Triple M Central Queensland

Last updated

Triple M Central Queensland
Broadcast area Central Queensland
Frequency 101.5FM
Programming
Format Mainstream rock
Ownership
OwnerSouthern Cross Austereo
Hit Central Queensland
History
First air date
As Sea FM – 30 September 2000
As Triple M – 15 December 2016
Call sign meaning
4RGK
Technical information
Repeater(s) 95.1FM – Gladstone
101.1FM – Mount Murchison
Links
Website https://www.triplem.com.au/centralqld

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.

Contents

History

4RGK began test broadcasts in Rockhampton and Gladstone in September 2000, and officially launched as Sea FM in October 2000, broadcasting to the Rockhampton area on 101.5 FM and the Gladstone area on 95.1 FM.

When the station was launched, it was owned by RG Capital, which already owned the existing Rockhampton AM station 4RO.

A rival radio company, DMG Regional Radio, also launched their FM station in Rockhampton at the same time, with Hot FM beginning transmission in Central Queensland. RG Capital Radio and DMG Regional Radio both successfully bid for the FM licenses in 1998, eventually leading to the simultaneous launch of the two competing stations in 2000.

Unlike Sea FM, which began broadcasting a 'live and local' format from its Rockhampton studio between 5 am and 6 pm, Hot FM (now Hit Central Queensland) heavily relied on networking their daytime programming from its hub in Townsville. In 2005, RG Capital and DMG Regional Radio merged to become Macquarie Radioworks, and the two rival stations became stablemates. The merger also meant the two AM stations 4RO and 4CC were also owned by the same company, and as a result had to be offloaded and were later sold to Prime Media Group.

Since the original merger, a number of other mergers have occurred which has affected Sea FM's formatting. Macquarie and Southern Cross Broadcasting merged to become Macquarie Southern Cross Media, then Macquarie Southern Cross merged with Austereo to become Southern Cross Austereo.

Sea FM was rebranded as Triple M in December 2016, alongside many other Southern Cross Austereo stations.

Programming

Music

Sea FM is skewed towards the 40+ demographic playing an adult contemporary format focusing on mainly rock music from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s with some more recent music included, much similar to the music format of Triple M.

Shows

Sea FM's programs mainly originates from the local Rockhampton studio at the Rockhampton Media Centre, including the flagship Sea Morning Crew breakfast program, [1] and the 9 am – midday morning program. [2]

Some programs originate from sister stations Triple M Townsville, Triple M Gold Coast and the metropolitan Triple M stations. Weekend programming on Sea FM predominately consists of generic "Adult Contemporary" programming from the Gold Coast, with some network lifestyle programming also being broadcast on Sunday mornings.

Sea FM also broadcasts national National Rugby League coverage. NRL games featuring the North Queensland Cowboys are provided by 4TO FM's Cowboys Call Team [3] while other NRL games are broadcast as part of the national Triple M Rock NRL sports programming from Triple M Sydney. [4]

News

Sea FM produces a weekday local news service, with a Rockhampton-based journalist reading local news headlines on the hour from 6 am until 9 am, with full bulletins on the half-hour at 6:30 am, 7:30 am, 8:30 am. Local news is also broadcast during morning programming at 10 am and 11 am. The local news bulletins heard on Sea FM are also played on Hot FM CQ. The journalist is also responsible for preparing a separate local news service for the Mackay region, which is heard on Mackay's Sea FM station. All national news bulletins are provided by Southern Cross Austereo newsrooms in either Townsville or the Gold Coast.

Ratings

On 29 September 2016, ratings for the Central Queensland radio market were released. This was the first time since 2001 ratings for the local market had been calculated. [5] [6]

Sea FM performed best in the 40–54 demographic with 36.9% of audience share. The station also beat all its rivals in the 55–64 demographic with 24% of audience share, just ahead of ABC Capricornia on 23.9%. The timeslot where Sea FM attracted the most listeners was the midday–4 pm shift with 25.4% of audience share. The station's 9 am–midday timeslot was also the most listened-to morning program in Central Queensland, with 24.4% of audience share, just ahead of its sister station Hot FM which had 24.3%.

Rebranding

On 26 September 2016, Southern Cross Austereo announced that Sea FM in Central Queensland would be rebranded to Triple M in mid-December, as part of a major national rebranding for the network's Localworks stations to enable the stations to fully align themselves with the metro Triple M stations. The name change took effect on 15 December 2016 – the station's first name change since its launch in October 2000. [7]

Past Sea FM morning crews

From the station's inception in 2000 until its rebranding to Triple M, thirteen duos have hosted the flagship Sea FM Morning Crew breakfast program. Most notably, these have included political advisor James Ashby, comedian Craig Low and former Big Brother Australia contestant Billy Bentley.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ARN Regional</span> Australian radio broadcasting company

ARN Regional is an Australian regional radio network founded after the purchase of a group of radio stations from Grant Broadcasters by ARN parent ARN Media. It includes a small number of metropolitan radio stations.

102.9 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.

<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.

