DMG Radio Australia

DMG Radio Australia operates commercial radio networks in metropolitan and regional areas of Australia. The company is 50% owned by United Kingdom company, Daily Mail and General Trust Group. Lachlan Murdoch's Illyria Pty Ltd bought 50% of the company in November 2009.

DMG Radio Australia was formed in 1996 with one radio station FIVEaa. The founding CEO was Paul Thompson who had previously established the Austereo Radio Network. The company grew rapidly to over 64 radio stations across New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia under the Star FM, Hot FM, Nova and Vega (now Classic Rock) brands. In September 2004, DMG sold most of its regional radio stations to Macquarie Bank, keeping only Hot 91 Sunshine Coast (later sold in early 2005) and Star 104.5 in Gosford, which they still own and operate.

In April 2009, DMG Radio Australia launched two new digital radio stations: NovaNation, a 24/7 digital dance station and Koffee, a chillout music station. These stations were launched as part of the introduction of DAB+ digital broadcasting in Australia's major state capital cities. Both stations also stream online.

On Friday 12 March, 2010 Vega rebranded with the name Classic Rock to counteract similar stations Gold 104.3, WSFM and Triple M. DMG Radio Australia announced the change to Vega's brand as the stations had struggled towards the bottom of the ratings ladder in both Sydney and Melbourne. In building these new stations DMG needed a "simple, focused music concept that would appeal to the 35-54 audience," according to CEO Cathy O'Connor. The two stations now focus on their frequencies, 95.3 FM (Sydney) and 91.5 FM (Melbourne), in all branding with the slogan Classic Songs, Classic Rock.

Radio operations

Nova

Main article: Nova (radio network)

Nova is DMG Radio Australia's brand for their CHR formatted music stations. Promoted with the slogan Live, Life, Nova, the network mainly competes with Southern Cross Austereo's Today Network stations.

• Nova 96.9 - Sydney 96.9 MHz
• Nova 100 - Melbourne 100.3 MHz
• Nova 93.7 - Perth 93.7 MHz
• Nova 91.9 - Adelaide 91.9 MHz
• Nova 106.9 - Brisbane 106.9 MHz

Classic Rock

Main article: Classic Rock (radio)

Formerly Vega, the Classic Rock stations feature the slogan Classic Songs, Classic Rock, positioning themselves as only rock compared to ARN's broader Classic Hits stations and not including the modern rock that Southern Cross Austereo's Triple M stations do.

• 95.3 FM - Sydney 95.3 MHz
• 91.5 FM - Melbourne 91.5 MHz

Star FM

Previous to changes in media ownership restrictions, DMG radio owned the vast Star FM network. Most stations were sold to Southern Cross Media (now Southern Cross Austereo) in 2004, however as they already owned 2GO and Sea FM in the Central Coast radio market, DMG maintained ownership of Star 104.5 FM.

Star 104.5 carries a distinct rock format compared to the CHR format of other Star FM stations.

FIVEaa

FIVEaa is a talk radio station exclusively broadcast in Adelaide on 1395 AM and Digital Radio. The station shares some resources with Fairfax Media stations, including sharing news resources.

Digital DAB+/Online

• NovaNation - Dance station available in mainland state capitals on digital radio.
• Koffee - Chillout music station, available in most mainland state capitals, with the exception of Perth.

See also

• List of Australian radio stations

References

External links

• dmg Radio Australia
• Nova 969 Sydney
• Nova 100 Melbourne
• Nova 937 Perth
• Nova 919 Adelaide
• Nova 106.9 Brisbane
• 95.3FM Sydney
• 91.5FM Melbourne
• FIVEaa Adelaide
• Star 104.5FM Central Coast

Digital radio

• NovaNation
• Koffee