FBi (call sign: 2FBI) station is an independent, not-for-profit
community radio
Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popular ...
in Sydney, Australia. FBi places a heavy emphasis on local emerging
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
: it has a policy that at least 50 per cent of its music content is to be Australian, of which at least half comes from Sydney musicians.
History
FBi began 'test broadcasting' as an 'aspirant broadcaster' in 1995 following the then-
Keating government's decision to allocate the last three FM licences in Sydney. The election of
John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...
delayed the process as the coalition government focussed on radio licences for country towns. After making a series of short-term broadcasts over eight years, FBi Radio beat 16 other aspirant broadcasters to be granted a permanent licence by the Australian Broadcasting Authority in 2002.
Popular dance / hip hop aspirant station DEX FM were unsuccessful and FBi President
Cassandra Wilkinson
Cassandra Wilkinson is an Australian author and the president and co-founder of FBi Radio. She is married to former Australian politician Paul McLeay.
Writing career
Wilkinson is a columnist for the newspaper ''The Australian'' and the author of ...
invited DEX founder George Crones to join the FBi board and merge the two stations.
A failed
takeover
In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to t ...
attempt by one of the losing bidders for the permanent licence,
Wild FM
Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to:
Common meanings
* Wild animal
* Wilderness, a wild natural environment
* Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed
Art, media and entertainment Film and television
* ''Wild'' (2014 film), a 2014 A ...
(a more commercially oriented
dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...
station) pushed FBi's full-time 24/7 broadcast to August 2003.
At the launch, company President Cassandra Wilkinson told radioinfo that FBi 94.5FM aims to "celebrate the creativity and diversity of the city’s music and arts communities."
The station went to air with program director Meagan Loader and station manager Christina Alvarez in charge with Australia's youngest Music Director Dan Zilber calling the tunes.
In November 2006, FBi's 'Sunset' program won the Best Radio Show award at the national Australian Dance Music Awards.
In September 2007, the
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...
chose FBi as the platform to announce its electoral commitment to resume funding for the Australian Music Radio Airplay Project.
In 2009, FBi asked listeners to ask
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Branson expressed ...
to donate $1 million to the station, with the person getting his attention being promised $50k if he came through with the goods.... A young Australian woman swam to his house on Necker Island to inform him of the campaign and Branson called the station to chat on air to broadcaster Alison Piotrowski. While Branson did not pay up the $1M he did donate prizes to the Save FBi campaign which raised nearly half a million dollars to save the station from the global financial crisis which had significantly impacted revenues and membership.
During mid-2014, FBi Radio officially launched FBi Click - a second station dedicated to dance and electronic music. FBi Click broadcast on DAB+ in Sydney and via online stream at fbiradio.com/click. A number of Sydney dance music promoters and collectives presented shows on the station; including Picnic, Motorik, Purple Sneakers, THUMP by Vice and others. On 5 June 2017 FBi Click was discontinued, although many of the programs were merged back into the main FBI station's programming. The rationale for the change was that listeners wanted to hear the main FBi station on DAB+.
Reach and format
FBi is Sydney's only independent youth radio station, broadcasting across the city with a signal strength as large as its commercial rivals - reaching
Gosford
Gosford is the city and administrative centre of the Central Coast Council local government area in the heart of the Central Coast region, about north of Sydney and about south of Newcastle. The city centre is situated at the northern extre ...
, the
Blue Mountains and
Wollongong
Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...
. A ratings survey conducted by McNair in 2019 showed that FBi's audience was 580,000 per month. Its music policy is 50% Australian, half of that from Sydney. The eclectic music mix that results is different from anything available through commercial music stations in Sydney.
from "FBi radio - it won't be blokey"
Sydney Morning Herald, 21 July 2003
FBi SMAC Awards
The FBi Sydney Music, Arts & Culture (SMAC) Awards recognising Sydney musicians, artists, performers, restaurants and events. They are voted on by the public and presented in an annual ceremony. The 2022 event took place at the Powerhouse in Ultimo on 10 November 2022.
Broadcasters
FBi broadcasters have included many individuals from the Australian music and entertainment industries including:
''DJs & Musicians:'' Anna Lunoe, Nina Las Vegas
Nina Elizabeth Agzarian (born 18 December 1984), known professionally by her stage name Nina Las Vegas, is an Australian radio host, DJ and music producer. From 2009 to 2014 she was the host of ''House Party'' on national radio station Triple J ...
, Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...
, Kid Kenobi
Kid Kenobi or Jesse Thomas Desenberg is an Australian DJ, sound mixer, music journalist and dance music artist. Together with Hook N Sling (a.k.a. Anthony Maniscalco), he was nominated for the 2007 ARIA Award for Best Dance Release for their s ...