Triple M Central West is an Australian radio station, licensed to Orange, New South Wales. It is owned and operated by Macquarie Regional RadioWorks, and transmits on 105.1 MHz on the FM band. It originally broadcast on 990 kHz, before switching to 1089 kHz, before switching to the FM band. The former Am frequency of 1089 was turned into a relay station of an automated Sydney station, and later purchased by Broadcast Operations Group.

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.

4CC is a Classic Hit Radio-formatted commercial radio station broadcasting to Central Queensland from Gladstone on 927 kHz AM.

<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">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.

Star FM was an Australian radio network, consisting of Top 40/CHR formatted stations in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. The brand was created by DMG Regional Radio in 1999, with the network being sold to Southern Cross Austereo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hot FM (Australian radio network)</span> Former radio network in Australia

Hot FM was a radio network broadcasting to Queensland and Western Australia. Owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo, the stations broadcast a mix of local and networked programming. On 15 December 2016, the stations were merged into the Hit Network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hit101.3 Central Coast</span> Radio station in Central Coast, New South Wales

Hit101.3 is an Australian radio station located on the New South Wales Central Coast, part of Southern Cross Austereo's Hit Network. Hit101.3 broadcasts from the Central Coast Radio Centre on Henry Parry Drive, in Gosford, along with sister station 107.7 Triple M Central Coast. Its broadcast area is the Central Coast, however the station can be heard on FM at points as far as Newcastle, Sydney and parts of the Blue Mountains. The station was first broadcast from studios located in Mann Street, Gosford, where it was known on-air as Coast Rock FM, and is now broadcast from Henry Parry Drive, Gosford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triple M Townsville</span> Adult contemporary radio station in Townsville, Queensland

102.3 Triple M is an Australian radio station in Queensland. Owned and operated as part of Southern Cross Austereo's Triple M network, it broadcasts an adult contemporary format to Townsville, Queensland. First broadcast in 1931 on 1170 kHz AM, later 780 kHz, then became 774 kHz in the 1978 shakeup when all AM transmitters were shuffled into the 9 kHz spacing regime. In 1998 the station transferred to the FM band, under ownership of DMG Regional Radio – later sold to Macquarie Regional RadioWorks and Southern Cross Media Group. The station broadcasts all North Queensland Cowboys NRL matches, and has previously networked music programming to the regional LocalWorks network.

Jamie Simpson is a coach with the Central Queensland Capras, a feeder club for the NRL club the Brisbane Broncos in the Queensland Cup and a former rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. Simpson played as a wing and as a centre. Simpson also played as a lock and five-eighth in his schoolboy years at St. Brendan's College, Yeppoon. Simpson is an avid worker in the community and is an ambassador for The Men of League Foundation and Lymphoma Australia.

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

Triple M Riverina MIA 963 is an Australian radio station in New South Wales. Owned and operated as part of Southern Cross Austereo's Triple M network, it broadcasts a classic hits format to Griffith, New South Wales and surrounding areas. The station launched on 14 September 1936, and marked only the second commercial radio station to launch in the Riverina. The station was formerly operated by DMG Regional Radio, Macquarie Regional RadioWorks and Southern Cross Media Group - and broadcasts from studios in Griffith alongside sister station hit99.7 Riverina MIA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4RO</span> Radio station in Rockhampton, Queensland

4RO is an AM radio station broadcasting to Central Queensland from Rockhampton, Queensland on 990 kHz.

hit103.1 Townsville is an Australian commercial radio station in Queensland. Owned and operated as part of Southern Cross Austereo's Hit Network, it broadcasts a contemporary hit radio format to Townsville, Queensland. First broadcast in 1932 as 4AY on 890 kHz AM, changing to 891 kHz in 1978. The station operated under call-sign 4RR from 1987 until, in 1994, the station relaunched on the FM band as active rock-formatted Hot FM. At the time, the station was owned by Rural Press - later sold to dmg Regional Radio, then Macquarie Regional RadioWorks and Southern Cross Media Group.

hit Central Queensland is a radio station in Central Queensland. Part of the Hit Network, it is owned by Southern Cross Austereo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hit South Queensland</span> Commercial radio station in Queensland, Australia

hit South Queensland is an Australian commercial radio station broadcasting to Southwest 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. Programming from Hit South Queensland is retransmitted in Charleville through 101.7 FM WEST FM

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.

Triple M Gippsland is a commercial radio station owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo as part of the Triple M network. The station is broadcast to townships in the Gippsland region of Victoria from studios in Traralgon.

References

  1. ↑ Shows: Banksy & Pink, Sea FM CQ website
  2. ↑ Shows: Cath, Sea FM CQ website
  3. ↑ About: Company Overview, Cowboys Call Team Facebook page
  4. ↑ Triple M NRL Triple M Sydney
  5. ↑ Radio ratings for Central Queensland, radioinfo.com.au, 29 September 2016
  6. ↑ CQ loves SCA, Media Release, Sea FM CQ website, 29 September 2016
  7. ↑ SCA's Hit and Triple M to become the two largest commercial radio networks in Australia, Media Release, Southern Cross Austereo website, 26 September 2016

23°20′20″S150°34′40″E / 23.3388°S 150.5779°E / -23.3388; 150.5779

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.