4MMM
Encyclopedia
4MMM is one of Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

's commercial FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...

 Rock radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

s, primarily targeted at those in the 25-50 age group. It is part of the Austereo Triple M network
Triple M
The Triple M Network is an active rock radio network in Australia owned by media company Austereo, who also own the Today Network.- History :...

 and broadcasts on 104.5 MHz.

In April 2011 the Austereo group was purchased by Southern Cross Media.

Station history

The station started on the FM band at 104.1 MHz on August 22, 1980. Brisbane businessman Leo Williams was the driving force behind the venture while the station manager then was Rob McKay, who left the station soon after, allowing program manager Ted Seymour to take the reins. Their first format was contemporary rock. It was rebranded as FM104 in December 1982 with the new slogan "Rock In Stereo", and focused on the typical Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

 lifestyle of beaches and barbecues.

The music was now serious rock but very much album oriented. Their playlists now included AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...

, The Angels
The Angels (Australian band)
The Angels are a hard rock band that formed in Adelaide, Australia in 1970. The band later relocated from Adelaide to Sydney and enjoyed huge local success until well into the 1990s. For the purposes of international release, their records were released under the names Angel City and later The...

, Van Halen, ZZ Top and the Talking Heads as well as supporting Australian pub rock bands such as INXS, Hunters & Collectors and the Choirboys.

In 1983, they started using the popular call sign, "FM104 ROCKS THE WEEKEND", "FM104 ROCKS BRISBANE" and "FM104 ROCK IN STEREO". The first number one ratings success was in the 7 to midnight timeslot in the second survey of 1983, reaching an impressive 26 share. The station finally went number one overall in October 1984 with a share of 18.2% total audience.

From then they dominated the market, peaking at a massive 37.9% share in the Brisbane expo year, 1988. This has never been achieved by any radio station since. They were number one in Brisbane from late 1984 until 1990. The breakfast shift, with Bill Healy and Mr T was also consistently number one. Promotions including the Skyshow featuring the first afterburner F111's in the world, and involvement in all things Brisbane supplemented the sizzling on-air format.

In 1988, Hoyts Entertainment
Hoyts
The Hoyts Group is an Australian company consisting of Hoyts Exhibition, Hoyts Distribution and Val Morgan.Hoyts Exhibition manages 450 screens across 40 Australian and 10 New Zealand cinema complexes; making it Australia's second largest cinema chain. Val Morgan, the cinema advertising arm of the...

, the new owners of the station, forced FM104 to take on the Triple M
Triple M
The Triple M Network is an active rock radio network in Australia owned by media company Austereo, who also own the Today Network.- History :...

 brand to become part of the newly created Triple M nationwide network. From then on it became known as FM104 Triple M, with the callsign 4MMM. A change of frequency to 104.5 MHz occurred on 5 November 1989.

During 1990, management and staff changes started a slide. Triple M was finally toppled from the top spot by new FM station B105
B105
B105 or B-105 may refer to:*B105 FM , a Mainstream CHR radio station broadcasting out of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia*WUBE, a country music radio station broadcasting out of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of America...

, with the onset of rap and dance music. When the Austereo group purchased the station as part of its takeover and merger of the Triple M and Today networks in 1995 the FM104 tag was dropped, however the FM104 Tag has resurfaced recently in station sweepers and jingles.

In April 2011 the regional media giant Southern Cross Media bought the Austereo group for more than $700 million. Southern Cross is the current owner of the Triple M network, and at this stage the only significant lineup change has been the cancellation of the long running breakfast show 'The Cage' in September 2011 and the axing of 28 year Austereo veteran announcer Ian Skippen.

Studios

FM104 studios were originally based in the top floor of 67 St Pauls Terrace, and later moved to 549 Queen Street
Queen Street, Brisbane
Queen Street in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia, is one of the city's major streets. It is the city's central road, partly covered by a pedestrian mall called the Queen Street Mall. Queen Street ends at the Victoria Bridge and is bounded by two of the Brisbane River's central reaches...

, Brisbane. This building was quite a character building - designed by renowned architect David Phillips, it featured a quirky lift, green carpets and a distinctive spiral staircase linking the two floors. The basement carpark, reserved for executives, was tiny and difficult to enter and exit. The building also hosted some wild survey parties with many famous guests over many years.

