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– SYDNEY RATINGS SURVEYS STARTED BY GEORGE ANDERSON
George Anderson undertook an investigation of Sydney listener habits over 14 consecutive days, with 22 interviews carried out each day over 12 different zones -
TTHE FIRST ON-AIR IN-AIR NATURAL DISASTER REPORT
Bruce Rogerson, from 2KO Newcastle, created history by being the first announcer to cover a major emergency on air from a plane, when he combined his radio skills and private pilot’s licence to describe the devastating 1953 floods of Maitland. Bruce was an inaugural inductee into the Commercial Radio Hall of Fame in 2002. -
RADIO GETS PORTABLE
Advances in technology releases radio listeners from their living rooms and kitchens, with the advent of the portable transistor radio. -
TUNING INTO THE TOP 40
The Top 40 chart is launched on Sunday 2 March 1958. Imported from the US, where young people listening to jukeboxes in the day took the family transistor into their bedrooms, 2UE launches the format with a daily feature and a weekly chart. John Laws, Bob Rogers, Gary O’Callaghan and Russ Walkington were among the first top 40 DJs. The format took off across Australia. -
LISTENERS BECOME A PART OF THE STORY WITH TALKBACK RADIO
Until 1967, talkback radio was illegal as the broadcast of telephone conversations was prohibited. On April 17, 1967 the restrictions were lifted and a few hours after midnight, talkback radio began in Australia. The format soon proliferated with radio listeners being part of the content for the first time, covering topics like politics, sports, religion and health. Some of the original talk personalities included Mike Walsh and Ormsby Wilkins. -
A FREER MARKET FOR BROADCAST MEDIA
Household radio and television licences abolished. -
FM RADIO JOINS THE AIRWAVES
FM radio starts as 2MBS Sydney commences broadcasting, playing classical music 24 hours a day -
MORE AM STATIONS BROADEN LISTENER OPTIONS
The first new commercial AM Radio licenses released in more than 40 years. These included 2CC Canberra in 1975, 3MP Melbourne in 1976, 2WS Sydney in 1978 and 2 Double O Wollongong in 1979. -
SIX FM STATIONS LAUNCHED
The first commercial FM radio stations are launched: Eon FM and Fox FM in Melbourne, Triple M and 2Day FM in Sydney, FM104 in Brisbane, SAFM in Adelaide and 96FM in Perth.