3AK
Encyclopedia
3AK is the call sign of SEN 1116
and earlier the on-air name of a former Melbourne
talk-back radio and music station, which, in 2003, leased its licence to sports network SEN 1116
. A number of unusual events and precedents throughout the station's history make its story of unusual interest.
, 3DB
and 3KZ
.
The station's call-sign came from the name of its operating company, the Akron Broadcasting Co. Pty Ltd (a subsidiary of the Akron Tyre Co, a company still existing under the name of the Brighton Tyre Co. Pty Ltd.). The owner of the Akron Tryre Co and of 3AK was George F. Palmer.
At the time of its formation there were three types of broadcasters in Australia, A Class stations (most of which later evolved into the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
); B Class stations, which are now known as commercial stations; amateurs. There were also government plans for a set of C class stations which were intended to be used by businesses to exclusively advertise their products (however it was decided not to proceed with this type of license before 3AK was actually granted its licence). Akron and the Postmaster General's Department had originally discussed the issuance of such a license, and that the B Class license issued to Akron, with a number of restrictions, was issued in its place.
From the outset, 3AK was only permitted to broadcast for limited hours when other Melbourne stations were off the air. 3AK originally broadcast from 11.30 pm to 2.00 am daily; 5.00 to 7.00 am Monday-Saturday; 1.00 to 2.00 pm Saturday; 12.30 to 2.30 pm Sunday. The three hours of weekend afternoon broadcasting were shared with amateurs on the MW (medium wave) band. 3AK also had limited power, which although frequently altered was usually about 20% of that given to other B Class stations in Melbourne. 3AK's wavelength of 1500 KC could also be seen as a third limiting factor - it was at very end of most contemporary radio dials; there were still some radio sets that were unable to receive it.
Most of 3AK's early broadcasts consisted of live concerts from its studio in Queen Street. These were provided free of charge by a number of progressive Melbourne music teachers who believed that radio would help promote both them and their students. These concerts were occasionally interspersed with broadcasts of recordings (both 78 rpm/80 rpm discs and piano rolls).
, then very popular.
A listing of all Melbourne radio announcers published in February 1936 shows that George Palmer gave himself announcing duties, as well as managing the station. He was assisted by only two other announcers, F. Bibby and T. Lelliott. This small announcing staff puts 3AK's lowly status in the 1930s and '40s into context - the same list of Melbourne announcers shows that each of the five other commercial stations had either nine or 10 announcers each and the ABC is shown as employing 13 announcers in Melbourne to cover its two local stations (although it must be noted that this would have been supplemented by interstate announcers, because of the number of relays that were then taken).
In 1937 3AK was allowed to extend its hours of broadcast to 11.30 pm-7.00 am, however the station still closed at 3.00 am on Sundays. It still broadcast for three hours on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, even though amateurs were no longer permitted to do so after 1939. 3AK's hours of broadcast remained unaltered until 1954.
1937 also saw the commencement of 2BS Bathurst
on the 1 January. Because of 3AK's low power, 2BS was given the same wavelength (1500 kHz) and, within a few years, both stations suffered from interference during the few hours when they were simultaneously on the air.
One of 3AK's major personalities in the late 1930s/early 1940s was Alfred (Alf) Andrew who began broadcasting from 3AK in March 1937. Although a controversial character, Andrew had been a pioneer broadcaster at 3LO, commencing there in 1925 before going to 3UZ
and then 2UW and a few other stations.
During the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, the station's slogan was 3AK - The Voice of the Night. However, unsubstantiated rumours about both drunkedness and the poor wages of the staff, led to some referring to the station as 3AK - The Voice of the TIGHT.
In the 1930s, the Postmaster General gave one station in the Canberra
, Sydney
, Brisbane
and Adelaide
markets a licence to broadcast 24 hours a day. Because 3AK broadcast at night, Melbourne did not get any such 24 hour licences until as late as 1 February 1954 when 3UZ
, 3DB
and 3XY all began continuous broadcasting. This was concurrent with 3AK changing its hours of broadcast (see below). Within six months 3XY had become Melbourne's only 24 hour station.
In this same era, 3AK moved its studio from Queen Street to Bourke Street, Melbourne. By the 1950s it had again been resited and was to be found in the upper storey of a bank in Grey Street, St. Kilda
.