The original equipment comprised MTE mixing consoles, and ITC Delta cartridge machines. FM104 Triple M never experienced the era of "Digital Commercial System" (DCS) which was incorporated into most other Austereo stations. Instead, FM104 Triple M continued to use outdated cartridge machines until 1999, when the updated Maestro digital playout system was installed as part of an Austereo wide upgrade.

From 1998 to 2000, Triple M's news was broadcast from the newsroom of sister station B105 FM
B105 FM
B105 is a commercial FM radio station broadcasting on 105.3 MHz in Brisbane, Australia. It is part of the Austereo Radio Network. B105's primary audience is 10 to 24 age group.-History:...

 in a combined newsroom arrangement. A data link was also installed between the two stations for WAN access.

FM104, and later Triple M Brisbane, broadcast from the Queen Street location until August 2000, when owners Austereo relocated Triple M and sister station B105 into new combined premises at 309 North Quay
North Quay, Brisbane
North Quay is a location in the Brisbane central business district and the name of street in the same area, running along the Brisbane River from an intersection near Makerston Street to the top of the Queen Street.-Location:...

, Brisbane. The new complex was the first in Australia to use the revolutionary Klotz Digital
Klotz Digital
Klotz Digital AG is a manufacturer of audio media products based in Munich, Germany.The company is active in the two business segments Public Address and Radio & TV Broadcast....

 VADIS audio system.

Transmission

FM104 originally transmitted using two RCA BTF-20E 20 kilowatt transmitters in an A/B failsafe configuration running from the BTQ Seven tower at Mt Coot-tha, Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

. An increase in Effective radiated power
Effective radiated power
In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...

 was granted in the early 1990s, and an arrangement was reached with rival station B105
B105
B105 or B-105 may refer to:*B105 FM , a Mainstream CHR radio station broadcasting out of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia*WUBE, a country music radio station broadcasting out of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of America...

 to share a new antenna, combiner and floor space at TVQ
TVQ
TVQ is the Brisbane television station of Network Ten in Australia.TVQ may also refer to:* TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting, a television station in Fukuoka, Japan...

 Ten, which had a higher tower.

An ERI FM array was installed on the tower, combined through an RF combiner to allow both 105.3 (B105) and 104.5 (4MMM) to transmit at 5 kW base power on the same array. 4MMM had a 20 kW RCA transmitter moved from the BTQ site and an NEC 10 kW transmitter installed at this site, in an A/B failsafe configuration. One of the original 20 kW RCA transmitters was left in place at BTQ seven as a backup, leaving 4MMM as one of the most redundant ready stations in Brisbane, with three transmitters to choose from and two different transmission sites.

After the official duopoly merger with B105 FM, which had two Harris HT10 transmitters on a separate antenna at TVQ Channel Ten, 4MMM continued to use the same transmitter configuration until 2002, when a new solid state Harris Z10CD transmitter was installed at the newly created TX Australia facility under the TVQ Ten tower. One of B105 FM's existing HT10 transmitters was re-tuned to 104.5 MHz and installed at the Channel Seven tower, 1 km away from Channel Ten on Mount Coot-tha as a backup. Both original RCA transmitters were sold for scrap, and the NEC transmitter eventually went to Broadcast Australia for parts.

As of November 2005, Triple M Brisbane has one Harris Z10CD solid state transmitter as the main, located at TVQ
TVQ
TVQ is the Brisbane television station of Network Ten in Australia.TVQ may also refer to:* TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting, a television station in Fukuoka, Japan...

 Ten. It has one HT10FM tube transmitter as the secondary, located at BTQ Seven. There is also a spare antenna (the original B105
B105
B105 or B-105 may refer to:*B105 FM , a Mainstream CHR radio station broadcasting out of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia*WUBE, a country music radio station broadcasting out of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of America...

 FM1C) at the TVQ
TVQ
TVQ is the Brisbane television station of Network Ten in Australia.TVQ may also refer to:* TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting, a television station in Fukuoka, Japan...

 Ten tower if needed.

As of February 2008, TX Australia are under contract to maintain all of Austereo Brisbane's FM transmission infrastructure including antennas, transmitters and combiners.

Broadcast Australia are under contract to maintain the digital radio infrastructure for all Brisbane radio stations.

4MMM's FM base power is 5 kilowatts with an ERP (Effective Radiated Power) of 19 kilowatts at the antenna. The digital radio base power from the Mt Coot-tha site is 1.8 kW with an ERP of 12 kW at the antenna.

Breakfast shows

FM104 and 4MMM have had several notable breakfast shows in their history. The most popular breakfast show ever on FM104 Triple-M was hosted by Bill Healy and Mr T (Rod Tiley), from the early to the late 1980s. It was the first team to attain number one ratings on FM104 Triple-M. Bill Healy and Mr T's survey results have never been bettered by any subsequent team on the station under any of its titles or liveries. Healy returned in 1990 under Hoyts rein but failed to regain the dizzy heights he attained with Mr T. He left the station in 1991 for a contemporary station. Other breakfast shows were;
  • Rob Duckworth and Dave Gibson
  • Dean Miller, Gary "Badge" Belcher and the late Graham "Shirley" Strachan
    Graham Strachan
    Graeme "Shirley" Strachan was the lead singer of Australian 1970s rock group Skyhooks.Born in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern, he was an avid surfer, and his nickname "Shirley" was given to him by his surfer friends because of his long, sunbleached and very curly hair, referring to Shirley...

     (1996-1999)
  • Dean Miller and Sammy Power (1999 - 2002)
  • Fatcat, Marto and Leisa (2002 - 2004)
  • The Cage with Ian Skippen (2004 - 2011)
  • The Grill Team with Marto, Pete and Michelle (2011 - )

Current Breakfast Show

The current breakfast show on 4MMM is The Grill Team, which replaced The Cage in September 2011.

The current lineup for 2011 is:-
  • Greg 'Marto' Martin
  • Peter Timbs
  • Michelle Anderson


Former Presenters:
  • Georgina McEncroe - Finished December 2007 to join Melbourne
    Melbourne
    Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

    's Mix 101.1 Breakfast show in 2008
  • Sami Lukis
    Sami Lukis
    Sami Lukis is an Australian television and radio personality. She appeared on the Nine Network as the weather girl on Today, and for Network Ten on the children's educational program Totally Wild...

     - Finished November 21, 2008 to join Ugly Phil
    Ugly Phil
    Ugly Phil O'Neil is a radio DJ/announcer. He was born in the United Kingdom, and lived the majority of his life in Australia. Before adopting the on-air name of Ugly Phil he was known on-air as Phil O'Neil...

     on Breakfast on Triple M
    Triple M
    The Triple M Network is an active rock radio network in Australia owned by media company Austereo, who also own the Today Network.- History :...

     in Sydney
  • Ian Skippen
  • Emily-Jade O'Keefe


Temporary replacements on the Cage after Sami Lukis finished were:
  • Victoria Carthew, Bianca Dye, Nikki Osbourne, Zoe Sheridan, Rachel Corbett, Dene Mason, Holly Brisley, Emily-Jade O'Keeffe, Angela Pulvirenti and Bree Amer. Each was offered one day on-air trial with the Cage. Emily-Jade O'Keeffe was deemed to be the best fit for the show and has been in the role since January 2009.

25th Anniversary Celebration

In August 2005, 4MMM held a weekend long celebration of 25 years broadcasting. Archived audio was played back, including interviews with the likes of former programmer Bill Riner and other former DJ's.

The weekend culminated in a Sunday afternoon broadcast from the station's carpark at 309 North Quay, with drinks, food, and live to air performances from The Screaming Jets
Screaming Jets
The Screaming Jets are an Australian hard rock band formed in Newcastle in 1989 by front man Dave Gleeson on vocals, Grant Walmsley on guitar and Paul Woseen on bass guitar and backing vocals...

, The Choirboys and Glen Shorrock. The single 'Cool Change' from Shorrock's 'Little River Band
Little River Band
Little River Band is an Australian rock band, formed in Melbourne in early 1975.The group chose the name after passing a road sign leading to the Victorian township of Little River, near Geelong, on the way to a performance. Little River Band enjoyed sustained commercial success in not only...

' was the first song ever played to air on 4MMM.

Football

4MMM broadcasts full call of AFL matches played by the Brisbane Lions
Brisbane Lions
The Brisbane Lions is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Brisbane, Queensland. The club was formed from the merger of the Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Lions in 1996...

, mainly on weekends. The Brisbane AFL call team for 2012 is still to be announced. The call is presented to air by Technical Producer Mark Bono.

Triple M Brisbane covers all Brisbane Lions games and relays it's calls into other Triple M interstate stations as required. Other interstate matches are called by different commentary teams and networked. Triple M Football is produced nationally by Lee Simon.

4MMM also broadcast full commentary of all NRL matches played on Monday nights, known as Monday Night Football on Triple M
Monday Night Football on Triple M
Monday Night Football on Triple M broadcasts each Monday night NRL game, ever since its most recent inception in 2007.Austereo recently extended its deal to continue broadcasting rugby league until the conclusion of the 2012 season....

