My Trip Queensland

[mgaleano]

Hello all

Went for a brief trip watch the eels get done by the Gold coast. I listen to some radio up there. I listen to the "the river". A very interesting station. Plays a wide variety of music. Bad reception in the city of Brisbane itself but where we were camping at eight mile plains it was ok. We also went for a trip up to Noosa heads. Interesting there was not that good ABC local radio coverage up there. I had to listen to 612 AM. I turned into 96.1 up there. 40 years seems to survive up there unlike old Vega in Sydney. Quite a good mix. 693 AM in Brisbane was ok. Wish it was in FM without a format change. I didn't listen to much radio in Gold coast except coast FM and 612 AM to get a coverage of the game where we lost.

Matt

[Moasaica]

Hello all

Went for a brief trip watch the eels get done by the Gold coast. I listen to some radio up there. I listen to the "the river". A very interesting station. Plays a wide variety of music. Bad reception in the city of Brisbane itself but where we were camping at eight mile plains it was ok. We also went for a trip up to Noosa heads. Interesting there was not that good ABC local radio coverage up there. I had to listen to 612 AM. I turned into 96.1 up there. 40 years seems to survive up there unlike old Vega in Sydney. Quite a good mix. 693 AM in Brisbane was ok. Wish it was in FM without a format change. I didn't listen to much radio in Gold coast except coast FM and 612 AM to get a coverage of the game where we lost.

Matt

If you liked River 94.9, Zinc 96.1 & 693 4KQ very much on your recent trip, the good news is that you can have a listen to them on the net.

The last time I listened to 4KQ's internet streaming, which was only a couple weeks ago, they promote the fact that they broadcast in stereo, whenever they come up to news time on the top of the hour. I'm not sure whether they broadcast in AM Stereo (not many people have AM Stereo receivers).

Just asking you two questions:

* How would you compare River 94.9 to C91.3?

* Do you think C91.3 should go down River's path of playing a wider variety of music than what's currently offered?

I'm not sure if you read my post on the "C913" thread, which makes my point on comparing C91.3 with River 94.9. Whenever I look at the "Now Playing" feature on River's website and/or listening to them on the net, I often wish that C91.3 sounds more like that.

From my experience of listening to commercial radio stations aiming/partially aiming at the older demographic from South-East Queensland on the net, they seem to be a bit more interesting than the commercial radio stations aiming/partially aiming at the older demographic in the Sydney/Central Coast/Wollongong region.

[mgaleano]

If you liked River 94.9, Zinc 96.1 & 693 4KQ very much on your recent trip, the good news is that you can have a listen to them on the net.

The last time I listened to 4KQ's internet streaming, which was only a couple weeks ago, they promote the fact that they broadcast in stereo, whenever they come up to news time on the top of the hour. I'm not sure whether they broadcast in AM Stereo (not many people have AM Stereo receivers).

Just asking you two questions:

* How would you compare River 94.9 to C91.3?

* Do you think C91.3 should go down River's path of playing a wider variety of music than what's currently offered?

I'm not sure if you read my post on the "C913" thread, which makes my point on comparing C91.3 with River 94.9. Whenever I look at the "Now Playing" feature on River's website and/or listening to them on the net, I often wish that C91.3 sounds more like that.

From my experience of listening to commercial radio stations aiming/partially aiming at the older demographic from South-East Queensland on the net, they seem to be a bit more interesting than the commercial radio stations aiming/partially aiming at the older demographic in the Sydney/Central Coast/Wollongong region.

I think my choice was zinc FM in noosa with 4QR a second then the river. However I'd prob listen to the river because its on the FM band. AM music I can frustrated like I did in the days when 2uw and 2ws were on AM because the sound is poor for music.

I think the edge should sound like the river when it becomes a western sydney station if it does. C91.3 is ok as is. If the edge does not reclassified as a western sydney station then it should stay the same format as is.

[dkint3]

The designated ABC Local radio frequency in Noosa is 95.3 Coast FM (which I think is similar to Coast FM on the Gold Coast, but with more of a talk/sport focus, but not to the same extent as other ABC Queensland stations).

[Moasaica]

I think my choice was zinc FM in noosa with 4QR a second then the river. However I'd prob listen to the river because its on the FM band.

Here's what you may not know. Zinc 96.1 used to be called Heat FM & had a CHR format, when it was owned by Bill Caralis. In 2005, he sold the station to AMI & subsequently, the station's name & music format changed, which took place in February 2006. It is now a sister station of Hot 91 & Zinc 96.1's main competitor in the Sunshine Coast is 92.7 Mix FM.

