Triple M

Infobox Radio station
name = Triple M


city = Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane
area = Australia
branding = Triple M
slogan = "At least we take the music seriously. AND You never know what we'll play next."
airdate = 1980
frequency = Various
format = Music (Rock)
power =
erp =
class = Terrestrial
callsign_meaning = Sydney 2MMM
Melbourne 3MMM
Brisbane 4MMM
Adelaide 5MMM | former_callsigns = Adelaide KAFM
Perth 6MMM
owner = Austereo Radio Network
webcast = [http://www.triplem.com.au/media/livestream/2mmmlivestream.asx Sydney]
[http://www.triplem.com.au/media/livestream/3mmmlivestream.asx Melbourne]
[http://www.triplem.com.au/media/livestream/4mmmlivestreaming.asx Brisbane]
[http://www.triplem.com.au/media/livestream/5mmmstreaming.asx Adelaide]
website = http://www.triplem.com.au
affiliations =

Triple M is a network of radio stations owned by the Austereo Radio Network.

History

The first Triple M station was 2MMM Sydney which commenced broadcasting on 2 August 1980. Together with then rival station 2Day FM (now also owned by Austereo), it was the first commercial FM radio station in Sydney. The station has always been primarily a rock music station, but with a more blue collar/hard rock (Jimmy Barnes, Aerosmith, Guns 'n' Roses, AC/DC, Meat Loaf as some examples) emphasis than other stations in Melbourne in particular. Throughout the 1980s, Triple M was one of the highest-rating radio stations in Sydney, spearheaded by its morning show presented by Doug Mulray and featuring the writing of and occasional appearances by Andrew Denton. For all of this period and into the 90s, Triple M's promotional campaign featured the character "Dr Dan", a guitar-playing satyr with wings, and a theme song that was an extended reworking of the Mike Batt track "Introduction (The Journey of a Fool)", from his 1979 album Tarot Suite.

In 1988, Melbourne radio station EON FM (3EON), 92.3 was taken over by 2MMM and changed its callsign to 3MMM and moved to 105.1 MHz in November 1988. EON FM was Australia's first commercial FM radio station, commencing broadcasting on 11 July 1980.

Brisbane radio station FM104 was launched in 1980 and took on the Triple M identity in early 1990. It now has the callsign 4MMM. FM104 Brisbane started broadcasting on 104.1FM, then late in the 80's they changed frequency to 104.5-FM, where they still are now.

Adelaide radio station 5KA converted from 1197 kHz to 104.7 MHz on January 1, 1990 and was renamed KAFM (5KKA). The station was taken over by Village Roadshow, who then owned Triple M, and they successfully negotiated the purchase of the 5MMM callsign from a community radio station of the same name in 1993. That station is now known as Three D Radio (5DDD).
Perth radio station 96FM (6NOW) also carried the Triple M identity and 6MMM callsign in the early 1990s but was then sold to Southern Cross Broadcasting who changed the station's identity back to its original name. Mix 94.5 is now "considered" [ [http://www.austereo.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=61 Austereo Corporate Website - Online ] ] to be part of the Triple M network in Perth utilising local programming (as opposed to airing networked Triple M programmes) and MIX 94.5 does not carry the Triple M brand, logo or call letters.

While many of the comedy and talk programs are networked, large sections of music programming originate from the local market of each Triple M.

The only band banned from being played on air is The Vines after an incident with the frontman Craig Nicholls abusing the crowd.

On Friday 17 November 2006, Triple M (including MIX 94.5 in Perth) referred to itself as [http://www.mrock.com.au/u2FM/index.php U2FM] for the day, as part of a promotion relating to the band U2 and their 2006 Australian Tour and CD release.

Essential Countdown

In 2004 the national network counted down the Triple M Essential 2005 Songs from Boxing Day to Australia Day. The number one song was Violent Femmes' Blister in the Sun.