, Mark Dynamix
Mark Dynamix (born Mark Kenneth Vick on 19 May 1975) is an Australian DJ, producer, mixer, radio presenter and record label owner/manager. He ran the Australian operations of Ministry of Sound Recordings for Sony Music Australia from 2017-201 ...
, Deepchild, Ro Sham Bo, Kato, Bad Ezzy, Pimmon
Pimmon is the recording name of Australian electronic and ambient musician, record producer and arranger, Paul David Gough. He has released records on labels such as Fat Cat Records, Fällt, Tigerbeat6, Staalplaat and Staubgold, and collaborated w ...
(aka Paul Gough), Klue (True Vibenation), Johnny Segment (aka Timothy Neville), Bruno Brayovic ( Peabody); DOBBY, Mike Who (Planet Trip Records), Adi Toohey.
''Broadcasting:'' Amelia Jenner; Avani Dias (Hack / Triple J); Lucy Smith (Triple J); Marcus Whale; Ebony Boadu (Triple J); Alex Pye; Adam Lewis; Linda Marigliano
Linda Marigliano (born Carmelinda Marigliano; 27 September 1984) is an Australian television and radio presenter, podcaster, musician and DJ, best known for her work on FBi Radio and Triple J. She also played bass guitar in the indie rock ban ...
(Triple J); Georgia Hitch (ABC); Lewis McKirdy
Lewis McKirdy (born 12 October 1987) is the outgoing host of ''Lunch'' on triple j.
References
External linksProfileat Triple J
Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio st ...
(Triple J); SBS and Triple J film critic Marc Fennell
Marc Fennell is an Australian film critic, technology journalist, radio personality, author and television presenter. Fennell is a co-anchor of '' The Feed'' and the host of ''Mastermind''.
Career Film critic
In 2002, Fennell was a winner o ...
; Jayne Cheeseman (Virgin Radio UK); comedian and filmmaker Dan Ilic (The Ronnie Johns Half Hour
''The Ronnie Johns Half Hour'' (full name ''The Ronnie Johns Good Times Campfire Jamboree Half Hour Show (Now on Television)'') was an Australian sketch comedy show produced by Jigsaw Entertainment and the Network Ten, Ten Network, which premie ...
, Channel 10, AJ+); Nathan Sapsford ( Video Hits, Channel 10); Jaimie Leonarder
Jaimie Leonarder (born 1958, Sydney) also known as Jay Katz is an Australian musician, archivist, social worker, film critic, radio announcer, and DJ.
Biography
Born and raised in Sydney, Leonarder attended Artarmon Public School and Crows-Nest B ...
/ Jay Katz (former SBS Film Critic); Dom Alessio
Dom Alessio is an Australian radio personality, music journalist and blogger. He is best known as the host of the Australian music show on Triple J radio, ''Home & Hosed''
Early career
Alessio started as a freelance music journalist in 2005, ...
(Triple J); Meagan Loader (Triple J); Dan Buhagiar (Triple J); CNET (Lexy Savvides); Shantan Wantan Ichiban (Triple J)
''Industry:'' Dan Zilber, Programming Manager MTV Aus & NZ; Stuart Coupe
Stuart Coupe (born 11 September 1956) is an Australian music journalist, author, band manager, promoter, publicist and music label founder. He is best known for his work as a rock writer with Roadrunner (Australian music magazine), RAM (Rock Aus ...
(Laughing Outlaw); Anna Burns, General Manager Future Classic; Andrew Levins, co-founder of Diplo
Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD with ...
's 'Heaps Decent' label, DJ and promoter; GetUp Communication Director Matthew Levinson; Fat Planet & New Weird Australia editor Stuart Buchanan; Ben Marshall, Head of Contemporary Music at Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...
; Sweetie Zamora (Remote Control Records); Harry White (Future Classic), Melody Forghani (twntythree).
Studios
The studios of FBi are located in Botany Rd., Alexandria, in the same building as the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia
The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) is the peak body and the national representative organisation for community radio and television stations in Australia. The CBAA provide leadership, advocacy and support for members to ac ...
.
Staff
FBi Radio is predominantly a volunteer-based organisation, augmented by a small core staff. All on-air presenters and producers are volunteers. It is a non-profit organisation with Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status. Co-founder and long-term Company President is Cassandra Wilkinson (2003–2021). She was replaced as president by Amy Solomon (2021–present).
References
External links
FBi Radio official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fbi Radio
Community radio stations in Australia
Radio stations in Sydney
Radio stations established in 1983