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Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide
public service broadcasting 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 ...
radio network run by the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
(ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2.


History


1937: Predecessors and beginnings

From 1928, the National Broadcasting Service, as part of the federal
Postmaster-General's Department The Postmaster-General's Department (PMG) was a department of the Australian federal government, established at Federation in 1901, whose responsibilities included the provision of postal and telegraphic services throughout Australia. It was ...
, gradually took over responsibility for all the existing stations that were sponsored by public licence fees ("A" Class licences). The outsourced
Australian Broadcasting Company The Australian Broadcasting Company Pty. Ltd. was a company founded in Melbourne in 1924 with a capital of £A 100,000 by a consortium of entertainment interests, notably Farmer & Company, J. C. Williamson Limited and J. & N. Tait to fou ...
supplied programs from 1929. In 1932 a commission was established, merging the original ABC company and the National Broadcasting Service. It is from this time that Radio National dates as a distinct network within the ABC, in which a system of program relays was developed during the subsequent decades to link stations spread across the nation. The beginnings of Radio National lie with
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
radio station 2FC, which aired its first test broadcast on 5 December 1923 and officially went to air on 9 January 1924. 2FC stood for Farmer and Company, the original owner of the station before the ABC bought the station in 1937. The ABC then rolled out a national network across the country, somewhat similar in nature to the
BBC National Programme The BBC National Programme was a radio service which was on the air from 9 March 1930 – replacing the earlier BBC's experimental station 5XX – until 1 September 1939 when it was subsumed into the Home Service, two days before the outbrea ...
. The origins of the other stations in the network were: *3AR
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
– 26 January 1924 "Associated Radio Company of Australia", organised by Esmond Laurence Kiernan and others. *5CL
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
– 20 November 1924 "Central Broadcasters Ltd". *7ZL
Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
– 17 December 1924. * 4QG
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
– 27 July 1925 "Queensland Government" (operated by the Queensland Radio Service, an agency within the Office of the Chief Secretary). *6WN
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
– 5 October 1938 "Wanneroo". *2CY
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
– 23 December 1938. *2NA
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
– 20 December 1943. The first transmitters for 2FC, 5CL and 4QG were made by
AWA Awa (or variants) may refer to: People * Awa (given name), notable people named Awa or Hawa * Awá (Brazil), an indigenous people of Brazil * Awa-Kwaiker, an indigenous people of Colombia and Ecuador Languages * Awa language (China) or Wa (Va) ...
with power of 5 kW (note that until about 1931 in Australia, transmitter powers were defined in terms of DC input to final amplifier, typically about 3 times that of the power into the antenna; thus power today would be stated as about 1.7 kW). They used a MT7A valve for the final high power RF stage and a MT7B for the modulator. The power supply was 12,000 volts from three phase power rectified by MR7 valves. 4QG commenced with a 500 Watt transmitter which continued for about 6 months until the 5 kW unit was commissioned. The radio transmitters for 3AR and 2FC were upgraded to 10 kW in a contract let in 1938 to STC. The transmitters were designed by Charles Strong in London, and were notable in using negative feedback to ensure a high quality flat frequency response. From 1947 until the mid-1980s, "Radio 2" (as it came to be known) was broadcast to the major metropolitan centres, with a large broadcast footprint in adjacent areas due to the powerful AM transmitters in use. It contained most of the ABC's national programming. The power level of 2FC and 3AR was upgraded to 50 kW in the early 1950s. The transmitters for these were housed in the same building as the radio 1 network. They were manufactured by STC. The final stage contained three parallel 3J/261E air cooled
triode A triode is an electronic amplifying vacuum tube (or ''valve'' in British English) consisting of three electrodes inside an evacuated glass envelope: a heated filament or cathode, a grid, and a plate (anode). Developed from Lee De Forest's 19 ...
s running in
class C amplifier In electronics, power amplifier classes are letter symbols applied to different power amplifier types. The class gives a broad indication of an amplifier's characteristics and performance. The classes are related to the time period that the active ...
at 90% efficiency. These were driven by a class B push-pull modulator with the same type of valves. That of 5CL had to wait until late 1961, when a new joint facility with 5AN was opened at Pimpala.


1970s–1980s

In the 1970s, the network's program format began to take on a more serious tone, a style which continues to this day. Art critic Peter Timm later remarked that the network is "virtually the only non-print media forum for art in this country". In the early 1980s the broadcast footprint was extended with the construction of the first of over 300 regional FM transmitters (including community re-broadcast sites). In 1985, the ABC renamed "Radio 2" as "Radio National".


1990s

Since 1990, all Radio National stations have had the same callsign, "RN". As a result of cuts in the 1996–97 budget, Radio National was hit with a reduction of a million dollars in its funding, with a significant impact on programming.


