Sea FM

This article is about the Australian radio network. For the New Zealand radio station, see Sea 92FM.
Sea FM
Broadcast area Australia Queensland and New South Wales
Slogan Your #1 Hit Music Station
Frequency Various
Format Pop, Rock, Rap
Owner Southern Cross Austereo

Sea FM is a commercial Australian radio network, consisting of stations in Queensland and New South Wales and is 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 now considered part of the Today's Hit Network after Southern Cross Media merged with Austereo.[1]

History

The Sea FM brand name and logo was created by Gold Coast Broadcasters Pty Ltd for one station - 90.9 Sea FM - after the Gold Coast was granted a new commercial FM licence. 90.9 Sea FM began broadcasting in 1989 with programming consulted by Austereo. The original Sea FM on-air line-up was a strong team of experienced Announcers, many having made their name previously in capital city radio including - Craig Bruce (FOX FM) & Sammy Power, Ian 'Lofty' Fulton (4IP), Grahame "Durry" Rodgers (2SM & 2NX), Sue Moses (2MMM & Channel 10), Gregg Easton (2UW & 4BK), Joe Miller (3XY & EON FM), Dean Miller and Simon Franks. In the same year the Gold Coast's existing AM station 4GG was granted permission to convert to FM as 92.5 4GGG (later KROQ). In the early 90s Gold Coast Broadcasters purchased KROQ and also the Sunshine Coast's 92.7 Mix FM. The Sunshine Coast's 91.9 Sea FM was then launched as a supplementary licence. Gold Coast Broadcasters later became known as RG Capital with financial backing provided by Australian Media Tycoon Reg Grundy.

With the further purchase of existing radio stations and the launch of newly granted supplementary FM licences, RG Capital expanded the Sea FM brand name and logo throughout Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. In 2004, RG Capital sold their regional stations to Macquarie Regional RadioWorks (now Southern Cross Austereo). Following RG Capital's purchase by Macquarie Regional Radioworks, RG Capital's FM stations in Victoria were rebranded to Star FM.

In 2013, the Grant Broadcasters owned and operated 99.7 Sea FM in Scottsdale, Tasmania dropped the Sea FM branding and relaunched as Chilli FM, bringing it inline with sister station 90.1 Chilli FM Launceston.

In February 2016, Southern Cross Austereo owned and operated 100.9 Sea FM in Hobart, Tasmania dropped the Sea FM branding and relaunched as Hit 100.9, bringing it inline with other stations to the Hit Network.

Programming

The network's stations are aimed at the under 40's section of the market, playing Top 40 and popular music. Most stations provide local breakfast and daytime programming, and also include a variety of networked programmes.

Stations

New South Wales

Queensland

References

  1. Capel, Claudine (15 July 2011). "Sea FM gets Austereo branding". B&T Marketing & Media. Reed Business Information. Retrieved 15 July 2011.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, February 24, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.