In the 1930s, '40s, and '50s 3AK provided an alternative to country radio, then the accepted place to commence a broadcating career, many of 3AK's early staff going on to become well-known at major stations, e.g. Stan Rofe
, Mike Williamson
, Hal Todd, John Worthy, John Eden and John Hart.
At the time very few stations had newsrooms and most relied on newspapers for their news. Due to its poor financial situation, 3AK devised a novel system of getting its news - the station had a rope dangling from their studio into the adjoining lane-way and the first newspaper firm to tie their morning edition onto the rope had it read on air.
By the late 1940s, 3AK had been purchased by Mack's Furnishing Company. At this stage, both the Directors, the station's manager, Vernon Margetts and the studio manager, Ray Benn, held conservative Christian beliefs that were reflected in 3AK's program schedule.
for an increase to its permitted broadcasting hours. Eventually, 3AK was allowed to broadcast during those daylight hours when it was thought that it would not interfere with transmissions from 2BS. From 1 February 1954, 3AK was permitted to broadcast from 6.00 am-7.00 pm daily. However, 2BS still experienced difficulties during the Summer and, so, for 4–5 months per year, 3AK was forced not to open until 7.00 am and to close as early as 5.00 pm. Until the introduction of television
into Australia in 1956, the peak hours for any radio station were 7.00 pm-10.00 pm - 3AK was never able to take advantage of this peak listening period.
When 3AK became a 'daylight' station, its very first breakfast team was Lennie Holmes and Shin Berinson. Holmes went on to become a well-known radio and television comedian. (His daughter, Jane Holmes, later became a prominent radio personality.) After changing his first name to Jim, Berinson became one of the most sought-after and well-paid voice-over men. Another important announcer during this era was Graham Madison.
In the early 1960s Australian Consolidated Press
, owned by the Packer family, took over both television station GTV-9
and, a little later, 3AK. 3AK moved from its small St. Kilda studio into GTV-9's premises at Bendigo Street, Richmond
, broadcasting a revised format as from Easter Monday, 3 April 1961. GTV's major television personalities were forced to broadcast from 3AK. Therefore, overnight, 3AK changed from a station with a young and virtually unknown announcing staff, to one featuring some of Australia's best-known television personalities, including Philip Brady
, Geoff Corke, Tommy Hanlon Jr., Geoff Hiscock, Graham Kennedy
, Jack Little, Bert Newton
, Eric Pearce, Brian Taylor, Hal Todd, Eric Welch, Arthur Young, and Frank Zepter.
Former 3AK manager, Bill Bowie, resigned and formed his own radio/television school. Former 3AK announcers (Ron Alderton, Terry Calder, Peter Cavanagh, John Print) were redeployed with the GTV organisation; only former Chief Announcer, Ron Alderton, retaining any on-air work at 3AK, albeit only at weekends.
During the mid-1960s, 3AK's program format shifted to Top 40 music with the slogan "the Good Guys".
In the late 1960s, Gary Mac
moved to Melbourne and was employed by 3AK for 6 years. For most of 1971 he was the highest rated Announcer in Australia
. (It is believed that his ratings figures have not been surpassed by anyone else).
ACP
was always keen to solve the problem of transmission hours caused by 2BS and 3AK sharing the same wavelength. Technology in the form of a directional antenna (at 2BS) seemed to be the answer, but this small country station was deaf to ACP's continuous requests, leading to ACP's purchase of 2BS, allowing them to install such an antenna. By October 1968 permission which enabled 3AK to commence 24 hour transmission had been granted. 3AK officially launched 24-hour broadcasting at 7.00pm on Friday, 8 November, 1968. The station's first overnight announcer was Grantley Dee
, a predecessor to today's Easy listening
music format. The last announcer to work under the "Wrinkly" format was Mike Nicholls. The last song played was
Aussie Rock Band Spectrum's "I'll Be Gone"
The new format paid dividends for 3AK as it took them to the top of the ratings where they remained for over a decade.
An interesting feature of the early days of 3AK's Beautiful Music format was that it stopped advertising the names of its on-air personalities, claiming that the format was important but not the announcers. (Sister Beautiful Music station 2CH
[Sydney] had a similar policy).