21st century

In 2008, controversial programming changes once more raised the issue of funding cuts to the public broadcaster. Presenter Stephen Crittenden leaked confidential programming changes in an unscheduled live broadcast before the start of his show, criticising his superiors. He was suspended for his outburst, and his unscripted comments were cut from Radio National's podcast and transcript of the program. Religious commentator Paul Collins on crikey.com subsequently echoed Crittenden's fears. Crittenden was reinstated in 2009 as a reporter on ''Background Briefing'', after a settlement was reached. However, his program and the other eight programs that had been cancelled or merged were not re-instated that year. The head of ABC Radio, Sue Howard, was dismissed in 2009. In January 2012 Radio National was rebranded as RN, partly in recognition of the stations growing digital audience. RN has also been used as shorthand for the station's name by many presenters going back several years. The stations tagline, which has changed regularly over the years, was also changed to "Your World Unfolding" to mesh with the station's new logo and visual identity. In 2012 a new Religion and Ethics report was launched, hosted by
Andrew West Andrew or Andy West may refer to: * Andrew West (linguist) (born 1960), English linguist * Andrew West (pianist) (born 1979), English pianist * Andrew Fleming West (1853–1943), American classicist and academic administrator * Andrew J. West ( ...
. The Media Report was also relaunched, hosted by broadcaster and former Life Matters host
Richard Aedy Richard Aedy is an Australian journalist. He currently presents the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's ABC Local Radio program Sunday Profile. He also presented the Radio National technology program "The Buzz" in 2001. Aedy presented "Life M ...
. The Media Report was, however, cancelled again in 2015. In late 2016, the new head of the ABC,
Michelle Guthrie Michelle Guthrie (born 1965) is an Australian business executive and lawyer. Guthrie was born in Sydney in 1965, was educated at Brigidine College Randwick and Kambala Girls' School, and studied arts and law at the University of Sydney. She jo ...
, defended the removal of staff and programmes from the Radio National 2017 schedule. In January 2017 the schedule was reduced in scope due to loss of staff and programmes.


Description

Radio National broadcasts national programming in subjects that include news and current affairs, the arts, social issues, science, drama and comedy. Some programs are relayed on
Radio Australia ABC Radio Australia, also known as Radio Australia, is the international broadcasting and online service operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Australia's public broadcaster. Most programming is in English, with some in Tok ...
, the ABC's international broadcasting service which was transmitted on
shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (100 to 10 me ...
until January 2017, as well as 24-hour FM stations, local relay stations and live satellite. All radio programs are available for live
streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
over the Internet, and most (excluding drama, poetry and music) as audio-on-demand, or for download as
MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
s for at least four weeks after broadcast. Some programs are available as
MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
s going back to 2005, when Radio National commenced podcasting.