Zinc 96.1 couldn't really be picked up in Brisbane in normal conditions, so River would be a good choice when in most various parts of Brisbane, as it plays "The biggest variety of hits from the 70s, 80s, 90s and...whatever!" If I was in Brisbane, I would probably prefer to listen to River over Triple M & 97.3FM, wherever I could get it. I've read in other forums & radio newsgroups that Triple M in Brisbane plays a wider variety of music than that of its Sydney & Melbourne stations.

AM music I can frustrated like I did in the days when 2uw and 2ws were on AM because the sound is poor for music.

That's true, but it's good for distance propogation, especially at night.

I think the edge should sound like the river when it becomes a western sydney station if it does.

That I'd like to hear. But as matt86 pointed out in the Media Laws, effect "The edge" 96.1? thread, there's already a number of stations in & around Sydney that has the 'Jack FM' format, such as Vega, Triple M, Wave FM & 2GO.

C91.3 is ok as is.

I'll take your word for it, but I wish that the "Classic 9 @ 9" could come back. Sadly, that's not going to happen, now that WS-FM uses that trademark.

However, the music played on C91.3 fits the area's demographic, which is predominantly younger than other parts of Sydney & NSW. People in the Macarthur region who want more older and/or softer music can listen to some of the more 'mature-targetted' music stations from Sydney (which also covers the Macarthur region in their licence area), such as Vega, WS-FM, MIX 106.5 & 2CH.

If the edge does not reclassified as a western sydney station then it should stay the same format as is.

Agreed.

[mgaleano]

The designated ABC Local radio frequency in Noosa is 95.3 Coast FM (which I think is similar to Coast FM on the Gold Coast, but with more of a talk/sport focus, but not to the same extent as other ABC Queensland stations).

Is this from black mountain Gympie? The reception is average at Noosa Heads for a walkman anyway. I found I was better off tuning into 612 AM on my walkman.

I agree DTV_Campbelltown I'd like c91.3 to go back to the classic nine at nine days. But the current format does work well in that area of sydney.

96.1 as a western station would have to adopt a similar format to c91.3 or a more jack style format if its transmitter power was to lowered at Wentworth Falls and a weaker repeater was started in the local Penrith area. A local station would have limited success play R&B and hip pop. It is right we do have jack stations in sydney. But its still mainstream jack if you get my drift. MMM won't play certain songs as would Vega as well. The river plays a much wider variety. When I was driving in rental car I found that my friend is a Nova fan and myself a more classic hits fan. The river was a good compromise. I think Vega does not provide this. MMM also limits it playlist to not step on the toes of 2day FM. C91.3 is closer to the river. And if I had Nova/2day FM fans in my car C91.3 would perhaps be the best station to tune into to cover all tastes but its is a bit on the modern side.

[Moasaica]

I agree DTV_Campbelltown I'd like c91.3 to go back to the classic nine at nine days. But the current format does work well in that area of sydney.

I agree. As the old saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

96.1 as a western station would have to adopt a similar format to c91.3 or a more jack style format if its transmitter power was to lowered at Wentworth Falls and a weaker repeater was started in the local Penrith area. A local station would have limited success play R&B and hip pop. It is right we do have jack stations in sydney. But its still mainstream jack if you get my drift.

I get your point there.

MMM won't play certain songs as would Vega as well. The river plays a much wider variety. When I was driving in rental car I found that my friend is a Nova fan and myself a more classic hits fan. The river was a good compromise. I think Vega does not provide this.

That's true.

MMM also limits it playlist to not step on the toes of 2day FM.

The same should be applied between WS-FM & MIX 106.5, as these two can sound similar in respect of the 80s & some of the 90s music that they both play.

C91.3 is closer to the river.

I would agree that C91.3 is the closest station in Sydney we have that has a similar music format to River. The difference, technically, is that the maximum ERP for C91.3 is 1kW, while for River, it's 50kW, but with power restrictions towards Brisbane (obviously).

And if I had Nova/2day FM fans in my car C91.3 would perhaps be the best station to tune into to cover all tastes but its is a bit on the modern side.

It's true that it is a bit on the modern side. But do you think that C91.3 would be good for WS-FM fans as well, as they play some songs that you would hear on WS-FM?

My father, who is 54 & is a courier driver, is a WS-FM/Vega listener when travelling in most other parts of Sydney, but when he's in the Macarthur region, he listens to C91.3 & doesn't mind the music played on the station. He also likes the station for its localism in the region, including traffic reports that is skewed towards the Macarthur region & South-Western Sydney, which comes in handy when he's travelling home towards Campbelltown. Myself, I don't mind listening to the station either.

More discussions about C91.3 should be discussed on the following link, if anyone else, apart from myself, have anything more to say about the station: http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=29405&st=0

[mgaleano]

I agree. As the old saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

I get your point there.

That's true.

The same should be applied between WS-FM & MIX 106.5, as these two can sound similar in respect of the 80s & some of the 90s music that they both play.