In 1985, 3AK abruptly abandoned Beautiful Music in favour of the Adult contemporary format; ratings plummeted as rival station 3MP
took the opportunity to relaunch itself as Easy Listening and the listeners simply switched from 3AK to 3MP.
Six months later, 3AK and Sydney
radio station 2UE
embarked on a networked talk-back format called CBC where talk programs were broadcast across both stations. The experiment was short lived and a ratings disaster. The John Blackman
breakfast program came from the 3AK studios but everything else was transmitted from Sydney.
1988 - 1990 saw 3AK again become a purely talk format station, with such high profile names as Darren James (with Bruce Mansfield
as Uncle Roy), Margaret Peacock, Don Chipp
(a former Federal Liberal Party Minister and later the founder of and Senator for the Australian Democrats), Peter O'Callaghan (an ex 3XY and EON FM DJ), Keith McGowan
and Bill Howie ( a former 3AK Programme Director).
This period also saw the introduction of regular Saturday broadcasts of VFL (now AFL
) with a football team headed by Graham (Smokey) Dawson.
was played continuously without any advertisements, studio announcements, news broadcasts, etc., but interspersed with recorded announcements about the starting dates for the Italian broadcasts. Nevertheless, the station was not able to get out of its obligations to broadcast the football and, so, at 12 noon on Saturdays football was still broadcast.
Only two other former 3AK employees, Technician Ralph Knight
and Producer Warren Koglin were to be re-hired by the new owner. Interestingly, 3AK continued to broadcast from within the GTV9 complex for about 12 months, before moving to new studios at West Melbourne
. There was talk of potential advertisers being warned off from 3AK.
At one stage, Corso contemplated moving away from the unsuccessful Italian format and was in talks with Bert Newton and his partner to sub-lease the station and provide an old-fashioned personality format. The Australian Broadcasting Tribunal knocked back the application, firstly on the grounds that it could not allow the leasing of stations, and secondly because of questions raised as to the suitability of Newton's partner. The former reason is interesting in the light of 3AK/SEN's present situation.
The Italian format continued until 1994 when Corso sold the station to Southern Cross Broadcasting
who took the station back to easy-listening music.
Corso was keen to sell 3AK because he had just obtained one of the first of the new narrowcast licences then being offered by the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal. Therefore, 3AK's Italian programming was transferred to the new narrow-cast station, 3BM, which transmitted from 1116 KC (ironically a wavelength that was later to be used by 3AK itself).
By 1996, Southern Cross had found itself owning 4 radio stations in Melbourne; 3AW
, 3AK, 3EE
, 3MP
; whereas the legal limit is two stations in a single market. They sold 3AK to a Christian organisation, Fusion Media, who switched the format to a mixture of talk-back and magazine programs and easy listening music. The station was moved to studios in St. Kilda Road that had originally been built for 3EE
(later Magic 693/Magic 1278); later moving again to Swan Street Richmond
.
and 774 ABC Melbourne
.
Controversial radio broadcaster Derryn Hinch
took over 3AK's morning time-slot after twelve months as evening presenter at 3AW
. The former Premier of Victoria Jeff Kennett
was also a presenter.
although the official ACA/Australian Communications Authority callsign remains 3AK, a fact that is proabably not appreciated by the majority of listeners. As of the April 2004 ratings, the new format had already managed to lift 3AK's profile as well as the number of listeners.
, Mark Doran, and Robert Shaw
not being paid. This eventually led to Brereton walking out on the station. This dour financial situation could not have come at a worse time, since SEN had recently begun broadcasting into Adelaide. Unfortunately, Adelaide broadcasts were short-lived because of the poor financial situation, and the station's heavy Melbourne focus.
In 2006 it was announced that SEN had acquired rights to broadcast five Australian Football League
matches per weekend.
SEN 1116
SEN 1116 , the acronym standing for Sports Entertainment Network, is a commercial AM radio station based in Melbourne, Australia, operating on 1116 kHz...
and earlier the on-air name of a former 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...
talk-back radio and music station, which, in 2003, leased its licence to sports network SEN 1116
SEN 1116
SEN 1116 , the acronym standing for Sports Entertainment Network, is a commercial AM radio station based in Melbourne, Australia, operating on 1116 kHz...
. A number of unusual events and precedents throughout the station's history make its story of unusual interest.
Early years
3AK commenced broadcasting on 29 November 1931, the fourth commercial radio station in Melbourne after 3UZ3UZ
3UZ is the official callsign of a medium-wave radio station in Melbourne, Australia which broadcasts under the name Radio Sport National.-History:...
, 3DB
3DB
Mix 101.1 is a radio station broadcasting in Melbourne, Australia. Its target demographic is the under 25-54 yr old age group. Mix 101.1 is part of the Australian Radio Mix Network and broadcasts on the 101.1 MHz frequency...
and 3KZ
3KZ
Gold 104.3 is a radio station broadcasting in Melbourne, Australia. Gold 104.3 is part of the Australian Radio Classic Hits Network and broadcasts on the 104.3 MHz frequency.- History :...
.
At the time of its formation there were three types of broadcasters in Australia, A Class stations (most of which later evolved into the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
); B Class stations, which are now known as commercial stations; amateurs. There were also government plans for a set of C class stations which were intended to be used by businesses to exclusively advertise their products (however it was decided not to proceed with this type of license before 3AK was actually granted its licence). Akron and the Postmaster General's Department had originally discussed the issuance of such a license, and that the B Class license issued to Akron, with a number of restrictions, was issued in its place.
From the outset, 3AK was only permitted to broadcast for limited hours when other Melbourne stations were off the air. 3AK originally broadcast from 11.30 pm to 2.00 am daily; 5.00 to 7.00 am Monday-Saturday; 1.00 to 2.00 pm Saturday; 12.30 to 2.30 pm Sunday. The three hours of weekend afternoon broadcasting were shared with amateurs on the MW (medium wave) band. 3AK also had limited power, which although frequently altered was usually about 20% of that given to other B Class stations in Melbourne. 3AK's wavelength of 1500 KC could also be seen as a third limiting factor - it was at very end of most contemporary radio dials; there were still some radio sets that were unable to receive it.
Most of 3AK's early broadcasts consisted of live concerts from its studio in Queen Street. These were provided free of charge by a number of progressive Melbourne music teachers who believed that radio would help promote both them and their students. These concerts were occasionally interspersed with broadcasts of recordings (both 78 rpm/80 rpm discs and piano rolls).
Melbourne Broadcasters Pty. Ltd.
On 2 May 1934, the name of the company was changed to Melbourne Broadcasters Pty. Ltd., a name that persisted throughout many major changes of management and was still being used as late as the 1980s. At this time Palmer changed the style of the station by introducing a format that mainly consisted of dance musicDance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
, then very popular.
A listing of all Melbourne radio announcers published in February 1936 shows that George Palmer gave himself announcing duties, as well as managing the station. He was assisted by only two other announcers, F. Bibby and T. Lelliott. This small announcing staff puts 3AK's lowly status in the 1930s and '40s into context - the same list of Melbourne announcers shows that each of the five other commercial stations had either nine or 10 announcers each and the ABC is shown as employing 13 announcers in Melbourne to cover its two local stations (although it must be noted that this would have been supplemented by interstate announcers, because of the number of relays that were then taken).
In 1937 3AK was allowed to extend its hours of broadcast to 11.30 pm-7.00 am, however the station still closed at 3.00 am on Sundays. It still broadcast for three hours on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, even though amateurs were no longer permitted to do so after 1939. 3AK's hours of broadcast remained unaltered until 1954.
1937 also saw the commencement of 2BS Bathurst
Bathurst, New South Wales
-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...
on the 1 January. Because of 3AK's low power, 2BS was given the same wavelength (1500 kHz) and, within a few years, both stations suffered from interference during the few hours when they were simultaneously on the air.
One of 3AK's major personalities in the late 1930s/early 1940s was Alfred (Alf) Andrew who began broadcasting from 3AK in March 1937. Although a controversial character, Andrew had been a pioneer broadcaster at 3LO, commencing there in 1925 before going to 3UZ
3UZ
3UZ is the official callsign of a medium-wave radio station in Melbourne, Australia which broadcasts under the name Radio Sport National.-History:...
and then 2UW and a few other stations.
During the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, the station's slogan was 3AK - The Voice of the Night. However, unsubstantiated rumours about both drunkedness and the poor wages of the staff, led to some referring to the station as 3AK - The Voice of the TIGHT.
