B105 FM

Infobox Radio station
name = B105 FM


city =
area = Brisbane
branding =
slogan = "Brisbane's Hit Music Station"
airdate = February 1990
frequency = 105.3 MHz FM
format = CHR
power =
erp =
haat =
class =
facility_id =
coordinates =
callsign_meaning =
former_callsigns = 4BK
owner = Austereo
licensee =
sister_stations = Today Network
webcast = [http://www.b105.com.au/listen/listen_live b105.com.au]
website = [http://b105.com.au b105.com.au]
affiliations =

B105 (call sign: 4BBB) is a commercial FM radio station broadcasting on 105.3 MHz in Brisbane, Australia. It is part of the Austereo Today Network. B105's primary audience is 10 to 24 age group.

History

The station now known as B105 began life as 4BK, commencing transmission in 1930 on 1300 kHz on the AM band later changing to 1296 kHz in 1978.In 1988, the Austereo group purchased the station from Hoyts, intending to use it as a vehicle to bid for an FM conversion licence. Austereo won the FM licence, and in February 1990, the station changed its callsign to 4BBB (not used on-air, unlike the previous AM callsign) and commenced broadcasting on a frequency of 105.3 MHz with the name B105. Between March 1990 until 2005 it was the highest rating station in Brisbane, except in one ratings survey in 1994, beaten by AM station 4KQ.

tudios

The 4BK studio complex, located at 16 Campbell Street, Bowen Hills, was converted to an FM facility with 4BK commencing broadcasting as B105 FM in 1990. The studio complex remained at the Bowen Hills location until August 2000, when owners Austereo relocated B105 and sister station Triple M into new combined premises at 309 North Quay, Brisbane. The new complex was the first in Australia to use the revolutionary Klotz Digital audio system.

B105 is now situated at North Quay in Brisbane together with Triple M ( FM 104.5 )

Transmission

B105 has always transmitted from the Channel Ten tower at Mount Coot-tha Brisbane. It originally used Harris HT10 tube transmitters to deliver the service, however in 2002 a new solid state Harris Z10CD transmitter was installed at the newly created TX Australia facility under the Channel Ten tower. The existing HT10 transmitter now serves as a backup facility located at the Channel Seven tower, 1 km away from Channel Ten on Mount Coot-tha. B105's base power is 5 kilowatts.

Former Breakfast Show - "Jamie Dunn and the B105 Morning Crew"

Jamie Dunn, Ian Skippen and Donna Lynch were the original B105 Morning Crew starting in 1990. Donna Lynch was eventually replaced by Robyn Bailey. Bailey was shifted to Drive in 2002, making way for Penny Cooper.
Agro, a puppet character owned and voiced by Jamie Dunn, made regular appearances on the B105 Morning Crew.

In 2004 Austereo shifted the anchor of the B105 Morning Crew, Ian Skippen, to anchor a new show on sister station Triple M. Ian Skippen was replaced by Drive announcer Dean Kesby.While Skippen and the new Triple M Breakfast team enjoyed success, B105's fortunes declined. The introduction of DMG's new FM station Nova 106.9 reduced B105's ratings, dropping it to third position for the first time in its history.

On Wednesday, September 21, 2005, B105 announced the departure of Jamie Dunn who had resigned after talks with management failed to secure him a contracted future with B105. The final show was on Friday December 2, 2005 with an outside broadcast at the Royal Brisbane Children's Hospital.

One sour note was the decision, in all likelihood directed by Austereo, to briefly include former B105 breakfast anchor Ian Skippen in the final broadcast. At around 7.30am Skippen appeared on stage in Triple M gear, and used the time on air (broadcast on both 4MMM and B105) to promote Triple M and his new show while contributing $2,000 to the appeal. Dunn and Skippen had experienced conflict in the past.

"B105's New Breakfast Show"

B105 trialled possible candidates for the new Breakfast Show through a Drive program that ran from 4pm - 6pm. B105 eventually chose Gabby, Mike and Stav, along with Ben Wasley, who had previously anchored Austereo's The Arvo with Peter Hellier and Judith Lucy. "B105's New Breakfast Show" was renamed "The New Buzz in Brisbane" in mid-2006.

Labrat Camilla and Stav

Another breakfast show broadcast by this station was named "Labrat Camilla and Stav". It includes a number of radio hosts:
*Jason "Labrat" Hawkins
*Camilla Severi
*Stewart "Stav" Davidson
*Natasha "Tash" Jobson

The show includes a number of call-in segments, including one inviting children to call and ask questions they would not pose to their parents (called "Ask Uncle Stav").

Ratings

B105 is currently 2nd in the Brisbane radio ratings, despite formerly frequently winning these surveys. Labrat, Camilla and Stav is 4th, Hamish and Andy are convincingly outright and the Hot 30 is 2nd.

Former B105 On Air Personalities

* List of B105 Personalities

External links

* [http://www.b105.com.au/ B105]
* [http://au.myspace.com/b105_fm MySpace]
* List of Australian radio stations