1116 SEN (call sign

3AK 3AK is the call sign of SEN 1116, an earlier the on-air name of a former Melbourne talk-back radio and music station, which, in 2003, leased its licence to sports network SEN 1116. A number of unusual events and precedents throughout the stati ...

) is an Australian radio station in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. Owned and operated by Pacific Star Network, it broadcasts a

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on ...

format from Lower Plenty to Greater

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 ...

. First broadcast on 29 November 1931 as 3AK, the station currently broadcasts from studios in

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at ...

History

The station first broadcast on 29 November 1931 as 3AK. In October 2003, amid growing debt and struggling ratings, 3AK operators Data & Commerce Limited placed the station up for sale. In November, owners Data & Commerce Limited entered into a lease with the newly formed Sports Entertainment Network to create SEN 1116, a 24-hour

station. Headed by managing director Danny Staffieri, formerly of

FIVEaa FIVEaa (pronounced ''Five Double A'') is Adelaide's only commercial talkback radio station. The station has a range of programs including news, sports, current affairs, social issues, football calls, gardening, lifestyle, cars, travel and heal ...

, the new station was promoted as 'entertaining radio with a sports focus', and would rival horse racing station Sport 927. On 19 January 2004, SEN 1116 launched onto Melbourne's airwaves, with former AFL footballers

Garry Lyon Garry Peter Lyon (born 13 September 1967) is a former professional Australian rules football player and was captain of the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Since his retirement from football, he has been mainly ...

Tim Watson Timothy Michael Watson (born 13 July 1961) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). After retiring from the game, he has continued working in the Australian footb ...

and

Billy Brownless Anthony William Brownless (born 28 January 1967) is a former Australian rules footballer and radio and television media personality who represented in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the 1980s and 1990s. Early life Brownless was ...

heading the station's "Morning Glory" breakfast show, Richmond Football Club premiership player Kevin Bartlett in mornings, ABC Radio National's

Francis Leach Francis Leach (born 1968) is an Australian radio announcer, sports editor and journalist. Career Leach began his career at Triple J in the early 1990s hosting the ''Three Hours of Power'' show, the weekly late night heavy metal show. Later on he ...

in afternoons, and

Dermott Brereton Dermott Hugh Brereton (born 19 August 1964) is an Australian former professional Australian rules football player in the Australian Football League (AFL) who is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation. Of Irish descent (his p ...

and Anthony Hudson in drive. In the year's first radio ratings survey, the station jumped from reaching 1.2% of the Melbourne radio market as 3AK, to 2.1% as SEN, growing to 2.8% in the year's fourth survey despite the lack of coverage of any major sports. However, in July, the station secured broadcast rights to the 2004 Summer Olympics, alongside 2GB,

2CC 2CC is a commercial radio station on the AM band in Canberra, Australia. It began broadcasting on 1210 kHz in 1975 changing to 1206 kHz in 1978. It is jointly owned by Capital Radio Network and Grant Broadcasters. History 2CC, which be ...

, 6iX, HO-FM and Hot 100, among others. SEN also carried coverage of the

2004 NRL Grand Final The 2004 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2004 NRL season. It was contested by the Sydney Roosters, who had finished the regular season in 1st place, and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, who had finished ...

from 2GB, and the

2004–05 FA Premier League The 2004–05 FA Premier League (known as the FA Barclays Premiership for sponsorship reasons) began on 14 August 2004 and ended on 15 May 2005. Arsenal were the defending champions after going unbeaten the previous season. Chelsea won the t ...

from BBC Radio 5 Live. In December 2004, the SEN brand was revealed to be expanded into

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 ...