In the 1930s, the Postmaster General gave one station in the Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, 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...
and Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
markets a licence to broadcast 24 hours a day. Because 3AK broadcast at night, Melbourne did not get any such 24 hour licences until as late as 1 February 1954 when 3UZ
3UZ
3UZ is the official callsign of a medium-wave radio station in Melbourne, Australia which broadcasts under the name Radio Sport National.-History:...
, 3DB
3DB
Mix 101.1 is a radio station broadcasting in Melbourne, Australia. Its target demographic is the under 25-54 yr old age group. Mix 101.1 is part of the Australian Radio Mix Network and broadcasts on the 101.1 MHz frequency...
and 3XY all began continuous broadcasting. This was concurrent with 3AK changing its hours of broadcast (see below). Within six months 3XY had become Melbourne's only 24 hour station.
In this same era, 3AK moved its studio from Queen Street to Bourke Street, Melbourne. By the 1950s it had again been resited and was to be found in the upper storey of a bank in Grey Street, St. Kilda
St Kilda, Victoria
St Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
.
In the 1930s, '40s, and '50s 3AK provided an alternative to country radio, then the accepted place to commence a broadcating career, many of 3AK's early staff going on to become well-known at major stations, e.g. Stan Rofe
Stan Rofe
Stan 'The Man' Rofe was Melbourne's first and most influential rock'n'roll disc jockey. He is remembered as playing the first rock and roll music on Melbourne radio 3KZ in 1956 and as a champion of Australian music, a pioneer who played songs other DJs were too scared to play.-Career:Stan Rofe...
, Mike Williamson
Mike Williamson (broadcaster)
Mike Williamson OAM is a former Australian television broadcaster.Williamson was a well-performed professional runner. Having been banned from professional foot-running for "running dead", he turned his efforts towards acting as a sports commentator of Australian rules football matches in the...
, Hal Todd, John Worthy, John Eden and John Hart.
At the time very few stations had newsrooms and most relied on newspapers for their news. Due to its poor financial situation, 3AK devised a novel system of getting its news - the station had a rope dangling from their studio into the adjoining lane-way and the first newspaper firm to tie their morning edition onto the rope had it read on air.
By the late 1940s, 3AK had been purchased by Mack's Furnishing Company. At this stage, both the Directors, the station's manager, Vernon Margetts and the studio manager, Ray Benn, held conservative Christian beliefs that were reflected in 3AK's program schedule.
1950s
For many years, 3AK management had been lobbying the Postmaster General's Department and, then, the Australian Broadcasting Control BoardAustralian Broadcasting Control Board
The Australian Broadcasting Control Board was an Australian government agency whose main roles were to regulate broadcasting, radiocommunications and telecommunications...
for an increase to its permitted broadcasting hours. Eventually, 3AK was allowed to broadcast during those daylight hours when it was thought that it would not interfere with transmissions from 2BS. From 1 February 1954, 3AK was permitted to broadcast from 6.00 am-7.00 pm daily. However, 2BS still experienced difficulties during the Summer and, so, for 4–5 months per year, 3AK was forced not to open until 7.00 am and to close as early as 5.00 pm. Until the introduction of television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
into Australia in 1956, the peak hours for any radio station were 7.00 pm-10.00 pm - 3AK was never able to take advantage of this peak listening period.
When 3AK became a 'daylight' station, its very first breakfast team was Lennie Holmes and Shin Berinson. Holmes went on to become a well-known radio and television comedian. (His daughter, Jane Holmes, later became a prominent radio personality.) After changing his first name to Jim, Berinson became one of the most sought-after and well-paid voice-over men. Another important announcer during this era was Graham Madison.
1960s
Australian Consolidated Press
ACP Magazines , a subsidiary of the Nine Entertainment Co., is an Australian media company. It publishes the Australian Women's Weekly and the Australian edition of Woman's Day....
