SEN Track is an Australian

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, mass-media entertainment, and the two-way radio (Duplex (telecomm ...

operated by

Sports Entertainment Network Sports Entertainment Network (SEN), formerly Crocmedia, is an Australian radio and television distribution company established in 2006 by journalists James Swanwick and Craig Hutchison. SEN's parent company is Sports Entertainment Group (SE ...

, a division of Pacific Star Network. The network launched on 28 March 2020 and broadcasts live 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 to nine cities and towns in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

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 ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. It is a sister network to the Melbourne-based

1116 SEN 1116 SEN (call sign 3AK) is an Australian radio station in Victoria. Owned and operated by Pacific Star Network, it broadcasts a sports radio format from Lower Plenty to Greater Melbourne. First broadcast on 29 November 1931 as 3AK, the sta ...

History

SEN Track was born out of SEN+, which commenced broadcasting 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 ...

on 13 August 2018. The station was a simulcast of the 1116 SEN service, opting out for coverage of sports including the NFL, VFL, NBL and Super Rugby. The station also broadcast coverage of the 2019

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 ...

. On 3 July 2019, Pacific Star Network announced its subsidiary Crocmedia had acquired 23 broadcasting licences from Gumnut Nominees, the licensee of

Italian language Italian (''italiano'' or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Together with Sardinian, Italian is the least divergent language from Latin. Spoken by about ...

radio network

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, ...

, at the value of . On 27 March 2020, Crocmedia announced it would launch SEN Track, a radio station covering horse, thoroughbred and greyhound racing. At the time, racing codes were the only Australian sports operating during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. SEN Track launched the following day in Melbourne, replacing SEN+, and on the former Rete Italia frequencies in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

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 wa ...

. In April, the network expanded to

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 extr ...

, Ingham and Atherton, with Crocmedia announcing it would replace Vision Christian Radio in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

and Rete Italia on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

from September. In June 2020, Crocmedia announced it would sell the licence of its Melbourne station to

ACE Radio Ace Radio Broadcasters is an Australian media company. Formed in 1984, it operates 21 commercial radio stations in Victoria and southern New South Wales, as well as the digital marketing agency Ace Digital and ''The Weekly Advertiser'', a free ...

, and seek to acquire a further three narrowcast licences from Gumnut Nominees, covering Melbourne, Sydney and Darwin.

Programming

Networked programming is produced mostly from Crocmedia's 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 ...

. In Melbourne and Perth, the station simulcasts the final hour of ''Garry & Tim'' and the first two hours of ''Whateley'' from 1116 SEN. In New South Wales and Queensland, two local programs — ''Breakfast with Joel and Jimmy'' and ''Sportsday Central'' — are produced from studios in North Sydney.

Play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

coverage of Friday night

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

matches also air in these markets under the ''NRL Nation'' brand, while coverage of

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League, A-League Men, under ...

A-League matches are broadcast in Gosford.

Notable presenters

Gary Belcher Gary Belcher (born 28 May 1962) is an Australian rugby league football commentator and former player. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative, he played club football in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership f ...

(''Sportsday Central'') *

Joel Caine Joel Caine (born 18 September 1978) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s and works as a presenter for Sportsbet. Caine's position of choice was as a or on the . Rugby League career Ca ...

(''Breakfast'' in New South Wales) *

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 ...

(''Garry & Tim'') * Scott Sattler (''Sportsday Central'') * Jimmy Smith (''Breakfast'' in New South Wales) *

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 ...

(''Garry & Tim'') *

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 ...

(''Whateley'')

Transmitters

References

External links

* {{Navboxes, list1= {{National radio networks in Australia {{Melbourne radio {{Sydney radio {{Brisbane radio {{Gold Coast radio {{Perth radio Pacific Star Network Australian radio networks Radio stations in Melbourne Radio stations in Victoria Radio stations in Sydney Radio stations in New South Wales Radio stations in Brisbane Radio stations on the Gold Coast, Queensland Radio stations in Queensland Radio stations in Perth, Western Australia Sports radio stations in Australia Radio stations established in 2020