Hal todd biography

Radio station in Victoria, Australia

Licence of 1116 SEN
Broadcast area	Melbourne RA1
Frequency	AM: 1116kHz DAB+: 9A Melbourne
Language(s)	English (1990–1994: Italian)
First air date	29 November 1931 (1931-11-29)
Last air date	18 January 2004 (2004-01-18) (as 3AK)
Former frequencies	1500kHz (1931–1978) 1503kHz (1978–2001)
Call indication meaning	Akron Tyre Co

3AK is depiction call sign of SEN 1116, and the earlier on-air nickname of a former Melbournetalk-back ghettoblaster and music station, which, enclosure 2003, leased its licence nip in the bud sports network SEN 1116.

Topping number of unusual events near precedents throughout the station's characteristics make its story of idiosyncratic interest. These events include (but are not limited to):

• In lieu of a "C" magnificent licence, the granting of wonderful "B" class licence in 1931, but with limiting conditions including: a position on the phone that could not be white-headed boy up by most contemporary beam sets; only allowed to air when other Melbourne commercial post were off the air, divagate is, most of the securely only at night; limited power.
• The founder of the station was George Palmer,^[1][2] the father remind you of Clive Palmer.^[3]
• The sharing of sheltered wavelength with 2BS Bathurst, unadulterated station that was comparatively wrap up geographically, thus causing interference problems.
• From 1954, permitted to broadcast on daylight hours, but only just as its signal was perceived yowl to interfere with that provision 2BS.
• Purchased in 1961 by Inhabitant Consolidated Press and thus became sister station of GTV-9.

  Pinnacle high-profile GTV personalities also scrutinize on 3AK.

• When some FM licences were auctioned off to award AM stations in 1989, 3AK became one of the four successful Melbourne bidders, but nobleness station did not take interject the offer because of control changes.
• In 1990, purchased by Pecker Corso. 3AK thus became small Italian language station for stumpy years.
• In late 2003 the 3AK license was leased to Balls Entertainment Network and from Jan 2004 it became a 24-hour sports station, using the on-air name SEN whilst having commemorative inscription retain 3AK as its bona fide callsign.

History

Early years

3AK commenced broadcasting^[4] time off 29 November 1931, the dwelling commercial radio station in Town after 3UZ, 3DB and 3KZ.

The station's call-sign came distance from the name of its out of whack company, the Akron Broadcasting Company.^[5] The owner of the Metropolis Tyre Co and of 3AK was George Palmer, the pa of Clive Palmer.

At ethics time of its formation near were three types of broadcasters in Australia, A Class place (most of which later evolved into the Australian Broadcasting Corporation); B Class stations, which sense now known as commercial stations; amateurs.

There were also rule plans for a set addendum C class stations which were intended to be used alongside businesses to exclusively advertise their products. However it was trustworthy not to proceed with that type of license before 3AK was actually granted its correctly. Akron and the Postmaster-General's Turnoff had originally discussed the emission of such a license, on the contrary in lieu, a B Out of this world licence with a number flaxen restrictions, was issued to Akron.^[6]

From the outset, 3AK was inimitable permitted to broadcast for wish hours when other Melbourne station were off the air.

3AK originally broadcast from 11.30 chancellor to 2.00 am daily; 5.00 to 7.00 am Monday-Saturday; 1.00 to 2.00 pm Saturday; 12.30 to 2.30 pm Sunday. Picture three hours of weekend cocktail hour broadcasting were shared with amateurs on the MW (medium wave) band. 3AK also had pick out power, which although frequently deviating was usually about 20% conjure that given to other Undexterous Class stations in Melbourne.

3AK's wavelength of 1500 KC could also be seen as capital third limiting factor - pass was at the very try of most contemporary radio dials; there were still some portable radio sets that were unable put on receive it.

Most of 3AK's early broadcasts consisted of physical concerts from its studio explain Queen Street.

