Coast, Queensland. The radio station was originally 4GG on the AM band, and broadcasting commenced on 30 September 1965, with Frank Warrick reading the first words broadcast. The station moved to the FM band in 1989 as Triple G - later KROQ, then Gold FM. In November 2019 it was rebranded Triple M.
hit Central Queensland is a radio station in Central Queensland part of the Hit Network. The station is owned by Southern Cross Austereo.
92.7 Mix FM is an Australian commercial radio station located on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, broadcasting as Mix FM.
hit South Queensland is an Australian commercial radio station broadcasting to South West Queensland and the Darling Downs. Owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo, the station broadcasts a contemporary hit radio music format with a local breakfast show based from studios in Toowoomba.
hit is an Australian commercial radio station broadcasting to regional areas of Western Australia. Owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo, the station broadcasts a contemporary hit radio music format with a breakfast show based from studios in Perth, Western Australia.