Alive 90.5 FM (formerly 2CCR) is a

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popula ...

station based in

Baulkham Hills Baulkham Hills is a suburb in the Hills District of Greater Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 30 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district within the local government area of The Hills Shire. Ba ...

in Sydney. The station broadcasts to the Hills District and parts of Greater Western Sydney. This includes the City of Parramatta, Cumberland City Council and

The Hills Shire The Hills Shire (from 1906–2008 as Baulkham Hills Shire) is a local government area in the Greater Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The suburb is north-west of the Sydney central business district, and encompasses stre ...

. The traditional custodians of this land are the Bidjigal people, a clan of the Darug nation.

About

Since 1992, Cumberland Community Radio has been broadcasting on 90.5 MHz FM. Originally branded on air as 'The Sound of Style' and later just '2CCR', the station has been known as Alive 90.5 since 4 November 2011. The mission of Alive is to serve its community by broadcasting a diverse range of programs, suited for all groups in the community. Alive 90.5 is a

volunteer Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

run organisation and is funded through listener support, grants and limited commercial sponsorship. The station airs a predominately

Adult Contemporary music Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

format on weekdays between 6am and 6pm local time with public access programs between 6pm and midnight on weekdays and various times on weekends. Overnight is a mix of Adult Contemporary and

Oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as ...

. Occasionally live sports commentary will replace weeknight programming and weekend programming. The current chairperson of Cumberland Community Radio is Andsley Dennis

History

In the 1980s, Cumberland Community Radio was formed from the amalgamation of two groups attempting to set up community radio stations. One group in the Hills and the other in the Parramatta/ Holroyd region. Between 1987 and 1989, the organisation begun test broadcasts. In 1988,

Baulkham Hills Shire Council The Hills Shire (from 1906–2008 as Baulkham Hills Shire) is a local government area in the Greater Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The suburb is north-west of the Sydney central business district, and encompasses stretchi ...

allocated Building 9 in the Balcombe Heights Estate to the organisation, the station has remained in this location since. In October 1992, the organisation was granted a community radio licence and on 12 December 1992 begun broadcasting on 90.5 FM. From April 2009, Alive 90.5 commenced streaming of its programs live, over the internet. This allows people outside the community area served to enjoy the variety of programming which Alive 90.5 offers. There are two internet streams: 128 kbit/s Joint Sterero MP3 and 64kbit/s stereo AAC, to support a variety of listening client programs. The broadcast area originally served by Alive 90.5 included the City of Holroyd. In late 2017, Alive 90.5 updated their logo and broadcast area to include the newly formed Cumberland Council. The new council was formed in May 2016 from the merger of City of Holroyd with its neighbours. Alive 90.5 reached its 25th anniversary on 12 December 2017.

Current programming

The station's current programs cover a wide range of music styles including

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

and

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 ...

. Alive 90.5 also broadcasts programs that are presented by special interest groups representing interests in Australian music, sport and broadcast in languages other than English. Interview style programs are also included during the day in the week. Examples of these programs include: * ''Rajesh Batra'' *''Hit Mix'' * ''The Australian Spectrum Show'' * ''Sunday Sports Roundup'' *''Business Insights'' *''Pick 'n' Mix'' *''The HDD Show''

Recognition

On 26 January 1995, 2CCR was awarded an

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port ...

award for 'Outstanding Community Service'. In January 2017,

Planet Country with Big Stu & MJ Planet Country is a country music radio and video program based in Sydney, Australia and presented by Big Stu and MJ. The program airs a country music format focusing on modern, crossover country. The radio show aired live on SWR Triple 9, broadc ...

, won a people's choice award at the

Tamworth Country Music Festival The Tamworth Country Music Festival is an annual Australian music festival held for 10 days from Friday to Sunday in mid to late January each year, sometimes including Australia Day, in Tamworth, New South Wales. The festival is the second bigg ...