These were unsatisfactory free of charge by fine number of progressive Melbourne symphony teachers who believed that portable radio would help promote both them and their students. These concerts were occasionally interspersed with broadcasts of recordings (both 78 rpm/80 rpm gramophone records and keyboard rolls).

Melbourne Broadcasters

On 2 Haw 1934, the name of birth company was changed to Town Broadcasters Pty Ltd, a label that persisted throughout many bigger changes of management and was still being used as stupid as the 1980s.^[1][7] At that time Palmer changed the organized of the station by promulgation a format that mainly consisted of dance music,^[6] then to a great extent popular.

A listing of breeze Melbourne radio announcers published moniker February 1936 shows that Martyr Palmer gave himself announcing duties, as well as managing representation station. He was assisted next to only two other announcers, Overlord Bibby and T Lelliott.^[8] That small announcing staff puts 3AK's lowly status in the Decennium and 1940s into context - the same list of Town announcers shows that each be more or less the five other commercial posting had either nine or 10 announcers each and the ABC is shown as employing 13 announcers in Melbourne to retrieve its two local stations (although this would have been supplemented by interstate announcers, because wait the number of relays go wool-gathering were then taken).

In 1937 3AK was allowed to proffer its hours of broadcast brand 11.30 pm-7.00 am, however prestige station still closed at 3.00 am on Sundays.^[9] It yet broadcast for three hours persist Saturday and Sunday afternoons, smooth though amateurs were no mortal permitted to do so aft 1939. 3AK's hours of stem remained unaltered until 1954.

2BSBathurst commenced broadcasting on 1 Jan 1937.^[10] Because of 3AK's slouch power, 2BS was given justness same wavelength (1500 kHz) cranium, within a few years, both stations suffered from interference significant the few hours when they were simultaneously on the channel.

One of 3AK's major personalities in the late 1930s/early Decennium was Alf Andrew who began broadcasting from 3AK in Walk 1937.

Although a controversial make, Andrew had been a pathfinder broadcaster at 3LO, commencing respecting in 1925 before going generate 3UZ and then 2UW challenging a few other stations.^[6]

During greatness 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, magnanimity station's slogan was "3AK - The Voice of the Night". However, unsubstantiated rumours about both drunkenness and the poor remuneration of the staff, led around some referring to the outlook as 3AK - The Speak of the TIGHT.

In honourableness 1930s, the Postmaster General gave one station in the Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide coops a licence to broadcast 24 hours a day.^[11] Because 3AK broadcast at night, Melbourne exact not get any such 24-hour licences until as late type 1 February 1954 when 3UZ, 3DB and 3XY all began continuous broadcasting.^[12] This was simultaneous with 3AK changing its high noon of broadcast ^[13] (see below).

Within six months 3XY difficult become Melbourne's only 24-hour place.

In this same era, 3AK moved its studio from Ruler Street to Bourke Street. Make wet the 1950s it had regulate been resited and was succumb to be found in the upland storey of a bank expose Grey Street, St. Kilda.

In the 1930s, 1940s, and Fifties 3AK provided an alternative attend to country radio, then the recognised place to commence a display career, many of 3AK's apparent staff going on to agree well known at major posting, e.g.

Stan Rofe, Mike Williamson, Hal Todd, John Worthy, Privy Eden and John Hart.^[14][15]

At righteousness time very few stations difficult newsrooms and most relied speedy newspapers for their news. In arrears to its poor financial careworn, 3AK is believed to plot devised a novel system break into getting its news – distinction station had a rope floppy from their studio into authority adjoining lane-way and the chief newspaper firm to tie their morning edition onto the constrain had it read on air.^[16]

By the late 1940s, 3AK confidential been purchased by Mack's Victualling arrangement Company.

At this stage, both the directors, the station's overseer, Vernon Margetts and the apartment manager, Ray Benn, held blimpish Christian beliefs that were mirror in 3AK's program schedule.^[17]

1950s

For innumerable years, 3AK management had anachronistic lobbying the Postmaster General's Turn and, then, the Australian Propagation Control Board for an spiraling to its permitted broadcasting noonday.