Triple M have held an Essential Countdown based on listener votes since 2006, beginning in October of each year, counting the same number of songs as the year. (eg 2006 songs in 2006)

2008 Shows and Line Up

Major Network Shows For 2008

4:00pm-6:00pm - Wil & Lehmo
10:00pm-1:00am - The Spoonman (Talkback) (Not Broadcast To Adelaide)

Former Radio Personalities on The M's

Doug Mulray, Andrew Denton, Lee Simon, Rob Elliot, Kent Forbes, Ed Phillips, Richard Stubbs, Kevin Hillier, Amanda Keller, Tom Gleisner, Santo Cilauro, Rob Sitch, Jane Kennedy, Mobbs and Fletch (Peter Mobbs and Chris Fletcher), Michael Tunn, Lisa Millard, Club Veg (Malcolm Lees and Vic Davies), Crud (Tony Moclair and Julian Schiller), Mikey Robbins, Steve Bedwell, , Tim Smith, Mick Molloy, Robyn Butler, Alan Brough, Stuart Cranney, Ian 'Dano' Rogerson, Wazza The Rock Dog, Ronni Swintek, Alison Drower, David Rymer, Jason 'The Reclining Rocker' Bowman, Jon Doe aka Byron Webb, the late Jon Kennedy of The Rubber Room, Tony Martin, Ed Kavalee, Brigitte Duclos, Matt Parkinson, Rob Kidd, James Anderson AKA Turbo.

AFL coverage

During the AFL season, Triple M hosts the highest-rating coverage of AFL in the country. Since the early-1990’s Triple M has made sport a major part of their line up, with sports-based shows such as The Grill Team, Dougy and Dunstall, and more recently, Friday Night M Sport, The Gospel and The Dead Set Legends.

Triple M Melbourne initially secured AFL broadcast rights in 1997, and has since become the top-rating AFL broadcaster. In 1999 Triple M expanded its coverage to Triple M Adelaide followed by Triple M Sydney and Brisbane in 2005 and includes the following local teams:

* Melbourne: James Brayshaw, Garry Lyon, Brian Taylor, Wayne Schwass, Danny Frawley, Jason Dunstall, Dr Peter Larkins, Ashley Chua, Mike "Madge" McLean, Damian Barratt, Mark Stevens, Aaron Hamill, Nathan Thompson, Michael Roberts and Nathan Brown

* Sydney: Troy Luff, Brad Seymour, John Kehoe
* Brisbane: Michael "Pricey" Price, Richard Champion, Craig Starcevich, Mark Kennedy & Belinda Mellen
* Adelaide: Kym Dillon, Brenton Yates, Mark Ricciuto, Mark Bickley, Sean Tasker, Darryl Wakelin, Rhett Biglands, Ben Hook

Triple M is one of only two FM broadcasters of the AFL in Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney (although only the local teams - the Brisbane Lions and Sydney Swans respectively - are covered in the latter two cities.) The only other one is the National Indigenous Radio Service (NIRS). Triple M is best known for offering a less formal coverage than AM Radio. Not only is the coverage considered informative and accurate, but the team works together providing a sense of comedy to the call. Another aspect that differs from AM coverage of football is the bumper music used to and from breaks, which is instrumental versions of modern rock songs (such as Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out", Living End's "Tabloid Magazine", and The Darkness' "I Believe in a Thing Called Love", which were predominantly used during 2004 and 2005).

In October 2006, Triple M was granted AFL broadcast rights for a further 3 years.

NRL coverage

In October 2006, the National Rugby League announced that beginning in 2007, Triple M Sydney would be the exclusive commercial broadcaster of Monday Night Rugby League matches. The coverage began on March 19 with the Round 1 match between the Sydney Roosters and South Sydney Rabbitohs. The commentary team includes Anthony Maroon, Jimmy Smith, Daniel Ginnane and now Phil Gould

tations

References

External links

* [http://www.triplem.com.au/ Triple M website]
* [http://www.triplem.com.au/sydney Triple M Sydney]
* [http://www.triplem.com.au/melbourne Triple M Melbourne]
* [http://www.triplem.com.au/brisbane Triple M Brisbane]
* [http://www.triplem.com.au/adelaide Triple M Adelaide]
* [http://www.mix.com.au/ MIX 94.5 Perth]

Non Austereo Pages

* [http://groups.myspace.com/mmmrocks Unofficial Triple M Fan Club.]
* [http://www.live365.com/stations/radioboy104 EON FM Online tribute station]