Radio 2 was a narrowband

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

radio network There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass-media entertainment, and the two-way radio ( duplex communication) type ...

owned and operated by WorldAudio Limited. The network was broadcast on frequencies between 1611 and 1629

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 ...

via a series of 50 AM transmitters across Australia, as well as by satellite (including through

Austar Austar was an Australian telecommunications company. Its main business activity was subscription television but it has also been involved with internet access and mobile phones. It was founded in 1995 under the name Community Entertainment Telev ...

and

Foxtel Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...

) and through the network's website.

History

Radio 2 began in

Blacktown Blacktown is a suburb in the City of Blacktown, in Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Blacktown is located west of the Sydney central business district. It is one of the most multicultural places within Grea ...

Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

on 1611 AM in October 2001, broadcasting under a Section 40 licence - meaning it could only operate on narrowband AM frequencies (1611–1701 kHz), and with narrow spectrum - 5 kHz, rather than the full 9 kHz which other

commercial radio Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship. It was the United States′ first model of radio (an ...

stations use. Branded "The New Voice Of Western Sydney", the station focused on live and local content, similar to

2WS 101.7 WSFM (call sign: 2UUS) is a radio station broadcasting in Sydney, Australia. Its main content is commercial music, in particular classic hits from 1960 to about 2000, but with a stronger focus from 1970 to 1995. The station is part of t ...

in its heyday. In 2002, Radio 2 was a broadcast partner of the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, broadcasting live coverage of matches, with the call led by Colin Turner. In 2003, Radio 2 was a broadcast partner of the

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

, hosting live coverage of

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a reser ...

home games from the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and as ...

and

Stadium Australia Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sydney Olympic Park, in Sydney, Australia. The stadium, which in Australia is sometimes referred to as Sydney Olympic Stad ...

National expansion

In November 2003, owners WorldAudio Limited acquired a series of 14 additional transmitters, forming a national commercial

AM radio AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transm ...

network. This did not come without drama - a legal battle had begun between owners WorldAudio and GB Radio in

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 ...

, over the use of the 1620 AM licence - WorldAudio would eventually use 1629 AM in Melbourne instead. In April 2005, owners WorldAudio signed

Mikey Robins Mikel Mason "Mikey" Robins (born 8 December 1961) is an Australian media personality, comedian and writer. He is best known for the satirical game show ''Good News Week'', which ran on the ABC and Network Ten between 1996 and 2000, and returned ...

and

Ian Rogerson The ''Jono & Dano'' Show was a radio and later television show hosted by Jonathan Coleman (Jono) and Ian Rogerson (Dano). Original radio programming The original ''Jono & Dano'' show was broadcast on Triple J as a Saturday night show, before mo ...

to host ''The Big Australian Breakfast'', Nick Bennett to host the ''Nick's Nation'' drive show, and former

Seven News ''7NEWS'' is the television news service of the Seven Network and, as of 2021, the highest-rating in Australia. National bulletins are presented from Seven's high-definition television, high definition studios in Martin Place, Sydney, while f ...

presenter

Ross Symonds Ross Symonds (born 1942) is an Australian former news presenter and reporter, television and radio personality and spokesman, best known for his association with the ABC and later the Seven Network in Sydney from the 1980s until the early 2000s. ...

to host Sunday morning business program ''The Bottom Line''. In May 2005, the station launched nationally to a network of 50 stations around the country, dropping the

focus and moving to programming of national significance. At launch, WorldAudio CEO Andrew Peter Thompson boasted the station "

ould Ould is an English surname and an Arabic name ( ar, ولد). In some Arabic dialects, particularly Hassaniya Arabic, ولد‎ (the patronymic, meaning "son of") is transliterated as Ould. Most Mauritanians have patronymic surnames. Notable p ...

be picked up by 93% of all radio receivers." Additional programming included ''Sportswatch Australia'' with Colin Turner, ''She Said'' with

Sophie Falkiner Sophie Falkiner (born 20 March 1973, in Melbourne) is an Australian television presenter. Sophie has previously presented an entertainment news series ''Confidential'' on Fox8. She was also a presenter on '' The Great Outdoors'' and letter-tur ...

and

Katrina Warren Dr Katrina Louise Warren (born 8 December 1967) is an Australian veterinarian, best known as the co-host of several popular television programs on Channel 7. Career After working as a fashion model in Japan, Warren first appeared on television s ...

, and ''Politically Direct'' with Paul Makin. The network had an emphasis on sporting coverage, with coverage of

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

and

English Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

soccer, AFL (including

and

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of the Melbourne-based 1883 foundation VFL c ...

games, plus the

2005 AFL Grand Final The 2005 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Sydney Swans and West Coast Eagles at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 24 September 2005. It was the 109th annual grand final of the Australian Football League ...

), and the NBL.

Downfall and closure

However, the network's success wasn't to be. A combination of minimal listenership and low advertising lead to a

trading halt A trading halt occurs in the U.S. when a stock exchange stops trading on a specific security for a certain time period. The halt, which can happen a few times a day per security if FINRA deems it, usually lasts for one hour, but is not limited to ...

being placed on parent company WorldAudio, with the announcement that administrators had been appointed to the company a week later. Administrators halted all talk based content, leaving the station to broadcast non-stop music. Radio 2's frequencies were later sold, either to

Rete Italia Rete Italia is an Italian-language radio network which broadcast to selected capital cities in Australia. The station is associated with Il Globo Newspaper and La Fiamma newspaper. The radio network was launched in 1994. To listen to the app, ...

, the start-up

Vision Christian Radio Vision Christian Radio is an Australian narrowcast radio station owned and operated by Vision Christian Media, an affiliate of United Christian Broadcasters. It broadcasts a Christian radio format of music and talk from studios in the Brisbane ...

, or to the similarly ill-fated Goanna

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

network.

Availability (at time of closure)

References

{{reflist Defunct radio stations in Australia Radio stations established in 2001 Radio stations disestablished in 2006 Defunct Australian radio networks Radio stations in Sydney Radio stations in New South Wales Radio stations in Brisbane Radio stations in Queensland Radio stations in Melbourne Radio stations in Victoria (state) Radio stations in Adelaide Radio stations in South Australia Radio stations in Perth, Western Australia Radio stations in Western Australia Radio stations in Darwin, Northern Territory Radio stations in the Northern Territory Companies formerly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange 2001 establishments in Australia 2006 disestablishments in Australia