I would agree that C91.3 is the closest station in Sydney we have that has a similar music format to River. The difference, technically, is that the maximum ERP for C91.3 is 1kW, while for River, it's 50kW, but with power restrictions towards Brisbane (obviously).

It's true that it is a bit on the modern side. But do you think that C91.3 would be good for WS-FM fans as well, as they play some songs that you would hear on WS-FM?

My father, who is 54 & is a courier driver, is a WS-FM/Vega listener when travelling in most other parts of Sydney, but when he's in the Macarthur region, he listens to C91.3 & doesn't mind the music played on the station. He also likes the station for its localism in the region, including traffic reports that is skewed towards the Macarthur region & South-Western Sydney, which comes in handy when he's travelling home towards Campbelltown. Myself, I don't mind listening to the station either.

More discussions about C91.3 should be discussed on the following link, if anyone else, apart from myself, have anything more to say about the station: http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=29405&st=0

C91.3 you dad as happy to listen to yet he prob would not listen to 2day fm. 2day fm and nova I tend to not like the DJs and the feel of the station. C91.3 feels more like a family station with less hype.

I wonder why WSFM wasn't setup like the River. If it works in Qld why not sydney? They say it would effect TV reception too much. Why isn't this the same for the River? Doesn't 50 K effect TV in Brisbane?

[Moasaica]

C91.3 you dad as happy to listen to yet he prob would not listen to 2day fm. 2day fm and nova I tend to not like the DJs and the feel of the station.

You're correct that my father does not listen to 2DAY or Nova. Unlike both stations, C91.3 plays 80s music on a regular basis, as well as 70s music on some occasions.

C91.3 feels more like a family station with less hype.

I agree with that.

I wonder why WSFM wasn't setup like the River. If it works in Qld why not sydney? They say it would effect TV reception too much. Why isn't this the same for the River? Doesn't 50 K effect TV in Brisbane?

If WS-FM stayed being a Western Sydney station & adopts the River 94.9 format, we would not have a 'Classic Hits' station that targets the whole Sydney metropolitan area that we have now, unless 106.5 had continued with its 'Classic Hits' format that its previous AM station, 2UW, had.

River 94.9's ERP towards Brisbane CBD/northern suburbs is 2 to 5kW, while towards the southern suburbs of Brisbane, it is 15kW. Towards the Gold Coast, they broadcast at 40kW, while towards Toowoomba, they broadcast at 20kW. Having said all that, River 94.9 covers a fair chunk of South-East Queensland. It was reported in this forum that River 94.9 could even be picked up in Grafton in normal conditions, which in that direction, broadcasts at 50kW.

[mgaleano]

You're correct that my father does not listen to 2DAY or Nova. Unlike both stations, C91.3 plays 80s music on a regular basis, as well as 70s music on some occasions.

I agree with that.

If WS-FM stayed being a Western Sydney station & adopts the River 94.9 format, we would not have a 'Classic Hits' station that targets the whole Sydney metropolitan area that we have now, unless 106.5 had continued with its 'Classic Hits' format that its previous AM station, 2UW, had.

River 94.9's ERP towards Brisbane CBD/northern suburbs is 2 to 5kW, while towards the southern suburbs of Brisbane, it is 15kW. Towards the Gold Coast, they broadcast at 40kW, while towards Toowoomba, they broadcast at 20kW. Having said all that, River 94.9 covers a fair chunk of South-East Queensland. It was reported in this forum that River 94.9 could even be picked up in Grafton in normal conditions, which in that direction, broadcasts at 50kW.

I don't think WS format would change. It just would be more of a western sydney based station.

The River 94.9 transmit from a different site to Mt Cootha? Or do they have a setup like Power FM in Wollongong? Where by it has a lower power towards Wollongong but transmits at from the same site as the gong stations.

[Moasaica]

The River 94.9 transmit from a different site to Mt Cootha? Or do they have a setup like Power FM in Wollongong? Where by it has a lower power towards Wollongong but transmits at from the same site as the gong stations.

River 94.9 doesn't transmit from Mt. Coot-tha. They transmit from The Knobby, which is located about 20km north-west of Ipswich.

[mgaleano]

River 94.9 doesn't transmit from Mt. Coot-tha. They transmit from The Knobby, which is located about 20km north-west of Ipswich.

Interesting! So I wonder why WS could not broadcast from the west due to television interference yet in Brisbane they can have a high power station transmitted from the west. Perhaps 101.7 freq was the issue. If they were 94.5 FM it may be of been allowed?

[dkint3]

Interesting! So I wonder why WS could not broadcast from the west due to television interference yet in Brisbane they can have a high power station transmitted from the west. Perhaps 101.7 freq was the issue. If they were 94.5 FM it may be of been allowed?

I remember reading that an early proposal for 2WS's FM conversion was to transmit on 97.7fm from a site somewhere in western Sydney.