, owned by the Packer family, took over both television station GTV-9
GTV-9
GTV is a commercial television station in Melbourne, Australia owned by the Nine Network. The station is currently based at a new high-tech, purpose-built studios at 717 Bourke Street, Docklands.-History:...
and, a little later, 3AK. 3AK moved from its small St. Kilda studio into GTV-9's premises at Bendigo Street, Richmond
Richmond, Victoria
Richmond is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
, broadcasting a revised format as from Easter Monday, 3 April 1961. GTV's major television personalities were forced to broadcast from 3AK. Therefore, overnight, 3AK changed from a station with a young and virtually unknown announcing staff, to one featuring some of Australia's best-known television personalities, including Philip Brady
Philip Brady (broadcaster)
Philip Brady is an Australian media personality.Born in Melbourne, Brady was involved in the early days of television. He left school at the age of 18 and started working as a booth announcer at Channel Nine in 1958....
, Geoff Corke, Tommy Hanlon Jr., Geoff Hiscock, Graham Kennedy
Graham Kennedy
Graham Cyril Kennedy, AO was an Australian radio, television and film performer, often called Gra Gra and The King of Australian television.-Childhood:...
, Jack Little, Bert Newton
Bert Newton
Albert Watson "Bert" Newton, AM, MBE is an Australian television personality, known for hosting television series such as In Melbourne Tonight, Good Morning Australia and 20 to 1. Newton has also hosted the Logie Awards on numerous occasions through his career.-Early life:Newton was born in...
, Eric Pearce, Brian Taylor, Hal Todd, Eric Welch, Arthur Young, and Frank Zepter.
Former 3AK manager, Bill Bowie, resigned and formed his own radio/television school. Former 3AK announcers (Ron Alderton, Terry Calder, Peter Cavanagh, John Print) were redeployed with the GTV organisation; only former Chief Announcer, Ron Alderton, retaining any on-air work at 3AK, albeit only at weekends.
During the mid-1960s, 3AK's program format shifted to Top 40 music with the slogan "the Good Guys".
In the late 1960s, Gary Mac
Gary Mac
For over 30 years Gary Mac has been closely involved with the Australian Radio Industry.-The Younger Years:In the mid 60's Gary attended a Sydney based Radio School, which ultimately led to his first radio job at 2NX in Newcastle, NSW, as night announcer....
moved to Melbourne and was employed by 3AK for 6 years. For most of 1971 he was the highest rated Announcer in 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...
. (It is believed that his ratings figures have not been surpassed by anyone else).
ACP
Australian Consolidated Press
ACP Magazines , a subsidiary of the Nine Entertainment Co., is an Australian media company. It publishes the Australian Women's Weekly and the Australian edition of Woman's Day....
was always keen to solve the problem of transmission hours caused by 2BS and 3AK sharing the same wavelength. Technology in the form of a directional antenna (at 2BS) seemed to be the answer, but this small country station was deaf to ACP's continuous requests, leading to ACP's purchase of 2BS, allowing them to install such an antenna. By October 1968 permission which enabled 3AK to commence 24 hour transmission had been granted. 3AK officially launched 24-hour broadcasting at 7.00pm on Friday, 8 November, 1968. The station's first overnight announcer was Grantley Dee
1970s-1980s
In the early 1970s "The Good Guys" slogan was replaced by "Where No Wrinklys Fly". During this period, there was a head-on battle for the lucrative Top 40 market between 3XY (managed by Rod Muir) and Rhett Walker's 3AK. The fact that 3XY won the battle is reflected in 3AK's rapid change from Top 40 to Beautiful musicBeautiful music
Beautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...
, a predecessor to today's Easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
music format. The last announcer to work under the "Wrinkly" format was Mike Nicholls. The last song played was
Aussie Rock Band Spectrum's "I'll Be Gone"
The new format paid dividends for 3AK as it took them to the top of the ratings where they remained for over a decade.
An interesting feature of the early days of 3AK's Beautiful Music format was that it stopped advertising the names of its on-air personalities, claiming that the format was important but not the announcers. (Sister Beautiful Music station 2CH
2CH
2CH is a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia, at 1170 kHz AM. It broadcasts an oldies format, and is aimed to an older age demographic...
[Sydney] had a similar policy).
In 1985, 3AK abruptly abandoned Beautiful Music in favour of the Adult contemporary format; ratings plummeted as rival station 3MP
3MP
3MP began transmission 21 July 1976, as Melbourne's seventh commercial radio station and the first new commercial station in over 40 years. The original licencees included a consortium of businessmen and media identities....
took the opportunity to relaunch itself as Easy Listening and the listeners simply switched from 3AK to 3MP.