, with Sports Entertainment Network leasing news talk

5DN Cruise 1323 (call sign: 5DN) is one of Adelaide's longest running radio stations. In its 80+ years it has changed considerably. It was the first commercial station to begin broadcasting in South Australia. History Radio 5DN began operating ...

from Australian Radio Network to create SEN 1323. Launching on 1 February 2005, the station became a simulcast of its Melbourne sister station, with only one Adelaide-based programme - "The Boys Next Door", hosted by former FIVEaa presenter

Mark Aiston Mark Aiston is an Australian sports journalist and sports presenter. Aiston is currently a breakfast radio presenter on FIVEaa. He was previously a sport presenter on ''Ten Eyewitness News'' and breakfast radio presenter on Mix 102.3. Career Ai ...

, The Sunday Footy Show panelist

Mark Bickley Mark Alan Bickley (born 4 August 1969) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Bickley was a player for the Crows from 1991 until 2003, captaining the team to bo ...

and Port Adelaide Football Club ruckman

Matthew Primus Matthew Richard Primus (born 12 January 1975) is a former coach of the Port Adelaide Football Club and Australian rules footballer, captain and All-Australian ruckman. He was also previously an assistant coach at the Gold Coast Football Club. ...

. However, while the station remained flat in Melbourne, ratings dwindled in Adelaide; despite gaining coverage of the New Zealand cricket tour of Australia and the

2005 VFL season The 2005 Victorian Football League season was the 124th season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Sandringham Football Club, after it defeated Werribee in the Grand Final on 18 September by nine points; ...

, Sports Entertainment Network entered

voluntary administration As a legal concept, administration is a procedure under the insolvency laws of a number of common law jurisdictions, similar to bankruptcy in the United States. It functions as a rescue mechanism for insolvent entities and allows them to carry o ...

, citing $3.5 million in losses. The SEN 1323 lease was cancelled, resulting in ARN launching

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

-format

Cruise 1323 Cruise 1323 (call sign: 5DN) is one of Adelaide's longest running radio stations. In its 80+ years it has changed considerably. It was the first commercial station to begin broadcasting in South Australia. History Radio 5DN began operating ...

. The Melbourne station was sold back to Pacific Star Network, the renamed Data & Commerce Limited.

2010s

In July 2015, the newsroom shared between SEN and sister station 3MP 1377 was closed, replaced with the Victorian news service from

Macquarie National News Nine News is a radio news service providing the half-hourly radio news bulletins to radio stations across Australia. History On 16 September 2009, Macquarie Radio Network shut down its news website, livenews.com.au after two years of existence, ...

, based at

3AW 3AW is a talkback radio station based in Melbourne. It broadcasts on 693 kHz AM. It began transmission on 22 February 1932 as Melbourne's fifth commercial radio station. The station is owned and operated by Nine Entertainment Co. Hist ...

. In November 2015, it was announced that

would depart ABC Grandstand Digital following the axing of the ''Grandstand Breakfast'' programme, and will again join SEN, hosting ''SEN Breakfast'' alongside David "The Ox" Schwarz to replace ''The Morning Glory''. Current co-host Andy Maher will move to afternoons, launching ''SEN Lunch Break'', moving

Daniel Harford Daniel Harford (born 19 March 1977) is the senior coach of the Carlton Football Club in the AFL Women's league and a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club and Carlton Football Club in the Australian Footb ...

into drive with Mark Allen.

Andrew Gaze Andrew Barry Casson Gaze (born 24 July 1965) is an Australian former professional basketball player and coach. He played 22 seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL) with the Melbourne Tigers from 1984 to 2005, winning the league's MVP a ...

and

, while losing regular timeslots, would remain with the station as a contributor. In January 2018, the station's schedule was again refreshed. Former ABC commentator

Gerard Whateley Gerard Whateley is a Melbourne-based sports broadcaster and writer. Since January 2018 he has been chief sports caller and host of the ''Whateley'' program on the sports radio station SEN1116. He is also co-host of Fox Footy's ''AFL 360'' program ...

joined the station as chief sports caller and mornings presenter, with Kevin Bartlett moving to the drive show following the departure of Harford. In April 2018, parent company Pacific Star Network merged with sports media business Crocmedia, most notable for producing the AFL Nation broadcast call heard across regional Australia. In July 2019, SEN has partnered with Crocmedia has purchased 23 narrowband radio licences across Australia including Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Gold Coast, Darwin and Alice Springs.