But the risk was that there was a likelihood that some residents would find that their Channel 9 reception would be affected and that 2WS would have to pay to fix it! So that was out of the question.

I'm guessing that two differences about The Knobby is that it not located all that close to suburban areas and that it would generally have a lower ERP than what WS would have required in western Sydney.

I think a site from somewhere up in the Mountains was probably out of the question because of the overspill into the 2KA/96.1 licence area.

[billybob_chider]

Another thing about 'The River' is that it gets into the eastern portion of the Darling Downs quite well (Toowoomba). The signal level in the Toowoomba license area is comparable with 'The Edge' in eastern Sydney. So one could lock on to 'The River' between Toowoomba and Brisbane, even down to the Gold Coast, without needing to change stations .

[mgaleano]

I remember reading that an early proposal for 2WS's FM conversion was to transmit on 97.7fm from a site somewhere in western Sydney.

But the risk was that there was a likelihood that some residents would find that their Channel 9 reception would be affected and that 2WS would have to pay to fix it! So that was out of the question.

I'm guessing that two differences about The Knobby is that it not located all that close to suburban areas and that it would generally have a lower ERP than what WS would have required in western Sydney.

I think a site from somewhere up in the Mountains was probably out of the question because of the overspill into the 2KA/96.1 licence area.

It would be interesting if they setup at that tower west of Fairfield with the maximum power as the river how good or bad the reception would of been. We would never know! It think 10 - 20 k would be enough. The spot is near the M7 near the fairfield city farm. I think one of the community stations transmit from there. The only issue maybe Campbelltown area.

[Moasaica]

Here's another interesting commercial radio station receivable in Brisbane, that you now listen to on the net.

It's The Breeze, transmitting on 92.1FM & is aiming towards Southern Brisbane. It has an easy listening format, but transmitting on FM Stereo, unlike 4BH.

Check out their website here: http://thebreeze.com.au/

The website is currently under construction, but if you scoll down the page, you'll find the "Listen Live!" link & then have a choice of either listening to either the Southern Brisbane, Regional Queensland or Regional NSW feeds.

[billybob_chider]

Here's another interesting commercial radio station receivable in Brisbane, that you now listen to on the net.

It's The Breeze, transmitting on 92.1FM & is aiming towards Southern Brisbane. It has an easy listening format, but transmitting on FM Stereo, unlike 4BH.

Check out their website here: http://thebreeze.com.au/

The website is currently under construction, but if you scoll down the page, you'll find the "Listen Live!" link & then have a choice of either listening to either the Southern Brisbane, Regional Queensland or Regional NSW feeds.

This might mean that Breeze's sister station, Rebel FM, will broadcast over the net in the near future. Rebel FM is one of the few commercial stations in Australia that still exclusively stick to rock music. They are like the east coast equivalent of Red FM (both are remote area licenses).

[Moasaica]

This might mean that Breeze's sister station, Rebel FM, will broadcast over the net in the near future. Rebel FM is one of the few commercial stations in Australia that still exclusively stick to rock music. They are like the east coast equivalent of Red FM (both are remote area licenses).

You'll be pleased to know that Red FM in WA have internet streaming available now. Go to www.redfm.com.au & click on the 'Listen Online' link. Their positioner is "Classic Rock & New Stuff".

When I was travelling between Perth & Geraldton in December 2005, I did listen very little of Red FM, through their low-powered FM transmitters at Eneabba (102.1) & Badgingarra (100.3). This is along the Brand Highway, where in-between Perth & Geraldton, FM reception from either of those cities is touch & go (AM is obviously better, I remember getting Spirit Radio on 1512AM pretty much most of the way).

[Moasaica]

Zinc 96 & Hot 91 on the Sunshine Coast has recently been purchased by Prime Television for $33.5 million (Seven Network owns the 7 affiliate stations up there). Their websites (www.zinc96.com.au & www.hot91.com.au, respectively) now have a feature of what songs are playing next, now & the last 6 songs that were just played on that station.

[Moasaica]

This might mean that Breeze's sister station, Rebel FM, will broadcast over the net in the near future. Rebel FM is one of the few commercial stations in Australia that still exclusively stick to rock music. They are like the east coast equivalent of Red FM (both are remote area licenses).

Whilst it's not mentioned on Rebel FM's website, the station now streams on the net, according to the list at: http://www.australianliveradio.com/

[datvman]

Rebel FM and Breeze are Beaudesert stations. River949 is a Ipswich station and was once upon a time called Star106.9, but they had to move when the Brisbane LAP was finalised in 2000. River and MMM are great, but atm my listening is 50% JJJ and 25 each to MMM and River.

[(ツ)]

4KQ..

hush......... "glad all over"

easybeats.."wedding ring"

donavon.... "mellow yellow"

all missing on sydney radio :ph34r: