JOY 94.9 (official

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 unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally ass ...

3JOY), stylised as JOY or JOY 94.9, is a community radio station broadcasting at 94.9 FM in Melbourne. It is Australia's first and only

LGBTQI+ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...

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 popu ...

station. __TOC__

History

JOY 94.9, originally incorporated on 28 June 1993 as ''JOY Melbourne Independent Community Broadcasters Association'' began its first test transmission on 1 December 1993 (

World AIDS Day World AIDS Day, designated on 1 December every year since 1988, is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease. The acquired imm ...

). Transmission was on 90.7 MHz from 268A Coventry Street,

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 ...

, a total space 80sqm consisting of 1 broadcasting studio. The first words spoken on-air were broadcast by accident by founder John Oliver saying "Can I have a cup of coffee and then we’ll get going?" The first track to be played on-air was scheduled to be

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

's Celebration, but due to technical issues

Jimmy Barnes James Dixon "Jimmy" Barnes (née Swan; born 28 April 1956) is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best- ...

' Working Class Man was played first. JOY continued to broadcast via temporary test transmissions, mostly on a part-time basis sharing the 90.7 frequency with other community broadcasters. Beginning in 1995, JOY released an annual Electronic and remix compilation album which was a representation of the music broadcast on-air for listeners to purchase and listen to from home. The first compilation album released was called "The Strip – Pride and JOY". JOY's community involvement and representation has evolved over the years with the first outside live-cross occurring at the 1995

Midsumma Festival Midsumma Festival is an annual celebration of LGBTQIA+ arts and cultures, held annually for 22 days across January and February in Melbourne, Australia. The festival began as a one-week celebration of gay pride in 1989. The festival has expan ...

. This was cemented further with JOY's full outside broadcast in 1996 taking place from the window of "The Outlook" on Commercial Road, Prahran. This resulted in a continuous broadcast for a period of three weeks, 24 hours a day. JOY Melbourne Independent Community Broadcasters Association changed it name to JOY Melbourne Incorporated in 1996. In 1998 Paul Terdich was appointed as JOY Station Manager and oversaw the stations initial growth and later the stations successful application for a full-time licence. JOY initially shared the 90.7FM frequency with Muslim radio (and Kool 'n' Deadly Aboriginal radio) so listeners could wake up one morning with disco divas and the next be called to Islamic prayer. The last test broadcast as an aspirant broadcaster on 90.7fm was on the 28th August 2001. Out of the approximately 20 aspirant community radio licensees in Melbourne, JOY Melbourne was one of only four to be granted a full-time broadcasting licence in 2001 (the other broadcasters were SYN FM,

Light FM 89.9 TheLight (call sign 3TSC) is a Christian community radio station in Melbourne, Australia attracting more than a million listeners per month. It broadcasts on the FM band with the frequency of 89.9, on DAB+ digital radio and streams onlin ...

and

3KND 3KND is a community radio station which represents the Indigenous communities within Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 3KND broadcasts in Melbourne at 1503 on the AM radio band and also streams on the internet. By late 2006, 3KND had t ...

). In its application to the Australian broadcasting regulator ( Australian Broadcasting Authority) JOY had applied for a community licence in both the Melbourne-Wide and lesser coverage Melbourne City coverage areas. However JOY Melbourne was successful in the Melbourne City licence area where it succeeded against one competing applicant then known as

CityFM CityFM is a former temporary broadcasting station 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 ...

''(Refer to ACMA licence report for official licence allocations report)''. JOY Melbourne commenced full-time broadcasting on its permanent licence in January 2002 on its current frequency of 94.9 MHz. The station also increased its broadcasting space to 120sqm to include 2 broadcasting studios. 2002 saw JOY receive a grant from the

Foundation for Young Australians The Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) is an Australian non-profit organisation whose purpose is to back young people with the trust, resources, skills, and connections to make change. The organisation's vision is that young people have the ...

to train same-sex attracted youth in radio which saw more than 70 young people pass through the FYA program. 2004 saw JOY Melbourne Inc. become the largest gay and lesbian community member-based organisation in Australia, with the stations full time license renewed in 2006. In 2007 Stephen Hahn is appointed as JOY CEO Station Manager and overseas the planning to move JOY from the South Melbourne location of 14 years to Bourke Street, Melbourne as part of the

City of Melbourne The City of Melbourne is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. In 2018, the city has an area of and had a population of 169,961. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. The c ...

