Austereo Radio Network

Infobox_Company
company_name = Austereo Radio Network
company_
company_type = Public (asx|AEO)
foundation = 1980
industry = Radio
location = Melbourne, Australia
key_people = Peter Harvie, Chairman
Michael Anderson, Chief Executive Officer
Guy Dobson, Group Program Director
Paul Thompson, Founder
Des DeCean, Director of Technologies
Kathy Gramp, Chief Financial Officer
Patrick Joyce, Group Operations Manager
Mark Downes, Group Technology Manager
products = Today Network
Triple M Network
Mix 94.5 (Perth)
KOFM (Newcastle)
Mix 106.3 (Canberra)
92.9 (Perth)
homepage = [http://www.austereo.com.au/ www.austereo.com.au]

The Austereo Radio Network is a national commercial radio network in Australia.

History

The company was founded by Paul Thompson, and when commercial FM broadcasting was introduced into Australia it acquired the licence for the metropolitan Adelaide area; SAFM commenced transmission in late 1980. The next station to join the network was FOX FM in Melbourne in 1986, eventually to be followed by Sydney's 2Day FM and 4BK Brisbane for which the company was successful in converting to the FM band in 1990. Austereo also purchased Perth AM radio station 6IX with the intention of converting the station to FM. 6IX, which had been re-launched by Austereo as "The Eagle 1080 AM", was consequently sold off after being outbid for either of the two new FM licences by rivals 6KY and 6PM, which Austereo now own.

1992 saw a complicated arrangement in which Austereo purchased the Hoyts owned Triple M network, and Village Roadshow in turn purchased Austereo to form a single umbrella company. The purchases were part of a single deal that was unpopular due to the fierce rivalry between the two radio networks, and the fact that Village Roadshow and Hoyts were also direct competitors in the film industry.

Austereo has joint partnerships in Canberra. Australian Radio Network and Austereo have a joint partnership with 104.7 and Mix 106.3. In Newcastle, Macquarie Southern Cross and Austereo have a joint venture with NXFM and KOFM. Austereo is a ratings winner in some markets. In Brisbane, the once un-beaten B105 for 14 years is now rated 8th. The first new commers to the Brisbane radio market in 22 years, ARN's 97.3 fm [http://www.973fm.com.au/] is number #1 25-54 Female and DMG's Nova 1069 [http://www.nova1069.com.au] is now number #1 all people. Conversely, in Melbourne, FOX FM's drive show, Hamish and Andy, is a constant ratings winner, and has become the first radio show, on either AM or FM, to outrate Derryn Hinch in drivetime

Corporate

Austereo was partially floated in 2001 on the Australian Stock Exchange. Its Ticker symbol is AEO.

As of July 2005 the upper management were:
* Peter Harvie, Chairman
* Michael Anderson, Chief Executive Officer
* Guy Dobson, Group Program Director

tations

* 2Day FM 104.1 Sydney
* Triple M FM 104.9 Sydney
* FOX FM 101.9 Melbourne
* Triple M FM 105.1 Melbourne
* B105 FM 105.3 Brisbane¹
* Triple M FM 104.5 Brisbane¹
* SAFM 107.1 Adelaide
* Triple M FM 104.7 Adelaide
* 92.9 FM Perth
* Mix 94.5 FM Perth
* NXFM 106.9 Newcastle (joint venture with Macquarie Southern Cross)²
* KOFM 102.9 Newcastle (joint venture with Macquarie Southern Cross)²
* Mix 106.3 FM Canberra (joint venture with Australian Radio Network
* FM 104.7 Canberra (joint venture with Australian Radio Network)

¹ - Austereo had a monopoly on the FM Commercial audience in Brisbane until the launch of Australian Radio Network/DMG Radio Australia joint venture 97.3 FM in 2004.

² - The joint venture with Macquarie Southern Cross is a 50/50 ownership of both stations, although in practice Austereo manages programming for both NXFM and KOFM,Macquarie Southern Cross manages administration for both stations.

² - A similar joint venture of 50/50 ownership exists in Canberra with the Australian Radio Network where Austereo programs FM 104.7 and Mix 106.3 and ARN manages administration for both stations.

ee also

* List of Australian radio stations

External links

* [http://www.austereo.com.au/ Austereo Radio Network]
* [http://au.biz.yahoo.com/financenews/profile_detail.html?ticker=AEO Financial profile and history of Austereo Radio Network]