4KQ is a commercial

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

Brisbane, Australia 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 ...

owned by Sports Entertainment Network (SEN).

History

Planning for the station began after a licence with the callsign 4KQ was granted in August 1946. It began broadcasting on 7 May 1947 on 650 kHz under the ownership of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

. The station was involved in number of controversies relating to this ownership. On 1 September 1948, the station changed to 690 kHz, although was marketed in the 1970s and 1980s as 4KQ 700. Originally transmitting with 1,000 watts at launch, approval was given to upgrade to 2000W in April 1954. In 1978 the station moved to 693 kHz. In 1980, Michael Edgley,

Col Joye Colin Frederick Jacobsen (born 13 April 1937), better known by his stage name Col Joye, is an Australian pioneer rock singer-songwriter, musician and entrepreneur with a career spanning some sixty years. Joye was the first Australian rock and ...

and Michael Willesee purchased a combined 48.5% shareholding. In 1986, 4KQ was purchased by Wesgo. 4KQ broadcasts from Brisbane suburb of Milton, after moving with its sister station 97.3 FM from Stones Corner in 2020. It presented a classic hits format of music from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, with some 1990s, aimed at listeners 40–54 years of age.

Sale to SEN and rebrand

Following its purchase of

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 ...

in November 2021, Here, There & Everywhere announced its intention to sell the station to comply with

Australian Communications & Media Authority The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is an Australian government statutory authority within the Communications portfolio. ACMA was formed on 1 July 2005 with the merger of the Australian Broadcasting Authority and the Aus ...

regulations that limit the number of radio stations an owner can have in one city. In May 2022,

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 ...

purchased the station. Following the sale, SEN announced a rebrand to 693 SENQ and a programming change to "constant sporting content" as "

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 ...

's only dedicated sports station". On 30 June 2022 the station's former format ended, ending the long running service of breakfast announcers Laurel Edwards (30 years), Gary Clare (31 years), and Mark Hine (16 years).

Programming

4KQ's main programming component was formerly

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980 ...

music. News Bulletins were also aired hourly weekdays, with an increased half-hourly frequency during the Breakfast programme. Traffic reports were also aired hourly, with an increased 15-minute frequency during the weekday Breakfast programme, and 20-minute frequency during the weekday Drive programme.

References

External links

*
Archived website for 4KQ prior to 2022 sale
{{Sports Entertainment Network Australian Radio Network Sports radio stations in Australia Radio stations established in 1947 Radio stations in Brisbane 1947 establishments in Australia