Notable announcers

Current announcers

*Andrew Hayes * Andy Maher * Anthony Hudson * Ben Graham * Cam Luke * David King *

Dwayne Russell Shane John Russell (born 4 March 1965) known as Dwayne Russell is a former professional Australian rules footballer and currently a commentator of the sport. Born in Adelaide, Russell made his senior football debut as a sixteen-year-old in 19 ...

Kane Cornes Kane Graham Cornes (born 5 January 1983) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early life A product of Sacred Heart College and Glenelg in the SAN ...

Kym Dillon Kym Dillon (born 19 June 1959) is the former sports presenter for Nine News Adelaide. He is also part of the successful sports coverage and football commentary team at FIVEaa. Prior to his media career he played football for SANFL clubs North Ad ...

* Liam Pickering * Michelangelo Rucci *

Nathan Buckley Nathan Charles Buckley (born 26 July 1972) is a former professional Australian rules football coach, player and commentator. He is listed by journalist Mike Sheahan as one of the top 50 players of all time. Buckley won the inaugural Rising S ...

Peter Vlahos Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

* Sam Edmund *

Tim Gossage Tim Gossage (born 27 February 1965, in Perth) is an Australian sports commentator and Australian rules football coach based in Perth, Western Australia. Media Gossage joined Network 10 in Perth in 1990. During his time at Ten, he'd featured on ...

Former announcers

*Brad Spicer *Bruce Eva *Bryan Martin * Christian Argenti *

*Darren Berry *Darren Parkin * David Schwarz *

*Jack Heverin *Jason Richardson *John Rothfield *

Hamish McLachlan Hamish Angus McLachlan (born 28 August 1975) is an Australian sports broadcaster and host with Seven Sport. Since he joined the Seven Network in January 2008, he has been a host/presenter/reporter at multiple events, including being a part of ...

* Kevin Bartlett *

Mark Doran Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

* Mark Fine *

*Matthew Hardy * Mark Allen *

Sam McClure Sam McClure (born 7 July 1991) is an Australian sports journalist who works for the Nine Network, ''The Age,'' 3AW and Sports Entertainment Network. Career McClure began his media career at 3AW as a broadcasting assistant in 2011, before ...

Terry Wallace Terry Wallace (born 13 December 1958) is a former professional Australian rules football player and coach. As a player, his career spanned three VFL/AFL clubs; most notably Hawthorn where he played in three premierships. After one season with ...

*Tony Schibeci *Tristan Foenander

Sports coverage

SEN has exclusive and non-exclusive rights to various sports in Australia: Australian rules football * Australian Football League *

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

Basketball * National Basketball League Cricket *

Australian cricket team in the United Arab Emirates in 2018–19 The Australian cricket team toured the United Arab Emirates from September to October 2018 to play two Tests and three Twenty20 International (T20I) matches against Pakistan. Ahead of the Test series, there was a four-day practice match in Duba ...

* Big Bash League *

Indian cricket team in Australia in 2018–19 The India cricket team toured Australia from November 2018 to January 2019 to play four Tests, three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and three Twenty20 International (T20I) matches. Initially, the Test match at the Adelaide Oval was planned to ...

2019 Cricket World Cup The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 12th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted between 30 May ...

Football * A-League Golf * Australian Open * U.S. Masters Tournament Horse racing *

Spring Racing Carnival The Spring Racing Carnival is the name of an Australian Thoroughbred horse racing series held annually in Melbourne during October and November. The Carnival and its status in the wider community Although racing in Australia is held every day exc ...

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melb ...

* Zipping Classic Rugby League *

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Ov ...