. The 2012 lineup is still to be announced.

Current Announcers

  • The Grill Team with Marto, Pete and Michelle (Greg "Marto" Martin, Peter Timbs and Michelle Anderson) - Breakfast 5:30-9am
  • Bangers Nissan Navarathon (Kim Blair) - Weekdays 9am-1pm
  • Jo (Jo Lynch) - Weekdays 1-4pm
  • Johnno (Johnathan Keetels) - Drive (Tuesday to Thursday) 4-7pm
  • The 80's Guy (Rex Morris) - Hosts 'The Cold 30' Weeknights from 7pm - 10pm
  • Dead Set Legends with Paul 'Fatty' Vautin and Ben Ikin - Saturdays 9-11am
  • Radar Radio - New music - Sundays 8-10pm
  • Home Brew - Australian music - Wednesdays 10pm-12am & Sundays 6-8pm
  • Woody - Weekends & Fill in

Executive Team

As at September 2011:-
  • CEO - Rhys Holleran
  • General Manager - Richard Barker
  • Head Of Content - Craig Bruce
  • Content Director - Rex Morris
  • Campaign & Brief Response Manager - Lisa Lees
  • Partnerships Manager - Elizabeth Liscombe
  • Agency Sales Manager - Will Allen
  • Local Sales Manager - Rick Tyrrell
  • News Director - Natasha Jobson
  • Technology Manager - Dan Chalmers
  • Head of Research - John Musgrove

Breakfast Team

As at September 2011:-
  • Breakfast Executive Producer - Brooke Powell
  • Breakfast Producer - Graham Snow
  • Breakfast Audio Producer - Natalie Brooks
  • Breakfast Anchor - Peter Timbs
  • Breakfast Talent - Greg (Marto) Martin, Michelle Anderson

Triple M Newsreaders

  • Natasha Jobson - News Director
  • Emma Blackwood - Breakfast
  • Alissa Thibault - Morning & Afternoon
  • Aaron Lucas - Drive
  • Amanda Lucas - Weekends & Sport

Networking

As with most national radio networks, 4MMM sometimes engages in networking of several shows. 4MMM also employs local automation overnight, where the computerised playlist system will play logged events automatically, eliminating the need for an announcer to be present.

Currently the following shows are networked on 4MMM:-
  • The Ruck - 9am - 11am Sundays (Sport Show) From Sydney


Overnights - locally automated

Digital Radio

Triple M is simulcast on Digital Radio
Digital radio in Australia
Digital radio in Australia uses the DAB+ standard and is currently available in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Darwin. The national government owned networks, the ABC and SBS, provide their current services and a few digital-only services on the new platform, while the...

 in Brisbane.

Triple M launched High Voltage Radio
High Voltage Radio
High Voltage Radio was a pop up Digital Radio station broadcasting nationally in Australia while AC/DC were touring the country in 2010...

, a "pop up" Digital Radio station that exclusively plays AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...

for the duration of the band's 2010 tour of Australia. High Voltage stopped being on air on 15 March 2010.

Former FM104 MMM on-air staff

Phil Moroney, Drew Chapman, Corey Kay, Rob Duckworth, Dave Gibson, "BBQ" Bob Gallagher, Barry Drinkwater, Dave Carlson, Rod "Mr. T" Tiley, Mike Goldman, Jamie Meldrum, Mobbs & Fletch, The Toad Show, Bogart Torelli, Ian Strachan, Dan Bradley, Rex Morris, Rob McCasker, Gregg Easton, Clare Blake, Loretta Ryan (news), Sheridan Stewart, Dave Andrews, Rob Doorey, Brendon Jones, Dean Miller, Sammy Power, Colin Mooney, Bill Riner, David Kersten, Bill Healy, Andrew Kilpatrick, Graham "Shirley" Strauchan (deceased), Gary "Badge" Belcher, Rod Lockington, Mark Irvine, Jeff Truscott, Rob Tesararo. Chris (Bomber) Bombolas (news), David Kidd, Bruce McCartney, Alan McGirvan, Al "Albie" Dobie, Michael Price, Jamie Row, Angela Anderson (news), Simone Feiler 'The Long Kiss Goodnight', "Midnight Mick" Newcombe, Steve Haddan, Brett Seeney, David Bond, Ian Skippen, Emily-Jade O'Keefe.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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