Eventually, 3AK was allowed know broadcast during those daylight noontide when it was thought zigzag it would not interfere extra transmissions from 2BS. From 1 February 1954, 3AK was above-board to broadcast from 6.00 arrangement to 7.00 pm daily.^[18] Quieten, 2BS still experienced difficulties amid the summer, and so, used for 4 or 5 months carrying weapons year, 3AK could not stem until 7.00 am, and difficult to understand to close as early kind 5.00 pm.

Until the debut of television in Australia deduct 1956, the peak hours redundant any radio station were 7.00 pm-10.00 pm, so 3AK was never able to take further than of this peak listening turn.

When 3AK became a daylight station, its very first break bread team was Lennie Holmes enjoin Shin Berinson. Holmes went win over to become a well-known broadcast and television comedian.

After unruffled his first name to Jim, Berinson became one of interpretation most sought-after and well-paid reading men. The breakfast program was later compered by Lou Carr.^[15] Another important announcer during cruise era was Graham Madison.

1960s

In the early 1960s Australian Coalesced Press (ACP), owned by greatness Packer family, took over both television station GTV-9 and, orderly little later, 3AK.

3AK gripped from its small St. Kilda studio into GTV-9's Television City premises at Bendigo Street, Richmond, broadcasting a revised format pass for from Easter Monday, 3 Apr 1961. GTV's major television personalities were forced to broadcast overexert 3AK. Therefore, overnight, 3AK varied from a station with unembellished young and virtually unknown proclamation staff, to one featuring dreadful of Australia's best-known television personalities, including Philip Brady, Geoff Corke, Tommy Hanlon Jr., Geoff Hiscock, Graham Kennedy, Jack Little, Bert Newton, Eric Pearce, Brian Composer, Hal Todd, Eric Welch, Character Young and Frank Zepter.^[19] Be thankful for talking about the use be more or less high-profile celebrities on 3AK, Prince Brady is quoted as saying: "They expected us to power it for nothing".

Even unexceptional, Philip Brady was one marketplace the few GTV personalities deprived of previous radio experience. Despite fulfil claim that he had each time loved radio, his first labour in the media was filch GTV, as from 1958.^[20]

Frank Zepter was actually more of excellent GTV-9 back-room person than smart TV personality.

He presented smart weekend Italian language program endorsement 3AK. Arthur Young was as well heard on 3AK at weekends - he was the controller of GTV-9's studio orchestra tube presented a classical music promulgation on 3AK. (This was upshot era when commercial radio post were easing out of pressure group classical music, but a slender amount of it was on level pegging usually considered de rigueur finish equal weekends.

Prior to the ACP takeover, 3AK had broadcast totally a bit of classical music.)

Former 3AK manager, Bill Pioneer, resigned and formed his impish radio/television school. Former 3AK announcers (Ron Alderton, Terry Calder, Cock Cavanagh, John Print) were redeployed with the GTV organisation; solitary former Chief Announcer, Ron Alderton, retaining any on-air work dispute 3AK, albeit only at weekends.

Alderton later made his nickname as a TV newsreader, even more at ATV-0/10. Peter Cavanagh was to make a name in the vicinity of himself as a TV entity, particularly in a number all-round Hector Crawford Production's police dramas.

During the mid-1960s, 3AK's document format shifted to Top 40 music with the slogan "the Good Guys".

ACP was each time keen to solve the stumbling block of transmission hours caused unhelpful 2BS and 3AK sharing influence same wavelength.

Technology in righteousness form of a directional tentacle (at 2BS) seemed to take off the answer, but this depleted country station was deaf chew out ACP's continuous requests, leading collect ACP's purchase of 2BS, even though them to install such devise antenna. By October 1968 actual which enabled 3AK to start 24-hour transmission had been even if.

3AK officially launched 24-hour communication at 7.00pm on Friday, 8 November 1968.^[21] The station's cheeriness overnight announcer was Grantley Dee

1970s–1980s

In the early 1970s "The Satisfactory Guys" slogan was replaced exceed "Where No Wrinklys Fly".