Rugby Union * Super Rugby Tennis * Australian Open

Related stations

SEN SA

On 13 October 2018, SEN parent company Pacific Star Network confirmed it had purchased an AM narrowband licence in Adelaide, South Australia, returning the SEN brand to South Australia. The station launched on 1629 AM on 6 December 2018, with local presenters

, Andrew Hayes,

and Michelangelo Rucci. Other programs, including

's morning show and live sports coverage, will be syndicated live from the Melbourne station. On 9 September 2019, ''SEN SA Breakfast'' commenced simulcasting on

RadioTAB RadioTAB is a radio station primarily covering horse and greyhound racing in Australia and internationally, operated by Tabcorp, which operates the Totalisator Agency Boards based in Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and Northern Territory ...

's 1539AM Adelaide frequency. On 2 December, a second South Australian frequency was launched – also on 1629 AM – covering

Mount Gambier Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in South Australia, with an estimated urban population of 33,233 . The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier, a volcano in the south east of the state, about south-east of the capital Ad ...

SEN Track

SEN Track is a radio network broadcasting coverage of

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

and greyhound racing, which launched on 28 March 2020.

1170 SEN

1170 SEN Official Callsign 2CH is a Sports Radio Station in Sydney, New South Wales.

SEN Top End

On the 17th October 2021 SEN Top End launched on 1611 AM Narrowcast broadcasting coverage of the Northern Territory Football League,

and greyhound racing.

SEN Hobart

On 7 July 2021 SEN Hobart launched on 1611 AM Narrowcast providing coverage of several local and national sports such as Cricket, AFL,

and greyhound racing.

SEN Gold Coast

On the 3rd March 2021 SEN Gold Coast launched on 1620 AM Narrowcast providing coverage of several local and national sports such as Cricket, AFL,

and greyhound racing.

Former stations

SEN 1323

SEN 1323 was launched on 1 February 2005 in Adelaide, replacing

. It largely simulcast 1116 SEN, with a single opt-out program for the Adelaide market. The station closed following parent company Data & Commerce Limited entering voluntary administration in June 2005.

SEN+

SEN+ commenced broadcasting on 13 August 2018, replacing

Classic Rock Radio 3MP is a commercial radio station, broadcast from Rowville and licensed to Melbourne. Owned and operated by Ace Radio from studios in South Melbourne, it broadcasts an easy listening music format on 1377 AM and DAB+ digital radio. History Ea ...

. The station broadcast live coverage of the NFL, NBA, A-League and Super Rugby as well as live and timeshifted programming from the main SEN station. On 28 March 2020, it was replaced by SEN Track.

Notable programs

Former

*''No Man Should Ever Walk Alone'', a Monday night hour-long show hosted by

Danny Frawley Daniel Patrick Frawley (8 September 1963 – 9 September 2019) was an Australian rules football player, coach, administrator, commentator and media personality. He played 240 games for the St Kilda Football Club in the Victorian Football Leag ...

on men's health, including mental health (a cause he championed after opening up about his own struggles), addiction and lifestyle. Frawley hosted the show until his death in 2019.

Podcasts

The station also has produced some podcasts, including: *''Tiger Tragics'', a

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

-centric podcast hosted by SEN fill-in and weekend host and

MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hem ...

public address announcer Tony Schibeci and SEN producer's Mitchell Scott and Karl Bianco. *''The Carlton Show'', a Carlton-centric podcast co-hosted by Maher. *''The Geelong Show'', a Geelong-centric podcast co-hosted by Ben Casanelia of ''Inside Football'', SEN's AFL magazine. *''SEN America'', covering American sports leagues such as the NBA.

References

External links

1116 SEN websitePacific Star Network website
{{Navboxes, list1= {{National radio networks in Australia {{Melbourne radio {{Adelaide radio 1116 SEN Radio stations in Melbourne Radio stations established in 2004 Sports radio stations in Australia