Selected programs

Some of the following programs, listed in order of start date, are aired on both Radio National and
ABC Local Radio ABC Local Radio is a network of publicly owned radio stations in Australia, operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ABC Local Radio stations broadcast across the continent using terrestrial transmitters and satellites. Its programm ...
networks. * '' PM'' (1969–present) * ''
Correspondents Report ''Correspondents Report'' was a weekend news and current affairs program broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National and ABC Local Radio networks, from at least 1974 until 2019. History ''Correspondents Report'' has ...
'' (before 1974–c.2019) *''The Science Show'' (1975–present,
Robyn Williams Robyn Williams (born 30 January 1944) is a British/Australian science journalist and broadcaster who has hosted ''The Science Show'' on ABC Radio National (RN) since 1975, and created ''Ockham's Razor'' in 1984. Early life and education W ...
) *'' The Coming Out Show'' (1975–1998) *''Ockham's Razor'' (1984–present, Robyn Williams, then Tegan Taylor) * ''
Late Night Live ''Late Night Live'' is a radio program broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National and podcast and streamed over the World Wide Web. Since 1991, the program has been hosted by farmer, writer and public intellectual Ph ...
'' (1991–present,
Phillip Adams Phillip Adams, Philip Adams, or Phil Adams may refer to: Sports * Phillip Adams (American football) (1988–2021), American football cornerback * Phillip Adams (sport shooter) (born 1945), Australian pistol shooter * Phil Adams (cricketer) (born 1 ...
) * '' The Music Show'' (1991–present, Andrew Ford since 1995) * ''The Live Set'' (1986–2017) * ''
Life Matters ''Life Matters'' is a radio program that has been broadcast on Radio National by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation since 1992. The first presenter was Geraldine Doogue, and Hilary Harper and Michael MacKenzie present the program. Histor ...
'' (1992–present) * ''
RN Breakfast ''RN Breakfast'', previously ''Radio National Breakfast'' and sometimes shortened to ''Breakfast'', is a national early morning news program in Australia, broadcast since 2005. The program is broadcast live in the Eastern states of Australia, e ...
'' (1994–present, Peter Thompson 1994-2005, then
Fran Kelly Fran Kelly is an Australian radio presenter, current affairs journalist and political correspondent who hosted the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National program ''Radio National Breakfast, Breakfast'' from March 2005 to early Dece ...
2005-2021, then
Patricia Karvelas Patricia Karvelas (born 29 January 1981) is an Australian radio presenter, current affairs journalist and political correspondent. Karvelas currently hosts ''RN Breakfast'' on Radio National. Early life Karvelas was born in Australia to Gree ...
) * ''
Conversations Conversation is interactive communication between two or more people. The development of conversational skills and etiquette is an important part of socialization. The development of conversational skills in a new language is a frequent focus ...
'' (2012–present) * ''
The National Interest ''The National Interest'' (''TNI'') is an American bimonthly international relations magazine edited by American journalist Jacob Heilbrunn and published by the Center for the National Interest, a public policy think tank based in Washington, D ...
'' (1995–2011,
Terry Lane Terry Lane (born 1939) is a retired Australian radio broadcaster and newspaper columnist based in Melbourne. Lane was born at Williamstown in South Australia and was educated at Gawler High School. After studying for the ministry at the Chu ...
, Peter Mares) *''
Sound Quality Sound quality is typically an assessment of the accuracy, fidelity, or intelligibility of audio output from an electronic device. Quality can be measured objectively, such as when tools are used to gauge the accuracy with which the device re ...
'' (1995–2015, Tim Ritchie) *'' The World Today'' (1999–present) * ''
Bush Telegraph ''Bush Telegraph'' was a radio program on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National network, broadcast weekdays (Monday-Friday) at 11-12am, presenting stories from rural and regional Australia. It ran from 23 April 2001 until 19 ...
'' (2001–2014) *'' Big Ideas'' (c.2002–present,
Paul Barclay Paul Barclay is an Australian writer, journalist, radio presenter and producer. Biography Barclay was born in Melbourne. Since the late 1990s, he has worked as a radio presenter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Queensland, Norther ...
) * '' AWAYE!'' * ''Speaking Out'' (1990–present,
Larissa Behrendt Larissa Yasmin Behrendt (born 1969) is an Australian legal academic, writer, filmmaker and Indigenous rights advocate. she is a professor of law and director of research and academic programs at the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education ...
) * '' The Night Air'' (2002–2013) *'' All in the Mind'' (c.2003–present) * ''
Counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
'' (2004–present,
Amanda Vanstone Amanda Eloise Vanstone (née O'Brien; born 7 December 1952) is an Australian former politician and a former Ambassador to Italy. She was a Liberal Senator for South Australia from 1984 to 2007, and held several ministerial portfolios in the ...
) * ''The Art Show'', formerly ''The Art Hub'' (December 2017–), hosted by Ed Ayres until mid-January 2020, when it was taken over by
Namila Benson Namila Benson is an Australian radio broadcaster, podcaster and television presenter. Early life Benson was born in Australia of Papua New Guinean parents. She is a Tolai woman from Rabaul in the East New Britain Province in Papua New Guinea, a ...
. Around July 2021
Daniel Browning Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...
became the main presenter. * ''Sporty'' (c.2019–present,
Amanda Smith Amanda Berry Smith (January 23, 1837 – February 24, 1915) was a Methodist preacher and former slave who funded The Amanda Smith Orphanage and Industrial Home for Abandoned and Destitute Colored Children outside Chicago. She was a leader i ...
) * ''
Sunday Extra 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 an ...
'' (2019–present,
Julian Morrow Julian Francis Xavier Morrow (born 1975) is an Australian comedian and television producer from Sydney. He is best known for being a member of the satirical team The Chaser. As a member of The Chaser, he has appeared on several ABC Television p ...
, including ''Background Briefing'' and ''Ockham's Razor'', and apparently superseding ''Correspondents Report'')


See also

*
Bald Hills Radiator Bald Hill Radiator is a radio transmission centre at 99 Kluver St, Bald Hills, Queensland, Bald Hills, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is also known as the National Broadcasting Service Radio Transmission Centre. It is listed on th ...
, ABC's AM radio transmission centre in Brisbane *
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
*
List of radio stations in Australia This is a list of radio stations that broadcast in Australia. The first digit of the callsign represents the state or territory: 1 – ACT, 2 – NSW and ACT, 3 – VIC, 4 – QLD, 5 – SA, 6 – WA, 7 – TAS, 8 – NT. Australian Capit ...
*
Radio New Zealand National RNZ National ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa Ā-Motu), formerly Radio New Zealand National, and known until 2007 as the National Programme or National Radio, is a publicly funded non-commercial New Zealand English-language radio network operat ...
*
Timeline of Australian radio 1800s 1890-1899 * Although Australia's first officially recognised experimental broadcast was made in 1905 (see below), there are reliable reports in September 1897 (just two years after Guglielmo Marconi's original radio experiments) of demo ...


References


External links

*
Current programs
* {{National radio networks in Australia Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio Australian radio networks News and talk radio stations in Australia Public radio in Australia Radio stations established in 1923