Triple M Brisbane

Last updated

Triple M Brisbane
Broadcast area Brisbane
Gold Coast
Sunshine Coast
Ipswich
Frequency 104.5 MHz FM (also on DAB+)
BrandingTriple M
Programming
Format Active rock
Affiliations Triple M
Ownership
Owner Southern Cross Austereo
B105
History
First air date
22 August 1980 [1]
Former frequencies
104.1 MHz (1980–1989)
Technical information
ERP 12,000 watts
HAAT 365 m [2]
Transmitter coordinates
27°27′47″S152°56′54″E / 27.46306°S 152.94833°E / -27.46306; 152.94833
Links
Website Official website

Triple M Brisbane is a commercial FM rock radio station in Brisbane, Australia. It broadcasts on 104.5 and on DAB+ digital radio. It is affiliated with the Triple M stations owned by SCA in other cities, but many of its programs are local.

Contents

Station history

Triple M Brisbane started on the FM band at 104.1 MHz on 22 August 1980. Brisbane businessman Leo Williams was the driving force behind the venture. The station manager was Rob McKay, who left shortly after, allowing the program manager, Ted Seymour, to take the reins. Their first format was contemporary rock. The station was rebranded as FM104 in December 1982 with the new slogan "Rock in Stereo" and focused on the typical Queensland lifestyle of beaches and barbecues.

Their playlists then included AC/DC, The Angels, Van Halen, ZZ Top and Talking Heads as well as supporting Australian pub rock bands such as INXS, Hunters & Collectors and the Choirboys.

On 10 January 1982, the pioneering program Incontact was launched, one of the first Christian music programs to feature in ratings time (5 am-12 midnight) in Australia. The Sunday night maintained the station's high ratings audience until midnight and aired weekly until April 1990. Over 21 Australian premieres and the World Premiere of US rock band Whiteheart's 'Emergency Broadcast' album featured in the music as well as co-promotion of the 1987 Stryper concert at Brisbane's Festival Hall.

In 1983, slogans "FM104 Rocks the Weekend", "FM104 Rocks Brisbane", and "FM104 Rock in Stereo" were starting to be used. The first number-one rating success occurred in the 7 to midnight time slot during the second survey of 1983, achieving an impressive 26% share. The station became number one overall in October 1984, with a total audience share of 18.2%.

They reached a record 37.9% share during the 1988 Brisbane expo, making them the only radio station to achieve this. They were number one in Brisbane from late 1984 until 1990. The breakfast shift, with Bill Healy and Mr T, was also consistently number one. Promotions, including the Skyshow featuring the first afterburner F111s in the world, and involvement in all things Brisbane supplemented the popular on-air format.

During their 1980s domination, FM104 also pioneered cross-platform endeavours. One of the most noteworthy was the weekly late-night music show "Sevenrock in Stereo" hosted by programmer Bill Riner. Sevenrock was a simulcast with BTQ Channel 7 broadcasting monaural video and FM104 the stereo sound. Other simulcast ventures included Star Wars with TVQ Channel 0.

In 1988, Hoyts Entertainment, the new owners of the station, forced FM104 to take on the Triple M brand to become part of the newly created Triple M nationwide network. From then on, it became known as FM104 Triple M, maintaining its call sign 4MMM. A change of frequency to 104.5 MHz took place on 5 November 1989.

In 1990, changes in management and staff changes at Triple M led to a decline in performance. Around the same time, a new FM station called B105 gained popularity with rap and dance music, taking over the top spot. When the Austereo group purchased Triple M as part of its takeover and merger of the Triple M and Today networks in 1995, the FM104 tag was dropped. However, the FM104 Tag has resurfaced recently in station sweepers and jingles, along with some retrospective commentary by announcers.

In April 2011, the regional media giant Southern Cross Media bought the Austereo group for more than $700 million. Southern Cross Media is the current owner of the Triple M network, and all Triple M branded stations are now operated under the parent company Southern Cross Austereo.

Studios

The FM104 studios were initially based on the top floor of 67 St Paul's Terrace. Not much is known about the original installation.

New facilities were later occupied at 549 Queen Street, Brisbane. This building is full of character, featuring a quirky lift, green carpets and a distinctive spiral staircase linking the two floors. The basement carpark, reserved for executives and station vehicles, was tiny and difficult to enter and exit. The building also hosted numerous wild parties with many famous guests over many years.

The Queen Street equipment included MTE mixing consoles and ITC Delta cartridge machines. FM104 Triple M did not adopt the "Digital Commercial System" (DCS) that was implemented in most other Austereo stations. Instead, FM104 Triple M continued to use outdated cartridge machines until 1999, when the updated Maestro digital play-out system was installed as part of an Austereo nationwide upgrade.

