SYN (ACMA callsign: 3SYN) is an Australian

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 ...

station broadcasting to

Melbourne, Victoria Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung–Taungurung language, Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the St ...

. First broadcast in January 2003, the station is operated by

SYN Media Student Youth Network Inc., operating as SYN Media , is an Australian youth-run not-for-profit organisation providing media training and broadcasting opportunities for young people. Commonly referred to as SYN, the organisation produces new and ...

under a youth license, with programming presented entirely by volunteers aged 12–25 years old. The station broadcasts from studios on the campus of

RMIT University RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city ...

, with additional content syndicated from other community radio stations in Australia. Between 2014 and 2019, SYN Media operated a secondary station – SYN Nation – broadcast on

DAB+ DAB, dab, dabs, or dabbing may refer to: Dictionaries * ''Dictionary of American Biography'', published under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies * ''Dictionary of Australian Biography'', published since 1949 Places * Dąb, ...

digital radio Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services. Types In digital broadcasting syst ...

in Melbourne. On 16 April 2019, SYN Media announced the two stations would merge to create a single station, broadcasting on 90.7FM and DAB+ digital radio. The newly merged SYN commenced broadcasting on 22 April 2019.

History

SYN first launched at 12pm on 28 January 2003 as SYN FM, following a successful application to the then-

Australian Broadcasting Authority The Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) was an Australian government agency whose main roles were to regulate broadcasting, radiocommunications and telecommunications. The Authority took over the functions of the Australian Broadcasting Trib ...

for a

FM license in 2001. This followed the amalgamation of 3TD at Thornbury Darebin College and the Student Radio Association based at

into

in 2000. In May 2004, the Australian Broadcasting Authority removed a power restriction on the station's signal, which was in place to avoid interference from the

ABNT The Brazilian Association of Technical Standards, usually rendered in Portuguese as Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas (ABNT) is a private non-profit organization and the normative body which is responsible for technical standards in Braz ...

television service broadcasting from

Launceston, Tasmania Launceston () or () is a city in the north of Tasmania, Australia, at the confluence of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River (kanamaluka). As of 2021, Launceston has a population of 87,645. Material was copied ...

on VHF channel 3. The restriction also applied to 89.9 LightFM and the then-unallocated smoothfm 91.5. On 14 April 2011, the station launched on

, alongside fellow community broadcasters 3CR,

3KND 3KND is a community radio station which represents the Indigenous communities within Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 3KND broadcasts in Melbourne at 1503 on the AM radio band and also streams on the internet. By late 2006, 3KND had the ...

3MBS 3MBS was the first FM (frequency modulation) radio station in Victoria, Australia, and began transmitting to Melbourne and surrounding areas on 1 July 1975. Since then it has operated successfully as a non-profit community-based organisation broa ...

3RRR 3RRR (pronounced "Three Triple R", or simply "Triple R") is an Australian community radio station, based in Melbourne. 3RRR first commenced broadcasting in 1976 from the studios of 3ST, the student radio station of the Royal Melbourne Institut ...

3ZZZ 3ZZZ (''3 Triple Zed'') is an ethnic community radio station in Melbourne, Victoria that currently broadcasts programs in over 70 languages on 92.3 MHz FM and is licensed to Mount Dandenong. 3ZZZ is Australia's largest community multilingual r ...

, 89.9 LightFM,

PBS 106.7FM PBS 106.7FM (call sign: PBS FM), also known as the Progressive Broadcasting Service, is a cooperatively owned community radio station in Melbourne, Australia, that broadcasts on 106.7FM, Digital radio and online. PBS celebrated its 40th year ...

and

Vision Australia Radio Vision Australia Radio is a network of eight radio stations in Victoria, amongst some other states in Australia. It is owned by Vision Australia. The stations broadcast a range of programs, generally consisting of readings of newspapers and mag ...

. This saw the station rebrand as SYN Radio. On 7 May 2013, the station ceased transmitting on both FM and DAB+ for 24 hours in protest of funding cuts to the

sector in the

2013 Australian federal budget The 2013 Australian federal budget for the Australian financial year ended 30 June 2014 was presented on 14 May 2013 by the Treasurer of Australia, Wayne Swan, the sixth federal budget presented by Swan. The 2013 budget estimated total revenue of ...

. This formed part of a larger

call to action Call to Action (CTA) is an American organization that advocates a variety of changes in the Catholic Church. Call To Action's goals are to change church teachings in such areas as mandatory celibacy for priests, the male-only priesthood, the selec ...

"Commit to Community Radio" by industry body 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 ...

, as well as the

Community Broadcasting Foundation The Community Broadcasting Foundation (CBF) is an independent non-profit funding organisation based in Melbourne. The CBF receives funds from the Australian Government to distribute through grant programs to support the maintenance and development o ...

. On 1 April 2014, the station ceased broadcasting on DAB+ digital radio, and was replaced with a digital radio-only sister station SYN Nation. Following an organisation-wide rebrand, SYN Radio was rebranded as SYN 90.7, emphasising content made by young people in Melbourne. On 22 April 2019 the station was again rebranded as SYN, as the station became available on DAB+ digital radio once again. Today, SYN operates on a schedule updated with new presenters – all under the age of 26 – and programming every 12 weeks, across two tiers of programming: flagship shows and seasonal shows. Flagship shows operate year round in fixed timeslots under the management of an

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

, a role rotated yearly, while seasonal shows air for up to six months at a time, and cover a variety of topics and music.

Programming

Current flagships

*''Fresh Sounds'' (Music playlist) *''Get Cereal'' (Breakfast programme) *''The Sports Desk'' (Sports talk) *''Panorama'' (Current affairs) *''The Naughty Rude Show'' (Sex and relationships) *''In Joke Tonight'' (Comedy) *''Graveyard Shift'' (Overnight programme) Music flagships *''The Hoist'' (

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

) *''New & Approved'' (New music) *''Sunday Sweets'' ("Sweet 16" and feature albums) Genre flagships *''Asian Pop Nation'' (Asian

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

) *''Hip Hop Night'' ( Hip hop music) *''Moshpit'' (

Punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and

heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a ...

) Access flagships *''Amplify'' (under-18 drive programme) *''The Awkward Stage'' (under-18 on-air training programme) *''Schools on Air'' (high school students, managed by SYN Media Learning) *''Raise the Platform'' (disability advocacy)

Regional syndication

In addition to programming produced in Melbourne, a number of shows presented by young people across Australia are syndicated on SYN as part of the SYN Nation project. Current affiliates include

2BOB 2BOB FM radio is a volunteer radio station in Taree on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. 2BOB FM broadcasts on 104.7 FM. This type of station is known as community radio, and 2BOB is a member of the Community Broadcasting Associ ...

, Gippsland FM, Woroni Radio,

Wangki Radio Wangki Yupurnanupurru Radio, usually shortened to Wangki Radio , is an Aboriginal community radio station based in Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia. Wangki Radio has a weekly listenership of around 10,000 people in various communities surro ...

and

Radio Fremantle Radio Fremantle (ACMA callsign: 6CCR) is an Australian community radio station in Western Australia. Established in 1987, the station broadcasts to the City of Fremantle The City of Fremantle is a local government area in the south of Perth ...

References

External links