FIVEaa (pronounced ''Five Double A'') is

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 ...

's only commercial

talkback Talkback or talk back may refer to: * ''Talkback'' (album), a 1983 album by the Canadian band the Spoons * ''Talk Back'' (Kembe X album), 2016 *Talkback, an alternate name for Marvel Comics superhero Chase Stein * Talkback (recording), an audio ...

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

station. The station has a range of programs including news, sports, current affairs, social issues, football calls, gardening, lifestyle, cars, travel and health. It is owned by

Nova Entertainment NOVA Entertainment is an Australian entertainment company that operates commercial radio networks (and associated digital brands) in metropolitan and regional areas of Australia. NOVA Entertainment is owned by Lachlan Murdoch's Illyria Pty Lt ...

History

5AA commenced service in

Kent Town Kent Town is an inner suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters. History Kent Town was named for Dr. Benjamin Archer Kent (1808 – 25 November 1864), a medical practitioner of Walsall, Staf ...

on 14 March 1976 on the frequency 1390 AM. It was moved to 1386 AM with the introduction of 9

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...

spacing on the AM dial in 1978. The station now broadcasts on 1395 AM. 5AA commenced its life with a "Beautiful Music" format and quickly became Adelaide's number-1-rated radio station. In 1976, the only FM competition was

ABC Classic FM ABC Classic, formerly ABC-FM (also ABC Fine Music), and then ABC Classic FM, is an Australian classical music radio station available in Australia and internationally. Its website features classical music news, features and listening guides. ...

. AM stations were ABC Radio, 5DN and music stations 5KA and 5AD. In the 1980s, 5AA was sold to the State Government-owned TAB betting agency, ditching music to begin broadcasting horse and dog racing, with talkback in between race calls. The station shifted to the TAB headquarters in Pulteney Court, Adelaide, with "Talk of the Town" as its slogan. However, it plummeted in popularity as a result of its schizophrenic broadcasting policy. With the advent of narrowcast licences, the TAB purchased frequency 1539AM and shifted all racing there, freeing up 5AA for talk and interviews. A new slogan was adopted in the early 1990s; "5AA, Where you don't miss a thing" and the station began a slow rise in the ratings to challenge ABC Radio and 5DN. On 27 September 1996, 5AA was separated from the TAB and sold by the

Government of South Australia The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...

as part of its asset sales program to repay state debt, 5 years after the $3 billion collapse of the

State Bank A state bank is generally a financial institution that is chartered by a federated state, as opposed to one regulated at the federal or national level. State banks differ from a reserve bank in that it does not necessarily control monetary policy ...

. The new owner was dmg Radio Australia, with CEO Paul Thompson, which had national headquarters in Adelaide. In 2000, another new logo was adopted with the slogan "Interactive Radio FIVEaa". In October 2004, the station shifted to new premises in

Hindmarsh Square Hindmarsh Square/Mukata (formerly Mogata) is one of five public squares in the Adelaide city centre, South Australia. It is located in the centre of the north-eastern quarter of the city, and surrounds the intersection of Grenfell and Pulten ...

alongside

Nova 919 Nova 919 (call sign: 5ADL) is a commercial radio station operating in Adelaide, Australia, owned by NOVA Entertainment. Along with its sister stations Nova 100 Nova 100 (call sign: 3MEL) is a commercial radio station in Melbourne, Victo ...

, also owned by

DMG Radio Australia NOVA Entertainment is an Australian entertainment company that operates commercial radio networks (and associated digital brands) in metropolitan and regional areas of Australia. NOVA Entertainment is owned by Lachlan Murdoch's Illyria Pty Lt ...

, which had launched two months earlier. In November 2009 dmg (now

NOVA Entertainment NOVA Entertainment is an Australian entertainment company that operates commercial radio networks (and associated digital brands) in metropolitan and regional areas of Australia. NOVA Entertainment is owned by Lachlan Murdoch's Illyria Pty Lt ...

) sold 50% of the station to

Lachlan Murdoch Lachlan Keith Murdoch (; born 8 September 1971) is a British-Australian businessman and mass media heir. He is the executive chairman of Nova Entertainment, co-chairman of News Corp, executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation, and the found ...

's company Illyria, and Paul Thompson became non-executive chairman for six months. When Nova itself was acquired by Illyria in September 2012, it became the sole owner of the station.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:FIVEaa Nova Entertainment Daily Mail and General Trust Radio stations in Adelaide News and talk radio stations in Australia Radio stations established in 1976 1976 establishments in Australia