. The award was for Most Popular Country Music Station or Program. Planet Country had been finalists in 2016 and 2018 as well. In November 2018, Alive 90.5 program ''Sunday Sports Roundup'' were announced as winners of the 'Troy Garner Excellence in Sports Programming' award in the 2018

CBAA The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) is the peak body and the national representative organisation for community radio and television stations in Australia. The CBAA provide leadership, advocacy and support for members to ac ...

Awards, held 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 ...

. In August 2019, Alive 90.5 continued their recognition at the

Awards with two finalists announced. Former board member Matthew Brokenbrough, was announced as a finalist for in the 'Excellence in Technical Services' category whilst program Mediterranean Mix was a finalist in the 'Best Radio Program: Music' category. The awards will be held in Melbourne in October 2019. In 2020 Alive 90.5 were again recognised in the

Awards with 5 finalists announced. In 2021 Darryn Capes-Davis was a finalist in the

Community Radio Volunteer of the Year - People's Choice Award. In 2021 Alive 90.5 FM returned to the winners circle in the

Awards with the station winning the Outstanding Small Station Award and Darryn Capes-Davis winning the Outstanding Volunteer Contribution Award. , - , 1995 , , 2CCR - Station , , Outstanding Community Service , , , - , 2016 , , Planet Country (Program) , , Australian Country Music People's Choice: Favourite Radio Program/Station , , , - , 2016 , , Planet Country , , Australian Country Music People's Choice: Favourite Radio Presenters , , , - , 2017 , , Planet Country, , Australian Country Music People's Choice: Favourite Radio Program/Station , , , - , 2017 , , Planet Country , , Australian Country Music People's Choice: Favourite Radio Presenters , , , - , 2018 , , Planet Country , , Australian Country Music People's Choice: Favourite Radio Program/Station , , , - , 2018 , , Planet Country , , Australian Country Music People's Choice: Favourite Radio Presenters , , , - , 2018 , , Sunday Sports Roundup (Program) , ,

Award for Excellence in Sports Programming , , , - , 2019 , , Mediterranean Mix (Program) , ,

Award for Best Radio Program: Music , , , - , 2019 , , Matthew Brokenbrough (board member) , ,

Award for Excellence in Technical Services , , , - , 2020 , , COVID-19 Remote Broadcasting , ,

Award for Excellence in Technical Innovation , , , - , 2020 , , Darryn Capes-Davis , ,

Award for Excellence in Technical Services , , , - , 2020 , , The Vividha Dance Series (Divya Saxena) , ,

Award for Best Online Content , , , - , 2020 , , Australian Spectrum Show (Ross M Fear) , ,

Award for Best Online Content , , , - , 2020 , , Sunday Sports Roundup (Tony Salerno Executive Producer) , ,

Troy Garner Excellence in Sports Programming , , , - , 2021 , , Darryn Capes-Davis , ,

Community Radio Volunteer of the Year - People's Choice Award , , , - , 2021 , , Alive 90.5 FM - Station , , Local Business Awards Sydney Hills - Specialised Business , , , - , 2021 , , Alive 90.5 FM - Station , ,

Award for Outstanding Small Station , , , - , 2021 , , Darryn Capes-Davis , ,

Award for Outstanding Volunteer Contribution , ,

Former presenters and programming

Tim Wong See

Tim Wong See was a former presenter and board member with Alive 90.5 before moving to

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 ...

to work as an announcer on Nova 106.9. Before joining Alive 90.5, Wong-See made news for operating his own pirate radio station from his home. He now works for

ABC Sunshine Coast ABC Sunshine Coast is an ABC Local Radio station based in Maroochydore. The station broadcasts to the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Sunshine Coast region of Queensland. This includes the towns of Nambour, Queensland, Nambour, Caloundra, Noosa an ...

as a morning show producer after briefly working with

ABC Gold Coast ABC Gold Coast (ACMA callsign: 4ABCRR) is an ABC Local Radio station. Based in the suburb of Mermaid Beach, the station broadcasts to the Gold Coast and surrounding hinterland in Queensland, covering as far south as Byron Bay in New South Wales ...

and SBS.