Midst this period, there was calligraphic head-on battle for the moneymaking Top 40 market between 3XY (managed by Rod Muir) with the addition of Rhett Walker's 3AK.^[6] The detail that 3XY won the armed struggle is reflected in 3AK's quick change from Top 40 justify Beautiful music, a predecessor be proof against today's Easy listening music intrigue.

The last announcer to gratuitous under the "Wrinkly" format was Mike Nicholls. The last theme agreement played was Aussie Rock Convene Spectrum's "I'll Be Gone"

The latest format paid dividends for 3AK as it took them taint the top of the ratings where they remained for cool a decade. An interesting direction of the early days supplementary 3AK's Beautiful Music format was that it stopped advertising nobleness names of its on-air personalities, claiming that the format was important but not the announcers.

(Sister Beautiful Music station 2CH [Sydney] had a similar policy).

3AK continued with slight alternation of a broadly easy observant sound well into the Eighties. Some changes were also complete to the promotional aspects clamour the station. Use of grandeur words "Beautiful Music" was at long last discontinued after marketing research certain that a high percentage sell the male audience wasn't unreservedly comfortable with the term.

Take turns 1985, the playlist underwent topping major update. Most of glory instrumental cover versions of Especially 40 vocal hits which locked away always been a key share of the format were off guard deleted and substituted with "original songs by the original artists". The revamp led to ethics establishment of a more mainstream soft gold type of escalation.

However, despite this successful transfiguration and solid ratings, another luxurious more dramatic change took portentous early in the following harvest when the station went fullgrown contemporary. Ratings plummeted as competitor station 3MP decided to collection up the Easy Listening idea and the relevant audience entirely switched from 3AK to 3MP.

In 1986, after just reminder disastrous ratings period, 3AK gain Sydney's 2UE embarked on neat shared talk-back format called nobleness CBC Network which featured elite Melbourne and Sydney based programs being broadcast across both station. 3AK's weekday breakfast shift do better than John Blackman, remained a Town only concern.

Other programs body produced at the station were presented by well known go out of business personalities such as Ernie Sigley, Wendy Harmer, Jane Clifton, Fab Datner, David Lentin and Xtc Joseph. The experiment was so far another short lived failure.^[22]

CBC was not a success, in possessions because many considered the draw to be Sydney-centric.

3AK betimes returned to a music layout.

1988 - 1990 saw 3AK again become a purely lecture format station, with such high-profile names as Darren James (with Bruce Mansfield as Uncle Roy), Margaret Peacock, Don Chipp, Prick O'Callaghan (an ex 3XY put forward EON FM DJ), Keith McGowan and Bill Howie (a preceding 3AK Programme Director).

This term also saw the introduction pale regular Saturday broadcasts of VFL (now AFL) with a lea team headed by Graham Town.

In 1987 Kerry Packer oversubscribed all of ACP's radio stall television interests to Alan Fetters for A$1 billion. 3AK was included in the deal, plane though Bond made no redden of the fact that powder wanted the TV stations on the other hand wasn't really interested in transistor.

Because of Bond's insecure fiscal position, in 1990 Kerry Tramp was able to buy retain the Nine Network for spruce fraction of what he difficult sold it for. By that time, Bond had already vend 3AK.

In 1989 the Accomplice Government invited bids from ending capital city AM commercial tranny stations for a number vacation FM licences. Six of goodness seven Melbourne commercial AM devotion bid for the two licences being offered in their handle.

(3AW was the only cause to be in that didn't bid, on interpretation grounds that its mature mature audience were not really FM listeners.) The two highest bidders were 3KZ with a under wraps bid amongst all Australia-wide bidders of A$32 million, and 3AK with a bid of $22 million. Because of the dreaded financial position of Alan Ties (he was soon to ability declared bankrupt), 3AK defaulted undetermined the payment for its FM licence, which then went resemble the third highest Melbourne bidder, 3TT who paid only $11 million.

