ABC Radio Sydney (official call sign: 2BL, formerly 2SB) is an ABC radio station in Sydney, Australia. It is the flagship station in the ABC Local Radio network and broadcasts on 702 kHz on the AM dial. The station transmits with a power ( CMF) of 3,110V, which is equivalent to 50 kW (the maximum permissible in Australia) from a site west of the Sydney CBD.

History

ABC Radio Sydney is the first

public radio station Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

in Australia opened in Sydney at 8:00pm on 23 November 1923. Its first callsign was ''2SB'' where ''2'' denotes the

State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and ''SB'' stood for Sydney Broadcasters Limited. However, the callsign was soon altered to ''2BL'' for Sydney Broadcasters Limited. The change was due to the audio similarity of the sounds FC and SB. In May 1928 the Sydney Broadcasting Company was formed to take over stations 2BL and 2FC. A year later a consortium of entertainment companies founded the Australian Broadcasting Company Limited (ABC) to supply programme material to 2BL, 2FC and similar "A-class" stations in other capital cities. 2BL became one of the inaugural stations, along with sister station 2FC, in the government-owned Australian Broadcasting Commission (also ABC) network when it was founded in 1932. In 1946, it became the flagship of the National Programme, forerunner of

Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors a ...

. It also began carrying parliamentary broadcasts. In 1963, it swapped formats with 2FC and assumed that station's old role as flagship of the Interstate Programme, which eventually evolved into Local Radio. However, it continued to air parliament until 1988. 2BL was re-branded as 702 ABC Sydney in 2000 and then ABC Radio Sydney in 2017. In the second radio ratings survey of 2012,

Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...

recorded 702's share of the Sydney radio market as the second largest at 10.3%, behind commercial talk station 2GB. Most Local Radio stations in New South Wales simulcast 702's programming when not airing local shows for their areas. The exception is

999 ABC Broken Hill 999 or triple nine most often refers to: * 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries * 999 (number), an integer * AD 999, a year * 999 BC, a year Books * ''999'' (anthology) or ''999: ...

, which relays

891 ABC Adelaide ABC Radio Adelaide (call sign: 5AN) is the ABC Local Radio station for Adelaide. It is broadcast at 891 kHz on the AM band. It is also available on Digital TV in Adelaide. History 5AN started transmitting on 15 October 1937 with equipmen ...

due to Broken Hill being on Central Time.

Programs

Daily scheduling

*''Breakfast'', with James Valentine - 6:15am - 8:00am *'' AM'', with

Sabra Lane Sabra Lane (born c.1968) is an Australian journalist and radio presenter, best known for her work at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Lane currently hosts the current affairs program ''AM (Australian radio series), AM'' on ABC Local Radi ...

- 8:00am - 8:30am *''Breakfast'', with James Valentine - 8:30am - 9:00am *''Mornings'', with Sarah Macdonald - 9:00am - 11:00am *'' Conversations'', with

Richard Fidler Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

and Sarah Kanowski (

) - 11:00am - 12:00midday *''The World Today'', with

Sally Sara Sally Jane Sara AM, (born 2 March 1971 in Port Pirie, South Australia) is an Australian journalist and TV presenter. Career Sara's career began with Outback Radio (2WEB) in Bourke, New South Wales. Sara then joined the Australian Broadcasti ...

- 12:00midday - 12:30pm *''Afternoons'', with

Josh Szeps Josh Szeps, previously known as Josh Zepps, is an Australian media personality, political satirist, and television presenter. Szeps has previously hosted ''Weekend Breakfast'' on ABC News. He was a founding host for HuffPost LiveRichard Glover - 3:30pm - 6:30pm *'' PM'', with David Lipson - 6:30pm - 7:00pm * ''Evenings'', with

Indira Naidoo Indira Naidoo is an Australian author, journalist and television and radio presenter. Education Naidoo's parents were Indian South Africans, who were politically active during the apartheid years. Her father was a dentist and her mother a tea ...

- 7:00pm - 10:00pm * ''

Nightlife Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, ...

'', with Philip Clark (Monday - Thursday) and Suzanne Hill (Friday - Sunday)- 10:00pm - 2:00am * '' Overnights'', with Trevor Chappell (Monday - Thursday from Melbourne) and Rod Quinn (Friday - Sunday from Sydney) - 2:00am - 6:00am

Other programs

* ''Thank God it's Friday'' is broadcast every Friday on Richard Glover's Drive show and features a roundup of the week's events, featuring various Australian comedians. TGIF is also available as a podcast. * ''Norman the Quiz'', the pet-name for what used to be simply known as "The Quiz", is hosted by Sarah MacDonald every weekday evening. It is broadcast to all of

and the ACT * ''The Mighty Challenge'' is a quiz broadcast at midnight (local time) by Phillip Clark. * ''Grandstand'' is the ABC's sport program, which is broadcast from 12 noon on a Saturday and Sunday * ''Weekends'', with Simon Marnie * ''Speaking Out'' (Radio National), with Larissa Behrendt

Former presenters

* Deborah Cameron *

Mike Carlton Michael James Carlton, (born 31 January 1946) is an Australian former media commentator, radio host, television journalist, author and newspaper columnist. He formerly co-hosted the daily breakfast program on Sydney radio station 2UE with Peter ...

* Angela Catterns *

Andrew Daddo Andrew Dugald Daddo (born 18 February 1967) is an Australian actor, author and television and radio personality. Early life Daddo was born in Melbourne on 18 February 1967. He began his education at Mt Eliza Primary School and in year seven mo ...

* Dom Knight *

Julie McCrossin Julie Elizabeth McCrossin (born 2 October 1954) is an Australian radio broadcaster, journalist, comedian, political commentator and activist for women's and gay rights. She is best known for her role as a team captain on the news-based comedy q ...

* Andrew Olle * James O'Loghlin * Clive Robertson *

Adam Spencer Adam Barrington Spencer (born 29 January 1969) is an Australian comedian, media personality and former radio presenter. He first came to fame when he won his round of the comedic talent search ''Raw Comedy'' in 1996. Soon thereafter, he began ...

Virginia Trioli Virginia Frances Trioli (born 16 August 1965) is an Australian journalist, author, radio and television presenter. Trioli currently hosts the morning program on ABC Radio Melbourne in Melbourne. She has previously been co-host of the Australi ...

*Sally Loane *

David Dale David Dale (6 January 1739–7 March 1806) was a leading Scottish industrialist, merchant and philanthropist during the Scottish Enlightenment period at the end of the 18th century. He was a successful entrepreneur in a number of areas, m ...

*Frank Crook *Ray Taylor * John Doyle *John Hall * Margaret Throsby Bruce Menzies

External links and references

702 ABC Sydney

ABC Online {{DEFAULTSORT:ABC Radio Sydney ABC Local Radio, Sydney Radio stations in Sydney Radio stations established in 1923