Six months later, 3AK and Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
radio station 2UE
2UE
2UE is a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia owned by Fairfax Media. It is Sydney's and Australia's oldest commercial radio station, first broadcasting on 26 January 1925 on 1025 kHz AM before moving to 950 kHz in 1935 when virtually all Australian radio stations were assigned new...
embarked on a networked talk-back format called CBC where talk programs were broadcast across both stations. The experiment was short lived and a ratings disaster. The John Blackman
John Blackman
John Blackman is an Australian radio and television presenter. He is best known for his voice-over work for the comedy show Hey Hey It's Saturday from 1971 to 2010.-Biography:...
breakfast program came from the 3AK studios but everything else was transmitted from Sydney.
1988 - 1990 saw 3AK again become a purely talk format station, with such high profile names as Darren James (with Bruce Mansfield
Bruce Mansfield
-Early career:Mansfield began in radio with stints on stations including 3UZ, 3KZ, 3AW and 3XY in the 1960s. He later moved to television appearing on The Graham Kennedy Show on GTV-9 in the early 1970s...
as Uncle Roy), Margaret Peacock, Don Chipp
Don Chipp
Donald Leslie Chipp, AO was an Australian politician, and the inaugural leader of the Australian Democrats.-Early life:...
(a former Federal Liberal Party Minister and later the founder of and Senator for the Australian Democrats), Peter O'Callaghan (an ex 3XY and EON FM DJ), Keith McGowan
Keith McGowan
Keith McGowan is an Australian radio presenter.McGowan was born Melbourne, his first job in radio was in 1957 at 3UZ. Then he worked at the following radio stations in order : 3TR, GLV-10 , 7BU, 7HO, 6PR, 3TR , 2NM, 2KA, 2HD, 2UW, 3MP, 3DB, 3AK...
and Bill Howie ( a former 3AK Programme Director).
This period also saw the introduction of regular Saturday broadcasts of VFL (now AFL
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
) with a football team headed by Graham (Smokey) Dawson.
1990s
In 1990 the station was sold to businessman Peter Corso who sacked most of its workforce in preparation to relaunch 3AK as Australia's first commercial Italian-language radio station. There was a brief transition period in which Beautiful MusicBeautiful music
Beautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...
was played continuously without any advertisements, studio announcements, news broadcasts, etc., but interspersed with recorded announcements about the starting dates for the Italian broadcasts. Nevertheless, the station was not able to get out of its obligations to broadcast the football and, so, at 12 noon on Saturdays football was still broadcast.
Only two other former 3AK employees, Technician Ralph Knight
Ralph Knight
Sir Ralph Knight was an English soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1660. He served in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War....
and Producer Warren Koglin were to be re-hired by the new owner. Interestingly, 3AK continued to broadcast from within the GTV9 complex for about 12 months, before moving to new studios at West Melbourne
West Melbourne, Victoria
West Melbourne is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...
. There was talk of potential advertisers being warned off from 3AK.
At one stage, Corso contemplated moving away from the unsuccessful Italian format and was in talks with Bert Newton and his partner to sub-lease the station and provide an old-fashioned personality format. The Australian Broadcasting Tribunal knocked back the application, firstly on the grounds that it could not allow the leasing of stations, and secondly because of questions raised as to the suitability of Newton's partner. The former reason is interesting in the light of 3AK/SEN's present situation.
The Italian format continued until 1994 when Corso sold the station to Southern Cross Broadcasting
Southern Cross Broadcasting
Southern Cross Broadcasting Limited was a diversified Australian media company, that owned and operated a variety of media businesses, primarily radio and television.-History:...
who took the station back to easy-listening music.
Corso was keen to sell 3AK because he had just obtained one of the first of the new narrowcast licences then being offered by the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal. Therefore, 3AK's Italian programming was transferred to the new narrow-cast station, 3BM, which transmitted from 1116 KC (ironically a wavelength that was later to be used by 3AK itself).
By 1996, Southern Cross had found itself owning 4 radio stations in Melbourne; 3AW
3AW
3AW is a talkback radio station in Melbourne, Australia on 693 kHz AM. It began transmission on 22 February 1932 as Melbourne's fifth commercial radio station.-History:...