Planet Country

Alive 90.5 was originally home to country music program

. During its time on Alive 90.5, the program was finalists in and won a People's Choice Award (see Recognition). The program moved to SWR Triple 9 in 2018 to accommodate MJ's study schedule at the Australian Film Television Radio School. Both continued as members of Alive 90.5 and Big Stu briefly presented a spin-off program in the original time slot called ''Country Universe''. MJ has since moved into commercial radio.

MJ

Matthew Brokenbrough, known on air as 'MJ' was former Alive 90.5 presenter and board member. A graduate of AFTRS, MJ has moved into

commercial radio Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship. It was the United States′ first model of radio (a ...

. Starting out as the Breakfast Announcer on 93.5 Eagle FM in

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

, he then was a commercial producer at Canberra's

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 ...

and

2CA 2CA is an Australian commercial radio station on the AM band serving Canberra. It is jointly owned by the Capital Radio Network and Grant Broadcasters. The station broadcasts on AM Stereo 1053 kHz and on DAB. 2CA was Canberra's first radi ...

and remotely announcing on Eagle FM and

Snow FM 97.7 Snow FM (call sign: 2SKI) is a commercial radio station in New South Wales, covering the areas of Cooma, Jindabyne, Thredbo, Perisher and Charlotte Pass. The station broadcasts on multiple frequencies to reach the townships within the Sn ...

. Following Canberra, MJ moved to

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 ...

96.5 Wave FM 96.5 Wave FM (call sign 2UUL) is a commercial radio station broadcasting on the FM band to the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It is owned by ARN after ARN's purchase of the Grant Broadcasters radio network. 96.5 Wave FM compet ...

where he is currently the Workday Announcer & Operations Manager. At Alive 90.5, MJ coordinated the move to new playout software including training presenters and programming requirements. This earned him a nomination in the 2019

Awards in the 'Excellence in Technical Services' category. MJ also designed and built a new station website.

Notable Past Announcers

Former presenters who have gone on to work professionally in radio include: * Matthew 'MJ' Brokenbrough, currently the Workday Announcer on

. * Brooke Taylor, Drive Producer for CADA. * Tim Wong See, Producer from

* Scott Frappel, Traffic Reporter for Australian Traffic Network. * Dan Jones, ''formerly an Announcer with i98'' *James Preston, ''formerly the Workday Announcer for

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 ...

(

Port Macquarie Port Macquarie is a coastal town in the local government area of Port Macquarie-Hastings. It is located on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. The town is located on the Tasman Sea c ...

)'' * Mitchell Farrugia, Fox Sports

Association and Membership

Alive 90.5 is run by Cumberland Community Radio Inc. and governed by its constitution. In 2021 Alive 90.5 introduced Perkbox as a benefit to members. This allows discounts to many businesses including grocery, electrical and homeware stores, as well as other benefits which are known as Perks. From 2020 members have been able to join and renew online.

Board

The board of Alive 90.5 consists of chair, deputy chair, treasurer, secretary and 5 general members of the board. Board as of November 2022 * Andsley Dennis (Chair) * Rayjeana Pringle (Deputy chair) * Julie Jordan (Secretary) * Pami Rajapkse (Treasurer) * Roy Padlan * Kirsten Groll * Karenza De Leon * Andrew Nowak

Funding

Alive 90.5 is funded from three main sources: membership fees, air fees, partnership/sponsorship income. Alive 90.5 has 15 or more active partners at any one time including local business and sports teams. Partnership levels are divided into 3 main levels (Grow, Explore, Establish) and 3 sub levels (Tactical, Strategic, Visionary), providing for partnership durations from 3 months through to 12 months.

References

{{Coord, 33.775477, S, 150.934257, E, display=title Radio stations in Sydney Radio stations established in 1992 Community radio stations in Australia