The Triple M Network is an active rock radio network in Australia owned by media company Austereo, who also own the Today Network.

History[link]

The first Triple M station was 2MMM Sydney which commenced broadcasting on 2 August 1980. Together with then rival station 2DAY (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 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 1990s, Triple M's promotional campaign featured the character "Dr Dan", a guitar-playing satyr with wings, inspired by artwork by legendary Australian cartoonist Peter Ledger, 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 1 January 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"^[1] 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.

In Auckland, New Zealand, a Triple M station existed between 1984 and 1988 when 89 Stereo FM became part of Triple M. The station previously used the call sign 1ROQ and changed to 1MMM when becoming part of Triple M. New Zealand no longer uses radio station call signs. This station later reverted back to 89FM in 1988 and eventually closed down in 1994.^[2]

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

On Friday 17 November 2006, Triple M (including MIX 94.5 in Perth) referred to itself as U2FM for the day, as part of a promotion relating to the band U2 and their 2006 Australian Tour and CD release.

Essential Countdown[link]

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 (e.g., 2006 songs in 2006). The countdown has received some criticism for being overly similar to the Triple J Hottest 100 countdown, despite the Triple J Hottest 100 only including songs from the preceding 12 months.

AFL coverage[link]

Since the early-1990s 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 Australian Football League broadcast rights in 1997. 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, Wayne Schwass, Danny Frawley, Jason Dunstall, Bill Brownless, Wayne Carey, Sam Newman Ashley Chua, Mike McLean, Damian Barratt, Mark Stevens, Romping "The Dog Killer" Wins, esq., Shane Crawford, Michael Roberts, Michael Christian, Dennis Cometti, Luke Darcy, Nathan Brown, Barry Denner and Mark Howard
• Sydney: Troy Luff, Brad Seymour, John Kehoe
• Brisbane: Richard Champion, Clark Keating & Belinda Mellen
• Adelaide: Warren Tredrea, Mark Ricciuto , Brenton Yates, Mark Ricciuto, Dale Lewis, 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", Hard-Fi's "Hard to Beat", The Living End's "Tabloid Magazine", and The Darkness' "I Believe in a Thing Called Love", which were predominantly used during 2004–present).

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

NRL coverage[link]

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 19 March with the Round 1 match between the Sydney Roosters and South Sydney Rabbitohs. The commentary team includes Andrew Johns, Peter Sterling and Dan Ginnane.

Cricket coverage[link]

In 2009, Triple M broadcast twenty20 cricket live between the Australian Cricket Team, South African Cricket Team and the New Zealand Cricket Team. Commentators included Damien Fleming, Stuart MacGill, Greg Blewett, and Brendan Julian.

Motoring[link]

A motoring and motorsport show was added during 2009, The Stick Shift, anchored by Neil Crompton and Mark Skaife, broadcasting on Saturday afternoons.

Digital radio[link]

Triple M simulcasts each station in the network on Digital Radio in their local markets.

Triple M launched High Voltage Radio, a "pop up" Digital Radio station that exclusively plays AC/DC for the duration of the band's 2010 tour of Australia.^[3]

M-One Rock festival[link]

In September 2002, Triple M and Frontier Touring held four rock concerts in Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney as part of the touring M-One festival, which featured Goo Goo Dolls, Nickelback, Garbage, Lifehouse, Default, Midnight Oil and Antiskeptic. The festival lost money and didn't return for a second year.

Stations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Triple M website
• Triple M Sydney
• Triple M Melbourne
• Triple M Brisbane
• Triple M Adelaide
• MIX 94.5 Perth

Non-Austereo pages[link]

• Unofficial Triple M Fan Club.
• EON FM Online tribute station