Triple M Brisbane

Triple M Brisbane

File:4mmm logo.gif
Broadcast area	Brisbane
Frequency	104.5 MHz FM, adjusted from 104.1 on 5 Nov 1989
Programming
Format	Rock
Ownership
Owner	Austereo Triple M
History
First air date	3pm 22 August 1980
Links
Website	http://www.triplem.com.au/brisbane

4MMM (identified on air and in print as Triple M) is one of Brisbane, Australia's commercial FM Rock radio stations, primarily targeted at those in the 25-50 age group. It is part of the Austereo Triple M network and broadcasts on 104.5 MHz.

Station history

The station started on the FM band at 104.1 MHz in August 1980. 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 lifestyle of beaches and barbecues.

The music was now serious rock but it was very much album oriented. Their playlists now included AC/DC, The Angels, Van Halen, ZZ Top and the Talking Heads as well as supporting Australian pub rock bands such as INXS, Hunters & Collector's and the Choirboys.

In 1983, they started using a vocoder with the popular call sign, "FM104 ROCKS THE WEEKEND", "FM104 ROCKS BRISBANE" and "FM104 ROCK IN STEREO". By 1985 they dominated the market, peaking at a massive 35 share. 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. The announcers were often low key and the music took centre stage.

They used to cop a lot of criticism for not playing pop songs but this was part of their success. FM104 were the best FM station in Australia at the time. Everything fit together so well. From alternative album rock tracks to hard edged rock, FM104 made it work and made it appealing to a very broad age group. A major part of it's success was due to the genius of Bill Riner, Program Director of FM104.

In 1988, Hoyts Entertainment, the new owners of the station, forced FM104 to take on the Triple M 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 also occurred in the late 80's.

During 1990, Triple M was finally toppled from the top spot by new FM station B105, 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 for good.

These days Austereo still owns the Triple M network, and the station continues to broadcast as Triple M Brisbane.

In 2005 Triple M regained the top spot on Brisbane radio after 15 years.

Studios

FM104 studios were originally based in a building at in St Pauls Terrace and moved to 549 Queen Street, Brisbane. This building was quite a character building, with 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 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 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 premesis at 309 North Quay, Brisbane. The new complex was the first in Australia to use the revolutionary Klotz Digital VADIS audio system.

Transmission

FM104 originally transmitted using two RCA BTF-20E 20 kilowatt transmitters (A/B) running from the BTQ Channel 7 tower at Mt Coot-tha Brisbane. An increase in ERP (effective radiated power) was granted in the early 1990's, and an arrangement was reached with rival station B105 to share a new antenna, combiner and floor space at TVQ Channel 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 5Kw base power on the same array. 4MMM had a 20Kw RCA transmitter moved from the BTQ site and an NEC 10Kw transmitter installed at this site, in an A/B failsafe configuration. One of the original 20Kw RCA transmitter 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 Ten. It has one HT10FM tube transmitter as the secondary, located at BTQ Seven. There is also a spare antenna (the original B105 FM1C) at the TVQ Ten tower if needed.

4MMM's base power is 5 Kilowatts with an ERP (Effective Radiated Power) of 19 kilowatts 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, from the early to the late 80's.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
• Dean Miller and Sammy Power
• Fatcat, Marto and Leisa
• The Cage with Ian Skippen

Current Breakfast Show

The current breakfast show on 4MMM is The Cage, which has undergone several lineup changes since it's inception in 2004. Georgina McEncroe is the latest host to leave the show, retiring from Triple M in December 2007 to join Melbourne's Mix 101.1 in 2008.

The current lineup for 2008 is:-

• Ian Skippen (Anchor)
• Greg 'Marto' Martin
• Greg 'Sully" Sulivan
• Sami Lukis

Notes

• In 1999 announcer Dave Dangerfield died of a heart attack aged 29 following a Saturday morning shift on FM104. Dangerfield had complained of chest pains throughout the morning, and news director Rod Tiley encouraged him to visit a doctor. He stayed until the end of the shift, then went home and collapsed as he entered the kitchen. Dangerfield was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. FM104 General Manager Jim Johnston mandated that all staff except the current on air announcer attend a fundraiser in his honour. Guest speakers at the fundraiser included NRL Bronco's coach Wayne Bennett,AFL Lions coach Leigh Matthews, and B105's Paul 'Campo' Campion. Dangerfield was a childhood friend of both Paul and his brother, former Bronco Kevin Campion. Austereo also made a large monetary contribution to Dangerfield's wife and two baby girls, aged 3 years and 18 months.

At David Dange

• Ex FM 104 Triple M Promotions and Marketing Director Paul Dutton died of cancer whilst employed by Australian Radio Network at their Melbourne Stations TTFM (now MIX 101.1) & GOLD 104.3.

25th anniversary celebration

In August 2005, 4MMM held a weeekend 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, The Choirboys and Glen Shorrock. The single 'Cool Change' from Shorrock's 'Little River Band' was the first song ever played to air on 4MMM.

