Melbourne: 3JOY

During most of the ‘90s there was a battle on Melbourne’s airwaves for control of the last three available FM frequencies assigned for community broadcasters.

One of the aspirant broadcasters was Joy Melbourne, a station run and aimed at Melbourne’s lesbian, gay, transgendered and bisexual communities. Joy made its first test broadcast on 1 December 1993 (World AIDS Day) and broadcast on a part-time basis as it had to share its frequency – 90.7 MHz – with other aspirant broadcasters. One day you could be listening to Kylie, the next you could be hearing Islamic prayer.

After years of test broadcasts, in 2001 Joy Melbourne was successful in gaining the Melbourne City broadcast licence – covering the CBD and inner suburbs – and from 2002 commences full-time broadcasting on its new permanent frequency of 94.9 MHz. At that time the station was assigned its official call-sign 3JOY.

Website: Joy 94.9