TRFM (Callsign: 3TFM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting from

Traralgon Traralgon ( ) is a town located in the east of the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia and the most populous city of the City of Latrobe. The urban population of Traralgon at the was 26,907. It is the largest and fastes ...

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 ...

, Australia. It is currently owned by

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 ...

& broadcasts A Contemporary Hits Radio (CHR) format. It features both locally produced content & nationally syndicated content from both

NOVA Entertainment NOVA Entertainment is an Australian entertainment company that operates commercial radio networks (and associated digital brands) in metropolitan and regional areas of Australia. NOVA Entertainment is owned by Lachlan Murdoch's Illyria Pty Lt ...

Grant Broadcasters Grant Broadcasters is an Australian regional radio network. Founded in 1942, by 2019 it owned 53 radio stations. In 2022 it sold 46 to Here, There & Everywhere retaining shareholdings in seven in Canberra, Geelong, Goulburn and Perth. History ...

. They have a repeater on Mount Taylor, near

Bairnsdale Bairnsdale () ( Ganai: ''Wy-yung'') is a city in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia in a region traditionally owned by the Tatungalung clan of the Gunaikurnai people. The estimated population of Bairnsdale urban area was 15,411 at Ju ...

, to better cover

East Gippsland East Gippsland is the eastern region of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia covering 31,740 square kilometres (14%) of Victoria. It has a population of 80,114. Australian Bureau of Statistics2006 Census Community Profile Series: East Gippsland (St ...

History

The station began life in

Trafalgar Trafalgar most often refers to: * Battle of Trafalgar (1805), fought near Cape Trafalgar, Spain * Trafalgar Square, a public space and tourist attraction in London, England It may also refer to: Music * ''Trafalgar'' (album), by the Bee Gees Pl ...

as 3TR, being an abbreviation for 3 Trafalgar Radio. It has since moved studio locations several times and has been based in Trafalgar, Sale, and

. The station was founded by Frank Berkery, and later from 1934 to 1938 was owned by Archibald Gilchrist. The original 3TR studios in Sale are now used by

ABC Gippsland ABC Gippsland (call sign: 3GLR) is an ABC Local Radio station in Gippsland, Victoria. The station is based in Sale and covers from Warragul, through to Mallacoota. Amber Irving-Guthrie hosts the Breakfast program, Alice Walker presents Morning ...

. These studios were officially opened by then Prime Minister Robert Menzies on Saturday 29 April 1939 and the program was then relayed across the Victorian Broadcast Network (made up of 3SH and 3HA at the time) to which it then belonged. For the most of the station's life it operated on the AM band, most recently at 1242 kHz. On Friday 26 April 2002 at midday the station officially became 3TR FM. For the previous week it was simulcasting on both AM and FM after test transmissions. Also at midday, sister station 3GV (now known as

Gold 1242 Gippsland's GOLD 1242 & GOLD FM 98.3 (call sign: 3GV) is an Australian radio station operating west of Traralgon, Victoria. It is owned by Ace Radio and shares studios with sister station TRFM, formerly 3TR and 3TRFM. The station broadcasts on th ...

) commenced on 1242 kHz. In other markets where Ace Radio have set up supplementary FM stations they have launched a new FM station (generally under the Mixx FM brand) and kept the existing AM station broadcasting as usual with its existing name. However it was decided to transfer the 3TR brand name to FM in an attempt to retain 3TR's existing listener base and instead start a new station on 1242 kHz. Also the format of 1242 3TR in the years prior to the transfer to FM was very similar to the format 3TR FM carried making more sense to keep the 3TR brand name on the new FM station. In September 2008 the station dropped the "3" from its name and is now known as TRFM.

References

External links

*
Ace Radio website
Ace Radio Contemporary hit radio stations in Australia Radio stations established in 1939 Radio stations in Victoria {{Australia-radio-station-stub