From 1998 to 2000, Triple M's news was broadcast from the newsroom of sister station B105 FM in a combined newsroom arrangement. A high-speed microwave WAN link was also installed between the two stations to enable data connectivity.

FM104, and later Triple M Brisbane, broadcast from the Queen Street location until August 2000, when Austereo relocated Triple M and sister station B105 into new combined premises at 309 North Quay, Brisbane.

The new complex was the first in Australia to use the now-defunct Klotz Digital VADIS audio system, which was revolutionary at the time. After 16 years, the original Klotz installation at the North Quay facility was phased out and replaced with an Axia Audio over IP system manufactured by US-based Telos Systems.

Southern Cross Austereo announced that in 2019 Triple M and B105 will move into new facilities at The Barracks [3]

Transmission

FM104 was originally transmitted using two RCA BTF-20E 20 kilowatt transmitters in an A/B failsafe configuration running from the BTQ Seven towers at Mount Coot-tha. An increase in Effective radiated power was granted in the early 1990s, and an arrangement was reached with a rival station B105 to share a new antenna, combiner, and floor space at TVQ Ten, which had a higher tower.

An Electronics Research Inc (ERI) FM array was installed on the tower, combined through an RF combiner to allow both 105.3 (B105) and 104.5 (4MMM) to transmit at 5 kW base power on the same array. 4MMM had a 20 kW RCA transmitter moved from the BTQ site and an NEC 10 kW transmitter installed at this site, in an A/B failsafe configuration. One of the original 20 kW RCA transmitters was left in place at BTQ seven as a backup, leaving 4MMM as one of the most redundant ready stations in Brisbane, with three transmitters to choose from and two different transmission sites.

4MMM continued to use the same transmitter configuration until 2002. After the merger with B105 FM, which had two Harris HT10 transmitters operating in A/B failsafe, an upgrade was done, which saw a new solid state Harris Z10CD transmitter tuned to 104.5 MHz installed at the newly created TX Australia facility under the TVQ Ten tower. One of B105 FM's existing HT10 transmitters was re-tuned to 104.5 MHz and installed at the Channel Seven tower, 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) away from Channel Ten on Mount Coot-tha as a backup. Both original RCA transmitters were sold for scrap, and the NEC transmitter eventually went to Broadcast Australia for parts.

As of June 2012, Triple M Brisbane had a main Harris Z10CD solid-state transmitter located at TVQ Ten and a secondary HT10FM tube transmitter located at BTQ Seven. In case it was needed, there was a spare antenna (the original B105 FM1C) at the TVQ Ten tower.

TX Australia is currently under contract to maintain all of Austereo Brisbane's FM transmission infrastructure, including antennas, transmitters, and combiners.

Broadcast Australia are under contract to maintain the digital radio infrastructure for all Brisbane radio stations.

4MMM's FM base power is 5 kilowatts with an ERP (Effective Radiated Power) of 12 kilowatts at the antenna. The digital radio base power from the Mt Coot-tha site is 1.8 kW with an ERP of 12 kW at the antenna.

25th Anniversary Celebration

In August 2005, 4MMM hosted a weekend-long celebration commemorating 25 years of broadcasting. Archived audio was rebroadcast, including interviews with former programmer Bill Riner and other former DJs.

The weekend culminated in a Sunday afternoon broadcast from the station's carpark at 309 North Quay, with drinks, food, and live-to-air performances from The Screaming Jets, The Choirboys and Glenn Shorrock. The single 'Cool Change' from Shorrock's 'Little River Band' was the first song ever played to air on 4MMM.

Football

AFL

Triple M broadcasts complete coverage of AFL matches featuring the Brisbane Lions. The football calls are overseen by Triple M's Head of AFL, Ewan Giles, and are relayed to other Triple M interstate stations as needed. Other interstate matches are called by different commentary teams and networked in Brisbane.

NRL

Triple M broadcasts full commentary of selected NRL matches. These games are generally played on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights and are broadcast live from the relevant stadiums. Brisbane matches held at Lang Park are often hosted by lead commentator Anthony Maroon and feature special comments by former Brisbane Broncos player Gorden Tallis and sideline updates from Ben Dobbin.

Networking

There are three shows currently networked on Triple M.

Triple m nights with Dave Gleeson 7pm -10pm Triple m Aussie homegrown with Matty O 10pm-12am

Digital Radio

Triple M is a simulcast on Digital Radio in Brisbane. It is hosted on Ensemble 2 with all of Southern Cross Austereo's digital offerings.

