Sydney: 2UE

2UE was the first “B”-class (the predecessor to commercial) radio station in Australia when it launched on 26 January 1925.  The station’s original call-sign was 2EU, after the station’s owner Electrical Utilities, but it was later directed to change to 2UE.  Apparently, over the air the callsign “2EU” came across as sounding like “who are you?”  The original broadcast frequency was 1025 kHz, changing to 950 kHz in 1935 and then 954 kHz in 1978.

In 1958, with the advent of television threatening radio, 2UE  was the first station in Australia to adopt the “Top 40” music format which had been successful in the United States.  The format led to 2UE publishing Australia’s first Top 40 chart each week. 

The Top 40 concept was later adopted by other stations around Australia, including 3UZ Melbourne, 5AD Adelaide, 4BC Brisbane and 6KY Perth.

In later decades 2UE adopted more a talk-based format but it was in 1986 that 2UE, and its Melbourne counterpart 3AK, launched another bold initiative in radio – network talk-back.

In June 1986, 2UE and 3AK adopted a single on-air branding – CBC – with much of their schedule in simulcast with each other, with some exceptions for prime shifts such as breakfast where each station had its own program.  It was a bold experiment given that radio audiences are particularly parochial and many talk-back topics do not travel well outside of their home cities.  Melbourne listeners also took umbrage to their 3AK being run by Sydney interests and being dominated by Sydney-based talent, and the ratings reflected that.  The ratings were not as dire in Sydney, but still lagged well behind the top-rating stations at the time.

As a result CBC, in its initial format, was short-lived.  2UE and 3AK later went their separate ways while still maintaining elements of the talk-back format.  Both stations adopted the branding ‘Newsradio’, but 3AK soon ditched the talk format entirely.

2UE continued to present a talk-back format and, with top-rating names like Alan Jones and John Laws starting each weekday, the station built up its ratings to become a dominant force in Sydney radio for many years.

The eventual move of Alan Jones to rival station 2GB, and the retirement of Laws, has seen 2UE lose a lot of its ratings shine and is now sitting well down the ratings ladder.

2UE is now owned by Fairfax Media, the company that also owns talk-back stations 3AW Melbourne, 4BC Brisbane and 6PR Perth and music stations 4BH Brisbane, 96FM Perth and Magic 1278 (3EE) Melbourne.

Website: 2UE

Sydney: 2DAY

One radio station that’s been in the news recently for all the wrong reasons…

2DAY was one of Sydney’s first two commercial FM stations when it launched in August 1980.  The station’s original licence holders included a consortium of prominent media identities including Mike Willesee, John Laws and Graham Kennedy.

The station originally broadcast with a soft rock/easy listening theme and even included a weekly comedy segment presented by Kennedy.

By the late ‘80s 2DAY was bought out by the Austereo network, which at that stage already owned 5SSA Adelaide and 3FOX Melbourne, and the playlist was turned into a pop/rock-oriented format.

A new logo was launched in 1990 which served in various forms until the mid-2000s:

 

Website: 2DAY

Sydney: 2JJJ

In January 1975 the national broadcaster ABC launched its new youth music station, 2JJ, in Sydney.  Broadcasting on 1540 kHz (later changed to 1539 kHz in 1978), it was ABC’s first 24-hour radio station and was intended to be the first link in a national youth-oriented radio network.  Budget cuts meant that the ambition of creating a national network was put on hold until the late 1980s.

In 1980, 2JJ became the first radio station in Australia to move from the AM to the FM band – to the new frequency 105.7 MHz – and assigned a new call-sign 2JJJ, though the station was known on-air just as Triple J.

It wasn’t until 1989 that Triple J began to realise its early ambition of national expansion.  Triple J launched in Melbourne (call-sign 3JJJ) in October 1989 and the Triple J network would gradually open in each of the other capital cities, plus the NSW city of Newcastle, over the next twelve months. 

Triple J in 1994:

In the mid-‘90s Triple J embarked on a campaign to expand its coverage to regional markets across Australia.  A total of 44 regional markets were completed in this stage of the national roll-out.

Triple J has also expanded its brand to include online, a monthly magazine (jmag) and Triple J TV.

Website: Triple J

Sydney: 2UW, 2WFM

Our first featured Sydney radio station, 2UW, was launched in February 1925.  The station was originally broadcast on the frequency 1125 kHz before moving to 1110 kHz in 1935 – a time when almost every radio station in Australia was assigned a new frequency with a re-organisation of the radio dial.

2UW changed to 1107 kHz in 1978.

Over the years 2UW has featured some of the biggest names in Sydney radio – Howard Craven, Ward Austin, John Burgess, John Laws, Mike Jeffreys, Laurie Bennett, Holger Brockmann, Donnie Sutherland, Ron E Sparks, Ian MacRae, Rob Duckworth and Trevor Sinclair, just to name a few.

In the ‘60s, when radio was experimenting with catchy slogans, 2UW dubbed its announcers ‘The 11-10 Men’.  In the early ‘80s, the station was perhaps less successful when it called itself Magic 11 – nicknamed by some as ‘Tragic 11’. 

Above: 2UW in 1986.

By the early ‘90s, 2UW had settled down with the slogan ‘Classic Hits’ with a style and format that would also be picked up by other radio stations across the country.

While AM radio stations across Australia were converting to the FM band in the early ‘90s, there seemed to be a moratorium on the same happening in Sydney.  My vague memory tells me that legal action was initiated by one disgruntled AM station that had missed out on an FM licence in the bidding process, hence putting any FM conversions in Sydney on hold.  (Somebody might be able to shed some light on this)

Eventually, 2UW did manage to score one of the two FM conversion licences on offer and, in April 1994, it launched as Mix 106.5 FM (call-sign 2WFM).

Mix 106.5 is now partnered with fellow Sydney station WSFM (call-sign 2UUS) as part of the Australian Radio Network. 

Website: Mix 106.5