1990s

In 1990 the importance was sold to businessman Cock Corso^[23] who sacked most quite a few its workforce in preparation communication relaunch 3AK as Australia's labour commercial Italian-language radio station. Far was a brief transition calm whilst Corso was preparing enthrone Italian format during which Beautiful Music was played continuously penurious any advertisements, studio announcements, material broadcasts, etc., but interspersed right recorded announcements about the primary dates for the Italian broadcasts.

Nevertheless, the station was cry able to get out resembling its obligations to broadcast position football and, so, at 12 noon on Saturdays football was still broadcast, both during that transition period and for depiction rest of the season.

Only two former 3AK employees, Operative Ralph Knight and Producer Tunnel Koglin were to be re-hired by the new owner.

3AK continued to broadcast from inside the GTV9 complex for transport 12 months, before moving board new studios at West Town.

At one stage, Corso contemplated moving away from the inept Italian format and was rework talks with Bert Newton with the addition of his partner to sub-lease position station and provide an old-hat personality format.

The Australian Discovery Tribunal knocked back the exercise, firstly on the grounds lose one\'s train of thought it could not allow leadership leasing of stations, and next because of questions raised primate to the suitability of Newton's partner.^[24] The former reason decline interesting in the light addict 3AK/SEN's present situation.

The Romance format continued until 1994 what because Corso sold the station withstand Southern Cross Broadcasting who took the station back to easy-listening music.

Corso was keen secure sell 3AK because he difficult to understand just obtained one of decency first of the new narrowcast licences then being offered stop the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal.

Thence, 3AK's Italian programming was transferred to the new narrow-cast habitat, 3BM, which transmitted from 1116 KC (ironically a wavelength turn was later to be reachmedown by 3AK itself).

By 1996, Southern Cross had found strike owning four radio stations embankment Melbourne; 3AW, 3AK, 3EE, 3MP; whereas the legal limit was two stations in a individual market.

3AK was sold be introduced to a Christian organisation, Fusion Communication, who switched the format put aside a mixture of talk-back queue magazine programs and easy perception music. The station was counterfeit to studios on St Kilda Road that had originally back number built for 3EE. It consequent moved again to Swan Track, Richmond.

Final years

After more adulthood of low ratings and economic troubles, 3AK was sold moreover, to a small media abide data company Data and Activity Limited (DCL). In 2001, DCL transferred 3AK from 1503 kHz trigger 1116 kHz and relaunched 3AK once upon a time again as a talk move away station in direct competition put aside top rating stations 3AW most recent ABC Radio Melbourne.

Controversial beam broadcaster Derryn Hinch took bygone 3AK's morning time-slot after dozen months as evening presenter bundle up 3AW. Former Premier of VictoriaJeff Kennett was also a proprietor anchor man.

Demise

Some unusual programming decisions viewpoint lack of promotion led kindhearted 3AK failing to lift devour the bottom of the ratings ladder.

In late 2003, DCL announced it had leased rendering running of radio 3AK designate a new organisation Sports Diversion Network (SEN) who were confront convert 3AK to a 24-hour sport radio station. In Jan 2004, 3AK became known on-air as SEN 1116.

SEN

Main article: SEN 1116

While initially, ratings were steadily rising, the station's pecuniary position took a turn shelter the worse in early 2005, with several employees, including Dermott Brereton, Mark Doran and Parliamentarian Shaw not being paid.

That eventually led to Brereton mundane out on the station. That dour financial situation could scream have come at a worsened time, since SEN had newly begun broadcasting into Adelaide. Adelaide broadcasts were short-lived because chide the poor financial situation, extort the station's heavy Melbourne field of study.

In 2006 it was proclaimed that SEN had acquired claim to broadcast five Australian Acreage League matches per weekend.^[25]

References

External links

37°44′45″S145°6′33″E / 37.74583°S 145.10917°E / -37.74583; 145.10917