Brisbane: 4BH

4BH was Brisbane’s third commercial radio station when it launched in January 1932.  The original broadcast frequency was 1380 kHz, shifting up the dial to 880 kHz in the mid-1970s.

The station then adjusted slightly to 882 kHz to comply with 9 kHz spacing in 1978.

4BH was part of the then national Macquarie network, though unlike its sister stations in Sydney (2GB), Melbourne (3AW) and Adelaide (5DN) which all had news-talkback formats, 4BH since 1975 had a ‘beautiful music’ format.

Above: 4BH in 1988

After the Macquarie network was disbanded, 4BH did attempt a talkback format briefly in the mid-1990s.

The station then wound up in receivership and was later sold to the owners of regional station 4QFM, based in Ipswich.  4BH later ended up under the ownership of the Australian Radio Network and was then sold to DMG Radio Australia – as ARN, which also owned music station 4KQ, had to offload 4BH when it became a joint partner (with DMG) in the new FM station licensed for Brisbane, and ARN could not own more than two stations in the one market.

DMG then sold 4BH to Southern Cross Broadcasting which also owned local talkback station 4BC.  Southern Cross’ radio assets were later sold off to Fairfax Media.

4BH and 4BC now broadcast from shared facilities in the suburb of Cannon Hill.  4BH now plays an ‘easy listening’ playlist.

Website: 4BH

Brisbane: 4MMM

Brisbane’s first commercial FM station, 4MMM, launched in August 1980.  The original broadcast frequency was 104.1 MHz.

 
A few years after its launch 4MMM adopted a new on-air branding, FM104, featuring the “rockin’ roo”.

4MMM would later move slightly up the dial to 104.5 MHz and went back to its original Triple M name as the Triple M brand was being rolled out across Australia.

By the mid-‘90s, the Triple M logo was streamlined.

4MMM and its sister station B105 (4BBB) are owned by the Austereo radio network.

Website: Triple M Brisbane

Brisbane: 4BBB

Radio station 4BK was Brisbane’s second commercial station when it launched in September 1930. The station originally broadcast on the frequency 1290 kHz and moved up the dial slightly to 1300 kHz, before moving back to 1296 kHz in 1978.

By the late ‘80s, 4BK had been bought by the Austereo network with the hope of successfully bidding for a licence to convert to the FM band. Up until then the only commercial FM station in the Brisbane market was 4MMM which started back in 1980.

Austereo was successful in gaining a licence to convert 4BK to FM and on 26 February 1990, B105 (call-sign: 4BBB) was born on the frequency 105.3 MHz.

This logo would represent B105 for over a decade:

Within two ratings survey periods of its launch, B105 had taken the old 4BK from a modest rating to be ranked Number One and B105 would continue to top the Brisbane radio ratings until 2004.

In the most recent radio ratings survey for Brisbane, B105 regained the Number One position.

4BBB and 4MMM are both owned by the Austereo network.

Website: B105