Adelaide: 5SSA

Adelaide’s first commercial FM radio station, 5SSA, launched in September 1980.  The station was originally branded Double SA-FM and broadcast on the frequency 107.5 MHz.

After a couple of years the station trimmed its on-air branding to SAFM – a moniker it continues to use to this day – and moved slightly up the dial to 107.1 MHz.  A translator station was established in the Adelaide Foothills district on 91.1 MHz – it has since moved to 90.3 MHz.

The logo above served the station in various forms through much of the ‘80s right through to the mid-2000s.

5SSA was the founding station in what has become the Austereo radio network.  The network first expanded outside of Adelaide later in the 1980s with the purchase of Melbourne’s 3FOX and Sydney’s 2DAY.  It also bought Brisbane AM radio station 4BK and successfully converted it to the FM band – as B105 (call-sign: 4BBB) – in 1990.    Austereo also owns radio stations in Perth (including Mix 94.5) and has interests in radio stations in Newcastle and Canberra.

The Austereo network now also incorporates the national Triple M network which also has a presence in Adelaide with 5MMM.

Website: SAFM

Perth: 6PPM

6PM was Perth’s third commercial radio station when it launched in 1937 on the frequency 1000 kHz.

During the hey day of Top 40 radio in the ‘60s and ‘70s, 6PM promoted itself with slogans like ‘The Pleasure Machine’, ‘Peppermint Radio’ and later ‘6PMusic’.  In the early-‘80s, 6PM was one of several stations at the time that adopted the signature tune ‘Rhythm Of The City’ as its main slogan.

Later in the ‘80s, while fighting off the growing dominance of FM, 6PM was promoted as ‘Better Music’.

On 31 December 1990, 6PM was the first of two AM radio stations in Perth to convert to the FM bad.  The new station was branded 6PMFM (call-sign 6PPM) on the frequency 92.9 MHz.

The branding was later adjusted to drop the ‘6’ and just be known as PMFM:

PMFM dominated Perth’s radio ratings through much of the ‘90s.  After 2000, PMFM was re-branded as ‘The All New 92.9’ and later just 92.9, which continues today with the slogan ‘Perth’s Hit Music Station’.

92.9 and its sister station Mix 94.5 (6MIX) are owned by the Austereo network.

Website: 92.9

Perth: 6KY, 6JKY, 6MIX

Our first station to feature on Radio Recall is Perth radio station 6KY.

The station began broadcasting in 1941 – the fourth commercial station in the city and would be the last one to open in Perth for the next 39 years.

The station’s original broadcast frequency was 1210 kHz – later changed to 1206 kHz in 1978.

6KY in 1987, above, when it was ‘Nice and Easy’.

In 1991, 6KY was the second of two AM radio stations in Perth to convert to the FM band. The official call-sign was changed to 6JKY, to observe the normal three-letter call-sign protocol for FM stations, but identified on-air as 94.5 KY FM.

The branding was later amended to remove the “KY” letters – which had a somewhat salacious connotation – to become just 94.5FM.

The station is now owned by the Austereo network and has the on-air branding Mix 94.5. The official call-sign is now 6MIX.

Mix 94.5 has been Perth’s top rating radio station since December 1999 – making it almost a decade as Perth’s Number One radio station.

Website: Mix 94.5