5MMM (identified on air and in print as Triple M) is a radio station broadcasting in

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 ...

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 ...

. Its target demographic is the 30-54 age group. Triple M Adelaide is part of

Southern Cross Austereo Southern Cross Media Group Limited, doing business as Southern Cross Austereo, is an Australian media company which operates broadcast radio and television stations. It is the largest radio broadcaster in Australia, operating 86 radio station ...

Triple M Network Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 40 radio stations broadcasting a mainstream rock music format and 5 digital radio stations. The network dates back to t ...

and broadcasts on the 104.7

MHz 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 one he ...

frequency. Triple M Adelaide has in the past simply networked the majority of its shows from its

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and

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 ...

counterpart stations, but since 2011 it has focussed more on local content.

History

5MMM had its origins as an AM radio station, commencing broadcasting as 5KA on 25 March 1927 on the frequency 1200

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 ...

. In 1941 the station and its repeater 5AU, along with interstate stations 2HD and 4AT, were closed by the Federal Government after allegations of

fifth column A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. According to Harris Mylonas and Scott Radnitz, "fifth columns" are “domestic actors who work to un ...

activities. These stations were associated with the

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

, which opposed participation in the War, and had other doctrines seen as un-patriotic. In 1943 5KA was reopened after purchase by the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

, and became attached to the Central Methodist Mission, largely organised by Reverend Samuel Forsyth. The station changed frequency to 1197 kHz in 1978, as part of the change in channel spacing from 10 to 9 kHz on the AM broadcast band. In 1982, 5KA adopted a

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, ...

format and re-branded itself 12K. The format lasted only 8 months. In 1983, Adelaide's number one breakfast duo 'Bazz & Pilko' defected from rival station 5AD, bringing much of their audience with them and giving 5KA a much needed ratings boost. Also in the mid 80's, 5KA converted to AM stereo and adopted a younger music format 'All hits all the time", resulting in even greater ratings success. In July 1986, 5KA was sold to Wesgo Limited and mid 1987 changed to a "hits and memories" format, followed in late 1987 by a move to brand new studios at 106 Currie Street in the Adelaide CBD. On 1 January 1990, 5KA became the first of two commercial AM radio stations in Adelaide to convert to the FM band. The station bid $5.5 million in a priced based allocation process the previous year for the FM licence. 5KA moved to the frequency 104.7

and the AM frequency was relinquished. With the FM conversion, the 5KA

call-sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a Identifier, unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be form ...

was changed to 5KKA and the station was branded on-air as KAFM. The AM frequency was re-purposed and allocated to a community broadcasting licence, 5RPH. The former transmission equipment which was co-located with competitor 5AD at the time was handed over to the operators contracted to provide transmission facilities to 5RPH, but the infrastructure was effectively abandoned. In August 1993, Hoyts Media which owned the

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 40 radio stations broadcasting a mainstream rock music format and 5 digital radio stations. The network dates back to th ...

radio network in the eastern states bought KAFM but could not adopt the Triple M call-sign in Adelaide as a community radio station already had the call-sign 5MMM. Hoyts then paid 5MMM for the right to use the Triple M name. The community station 5MMM then converted to 5DDD, and KAFM was then free to change its call-sign to 5MMM and adopt the Triple M network brand, which was launched on January 1, 1994 with a

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

format. With the merger of the Hoyts Triple M network into the Austereo Network, the station became a sister station to

SAFM SAFM (official callsign: 5SSA) is a commercial FM radio station owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo as part of the Hit Network. The station is broadcast to Adelaide, South Australia from studios in Franklin Street. History The stati ...

, and relocated to the ground floor of the building that was partly occupied by

in 1995. In 1996, the station adopted a classic rock format and as of 2014, it had reverted to an active rock format comparable to similar formats on MMM stations in the eastern states.

Digital radio

Since 27 September 2014, Triple M is simulcast on

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 Adelaide. During

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

's 2010 Australian tour, Triple M aired

High Voltage Radio High Voltage Radio (identified as Triple M's High Voltage Radio in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide and Mix 94.5's High Voltage Radio in Perth) was a pop up Digital Radio station broadcasting nationally in Australia while AC/DC were ...

, a "pop up" digital radio station that exclusively played AC/DC.Austereo Adds Fourth Digital Radio Band
- Perth Now, ''10 February 2010'' High Voltage stopped being aired at the conclusion of the tour on 15 March 2010.

References

External links

Triple M Adelaide Official Website
{{Adelaide Radio Radio stations in Adelaide Active rock radio stations in Australia Classic rock radio stations in Australia Radio stations established in 1927