, 3AK, 3EE
3EE
Magic 1278 is a radio station operating in Melbourne, Australia.-History:The station commenced broadcasting in 1992, but was derived from legendary radio station 3XY which began transmission in 1935...
, 3MP
3MP
3MP began transmission 21 July 1976, as Melbourne's seventh commercial radio station and the first new commercial station in over 40 years. The original licencees included a consortium of businessmen and media identities....
; whereas the legal limit is two stations in a single market. They sold 3AK to a Christian organisation, Fusion Media, who switched the format to a mixture of talk-back and magazine programs and easy listening music. The station was moved to studios in St. Kilda Road that had originally been built for 3EE
3EE
Magic 1278 is a radio station operating in Melbourne, Australia.-History:The station commenced broadcasting in 1992, but was derived from legendary radio station 3XY which began transmission in 1935...
(later Magic 693/Magic 1278); later moving again to Swan Street Richmond
Richmond, Victoria
Richmond is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
.
Final years
After more years of low ratings and financial troubles, 3AK was sold again, to a small media and data company Data and Commerce Limited (DCL). In 2001, DCL transferred 3AK from 1503 kHz to 1116 kHz and relaunched 3AK once again as a talk back station in direct competition to top rating stations 3AW3AW
3AW is a talkback radio station in Melbourne, Australia on 693 kHz AM. It began transmission on 22 February 1932 as Melbourne's fifth commercial radio station.-History:...
and 774 ABC Melbourne
774 ABC Melbourne
774 ABC Melbourne is an ABC Local Radio station in Melbourne, Australia. Originally known by its callsign 3LO, it began transmission on 13 October 1924 – Melbourne's second radio station after 3AR.-History:...
.
Controversial radio broadcaster Derryn Hinch
Derryn Hinch
Derryn Nigel Hinch is an Australian media personality best known for his work on Melbourne radio. He is currently the host of 3AW's drive time radio show...
took over 3AK's morning time-slot after twelve months as evening presenter at 3AW
3AW
3AW is a talkback radio station in Melbourne, Australia on 693 kHz AM. It began transmission on 22 February 1932 as Melbourne's fifth commercial radio station.-History:...
. The former Premier of Victoria Jeff Kennett
Jeff Kennett
Jeffrey Gibb Kennett AC , a former Australian politician, was the Premier of Victoria between 1992 and 1999. He is currently the President of Hawthorn Football Club. He is the founding Chairman of beyondblue, a national depression initiative.- Early life :Kennett was born in Melbourne on 2 March...
was also a presenter.
Demise
Some careless programming decisions and lack of promotion led to 3AK failing to lift from the bottom of the ratings ladder. In late 2003, DCL announced it had leased the running of radio 3AK to a new organisation Sports Entertainment Network (SEN) who were to convert 3AK to a 24-hour sport radio station. In January 2004, 3AK became known on-air as SEN 1116SEN 1116
SEN 1116 , the acronym standing for Sports Entertainment Network, is a commercial AM radio station based in Melbourne, Australia, operating on 1116 kHz...
although the official ACA/Australian Communications Authority callsign remains 3AK, a fact that is proabably not appreciated by the majority of listeners. As of the April 2004 ratings, the new format had already managed to lift 3AK's profile as well as the number of listeners.
SEN
While initially, ratings were steadily rising, the station's financial position took a turn for the worst in early 2005, with several employees, including Dermott BreretonDermott Brereton
Dermott Hugh Brereton is a former Australian rules football player in the Australian Football League, regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation. Of Irish descent , he is known for his aggressive style of play. Brereton kicked 464 goals and played in five Premierships for during...
, Mark Doran, and Robert Shaw
Robert Shaw (footballer)
Robert Shaw is a former Australian rules footballer with the Essendon Football Club and coach in the VFL/AFL with the Fitzroy and Adelaide Football Clubs...
not being paid. This eventually led to Brereton walking out on the station. This dour financial situation could not have come at a worse time, since SEN had recently begun broadcasting into Adelaide. Unfortunately, Adelaide broadcasts were short-lived because of the poor financial situation, and the station's heavy Melbourne focus.
In 2006 it was announced that SEN had acquired rights to broadcast five Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
matches per weekend.