In 2018, Triple M Launched "Triple M Soft Rock", that predominantly played 80's pop-rock and regular stadium rock, accessible on DAB+ and on the Triple M App. In 2022, it was rebranded as "Triple M 80's", to better represent its music content.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FM broadcast band</span> Radio broadcast band

The FM broadcast band is a range of radio frequencies used for FM broadcasting by radio stations. The range of frequencies used differs between different parts of the world. In Europe and Africa and in Australia and New Zealand, it spans from 87.5 to 108 megahertz (MHz) - also known as VHF Band II - while in the Americas it ranges from 88 to 108 MHz. The FM broadcast band in Japan uses 76 to 95 MHz, and in Brazil, 76 to 108 MHz. The International Radio and Television Organisation (OIRT) band in Eastern Europe is from 65.9 to 74.0 MHz, although these countries now primarily use the 87.5 to 108 MHz band, as in the case of Russia. Some other countries have already discontinued the OIRT band and have changed to the 87.5 to 108 MHz band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austereo</span>

Austereo was an Australian mass media company based in Melbourne. It was founded in 1980 by Paul Thompson, and operated 16 radio stations in metropolitan and regional Australia under the Today Network and Triple M brands. In 2011, the company's majority shareholder Village Roadshow sold its shareholding to Southern Cross Media Group, which began trading as Southern Cross Austereo from 21 July.

Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 45 radio stations with flagship stations broadcasting a mainstream/classic rock music format in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, 37 regional stations broadcasting a modern adult contemporary/adult hits format and 5 digital radio stations.

B105 is a commercial FM radio station broadcasting in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, on a frequency of 105.3 MHz, and is part of Southern Cross Austereo's Hit Network. The station has undergone numerous branding changes over the years; it was branded as B105 following its conversion from AM to FM. This lasted until a co-branding as Hit 105.3 B105, then as Hit B105 and finally back to B105 in July 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Cross Austereo</span> Australian media company

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.

2Day FM is a commercial FM radio station broadcasting in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on a frequency of 104.1 MHz, and is part of Southern Cross Austereo's Hit Network.

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 Perth is a commercial radio station owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo as part of the Triple M network. The station is broadcast to Perth, Western Australia from studios in Subiaco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sea FM</span> Former Australian radio network

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">96FM (Perth radio station)</span> Radio station in Perth, Western Australia

96FM is a commercial FM radio station broadcasting in Perth, Western Australia owned by ARN since January 2015. It was formerly part of the Fairfax Media and Village Roadshow networks.

hit104.7 is a commercial FM radio station broadcasting in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia, on a frequency of 104.7 MHz, and is part of Southern Cross Austereo's Hit Network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hit 100.9</span> Radio station in Hobart, Tasmania

hit100.9 Hobart is commercial FM radio station owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo's Hit Network based in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WHAJ</span> Radio station in Bluefield, West Virginia

WHAJ is a contemporary hit radio formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Bluefield, West Virginia, serving Southern West Virginia and Southwestern Virginia. WHAJ is owned and operated by Charles Spencer and Rick Lambert, through licensee First Media Services, LLC.

Triple M Adelaide is a radio station broadcasting in Adelaide, Australia. Its target demographic is the 30–54 age group. Triple M Adelaide is part of Southern Cross Austereo's Triple M network and broadcasts on the 104.7 MHz frequency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triple M Central Coast</span> Radio station in New South Wales, Australia

Triple M Central Coast is a commercial radio station based in Gosford, New South Wales, Australia. The broadcast area is the NSW Central Coast, a region that extends from southern Lake Macquarie to the Hawkesbury River. Originally called 2GO, it was the Central Coast's first radio station starting on the AM band with 1310, moving to 1323, and the final location on the AM band was 801. It later moved to its current frequency of FM 107.7. Ownership of the station has changed a number of times. For some period it was a part of Wesgo, being a two-station company comprising 2GO in Gosford and 2WS in Sydney.

Radio and TV broadcasting in Pretoria is supplied via a network of VHF/FM and UHF transmitters and repeaters owned and operated by Sentech - South Africa's state-owned broadcast signal distributor - from four transmitter sites in and around the city. A number of community radio stations operate transmitters from non-Sentech sites.

Digital broadcast radio in Australia uses the DAB+ standard and is available in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Darwin and Hobart. However, after 11 years, regional large cities such as Townsville and Ballarat still do not have DAB. The national government owned television/radio networks, the ABC and SBS, and the commercial radio stations in each market provide many of their services and a few digital-only services on the digital platform. All but a few DAB+ services use the AAC+ codec, with a limited number using standard AAC.

Caravan Radio was a pop up Digital Radio station that broadcast nationally in Australia while Hamish & Andy tour the United Kingdom in 2010 on their fourth Caravan of Courage journey. The station is part of the Austereo Today Network.

92.7 Mix FM is an Australian commercial radio station located on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, broadcasting as Mix FM.

References

  1. "Commercial Radio Broadcast Licences" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  2. HAAT estimated from http://www.itu.int/SRTM3/ using EHAAT.
  3. "SCA announce new Hit105 & Triple M Brisbane headquarters". 5 July 2018.