Triple M Brisbane Monday-Thursday Schedule

Time	Show Name	DJ's	Local/Networked	Ad Freq	News Freq	Traffic Freq
12:00am-5:30am	Music (Automated Overnight)	None	Local	20 Minutes	N/A	N/A
5:30am-9:00am	The Cage	Ian Skippen, Marto, Sully and Sami Lukis	Local	15 Minutes	30 Minutes	15 Minutes
9:00am-1:00pm	(Music)	JC	Local	20 Minutes	1 Hour	1 Hour (During News)
1:00pm-4:00pm	(Music)	Corey Kay	Local	20 Minutes	1 Hour	1 Hour (During News 12-3pm)/30 Minutes(3-4pm)
4:00pm-6:00pm	Wil & Lehmo	Wil Anderson and Anthony Lehman	Networked (From Sydney)	20 Minutes	1 Hour	20 Minutes
6:00pm-7:00pm	The Peter Berner Experiment	Peter Berner	Networked (From Sydney)	20 Minutes	N/A	20 Minutes
7:00pm-8:00pm	The Awesome 80's	None	Local	20 Minutes	N/A	N/A
8:00pm-11:00pm	Spoonman's Classic Rock Show	The Spoonman (Brian Carlton), Garfield and Odie	Networked (From Sydney)	20 Minutes	N/A	N/A
11:00pm-12:00am	Music	None	Local	20 Minutes	N/A	N/A

Triple M Brisbane Friday Schedule

Time	Show Name	DJ's	Local/Networked	Ad Freq	News Freq	Traffic Freq
12:00am-5:30am	Music (Automated Overnight)	None	Local	20 Minutes	N/A	N/A
5:30am-9:00am	The Cage	Ian Skippen, Marto, Sully and Sami Lukis	Local	15 Minutes	30 Minutes	15 Minutes
9:00am-1:00pm	(Music)	JC	Local	20 Minutes	1 Hour	1 Hour (During News)
1:00pm-4:00pm	(Music)	Corey Kay	Local	20 Minutes	1 Hour	1 Hour (During News 12-3pm)/30 Minutes(3-4pm)
4:00pm-6:00pm	Wil & Lehmo	Wil Anderson and Anthony Lehman	Networked (From Sydney)	20 Minutes	1 Hour	20 Minutes
6:00pm-7:00pm	The Peter Berner Experiment	Peter Berner	Networked (From Sydney)	20 Minutes	N/A	20 Minutes
7:00pm-10:00pm	Friday Night Cold 30	JC	Networked (From Brisbane)	20 Minutes	N/A	N/A
10:00pm-12:00am	Music (Automated Overnight)	None	Local	20 Minutes	N/A	N/A

Triple M Brisbane Saturday Schedule

Time	Show Name	DJ's	Local/Networked	Ad Freq	News Freq	Traffic Freq
12:00am-6:00am	Music (Automated Overnight)	None	Local	20 Minutes	N/A	N/A
6:00am-9:00am	Music	Pricy	Local	20 Minutes	1 Hour	1 Hour (During News)
9:00am-11:00am	Dead Set Legends	Pricy, Kevie Walters and Viki Wilson	Local	20 Minutes	1 Hour	1 Hour (During News)
11:00am-6:00pm	Music (104 Minute Music Marathon From 11am-12:40pm)	Woody (From 12pm)	Local	20 Minutes	1 Hour	1 Hour (During News)
6:00pm-12:00am	The Wild Turkey Show	Joey	Local	None	N/A	N/A

Triple M Brisbane Sunday Schedule

Time	Show Name	DJ's	Local/Networked	Ad Freq	News Freq	Traffic Freq
12:00am-6:00am	Music (Automated Overnight)	None	Local	20 Minutes	N/A	N/A
6:00am-6:00pm	Music (104 Minute Music Marathon From 12-1:30pm)	Various DJ's	Local	20 Minutes	1 Hour	1 Hour (During News)
6:00pm-9:00pm	Planet Rock	Jimmy Barnes	(External Show)	20 Minutes	N/A	N/A
9:00pm-12:00am	Oi Oi Oi	None	Local	None	N/A	N/A

Football

4MMM broadcasts full call of AFL matches played by the Brisbane Lions, mainly on weekends. The Brisbane AFL call team is headed by lead commentator and producer Michael Price, and has included Richard Champion, Bill McDonald and Belinda Mellon. The call team will be re-evaluated for 2008.

The AFL call team calls all local Brisbane AFL matches, and are broadcast 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 NRL matches played by the Brisbane Broncos on Monday nights in 2007, with commentary headed by Anthony Maroon and Daniel Ginnane, produced by Russell Barwick. The NRL calls however may not not return in 2008.

Networking

As with most national radio networks, 4MMM engages in networking of several shows across the day. In addition, 4MMM 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:-

• Wil & Lehmo - 4pm to 6pm weekdays, from Sydney
• The Spoonman - 8pm to 11pm Monday - Thursday, from Sydney
• The Peter Berner Experiment - 6pm to 7pm weekdays, from Sydney
• Planet Rock - 6pm to 9pm Sunday, from Sydney

Overnights - Locally automated

Current executive team

As of May 2007

• CEO - Michael Anderson
• General Manager - Richard Barker
• Program Director - Rex Morris
• Production Manager - Rick Wade
• News Director - Melissa Martin (on maternity leave, replaced by Emma Blackwood)
• Technology Manager - Dan Chalmers
• Sales Director - Nick Randall
• Promotions & Marketing Director - Sophie Gatward
• Finance Manager - Petrea Grant

See also

• List of Australian radio stations

External links

• • http://podcasts.triplemrocks.com.au/4mmm.xml - Triple M Brisbane PodCast (All Shows) or subscribe with iTunes