's "City Village" initiative. In July 2008, after 14 years above a hardware store at 268 Coventry Street, South Melbourne, JOY 94.9 relocated to Level 9, 225

Bourke Street Bourke Street is one of the main streets in the Melbourne central business district and a core feature of the Hoddle Grid. It was traditionally the entertainment hub of inner-city Melbourne, and is now also a popular tourist destination and ...

, Melbourne. Long-time presenter o
Allegro Non Troppo
CBAA and JOY Board Member and JOY Melbourne Inc. Life Member Addam Stobbs dies on 16 June 2010. In June 2011, the JOY 94.9 App is released via the iTunes Store allowing people all around the world to take JOY with them. In December 2019 it was announced that JOY 94.9 would move from its Melbourne CBD Location to the new Victorian Pride Centre, with the Andrews state government providing $800,000 over 4 years to assist with the move. It is expected that JOY will begin relocating in 2021.

Outside Broadcasts & Special Events

JOY 94.9 has hosted a range of special event outside broadcast events and general special events since 1996. This has included co-broadcasting from inside the barricades at the 30th Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras in conjunction with Sydney station

2SER 2SER is a community radio station in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, broadcasting on the frequency 107.3 FM and is a member of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia. The station is largely self-supporting, relying upon revenue ...

. JOY hosted the first same-sex on-air wedding on 1 November 2019 as part of an on-air competition.

Incidents

Bomb Threat

The JOY studios were evacuated on Tuesday 20 September 2016 due to an alleged bomb threat, with the station's programming put on auto-play to allow a thorough investigation.

Work Environment Complaints, Bullying Allegations & Presenters Forced to Leave

In 2018 a letter was sent to JOY members in March, signed by 28 members, calling for the radio station's board of directors to be sacked and replaced with a temporary board. Those behind the push listed their grievances against the current board including a lack of action, an exodus of on-air staff and volunteers and a disconnect with the LGBTI communities.

Programming

JOY 94.9 is the first radio station in Australia dedicated to offering programming produced by and aimed specifically at the gay, lesbian & bisexual communities. Programs on JOY incorporate a mix of talkback, music and specialist culture and lifestyle programs, including announcements promoting community events, counselling and support services and key networks supporting the gay and lesbian community. JOY 94.9 also operates a news service covering mainstream news events and issues as well those mainly concerning the gay and lesbian community and its long-running current affairs flagship, Saturday Magazine, continues to broadcast on Saturdays. The station is staffed by over 250 volunteers. JOY 94.9 utilises online streaming audio to reach the gay and lesbian audience in the rest of Melbourne and the world. All JOY 94.9 presenters perform their roles in voluntary capacities.

Music

JOY plays a wide array of music, with variations including

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

, women's music,

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to ...

, euro-house,

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric p ...

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, ...

Soft Rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...

, and Pop,

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

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 ...

, classical,

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

independent music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music or simply indie) is music that is produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording a ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

, folk,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

, hardcore metal, industrial,

retro Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from history, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. In popular culture, the "nostalgia cycle" is typically for the two decades that begin 20–30 ...

, brit pop, R&B, Hip Hop,

Soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...

Remixes A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

and more.

Specialist Programming

Supplementing this day-time content is predominantly chat-based specialist programming broadcast from 7 pm to midnight each week day. Weekend specialist programming includes current affairs and lifestyle programming and many more varied examples in th
programming schedule
The JOY schedule is updated every 4 months by the JOY program director and programming committee. Many shows remain on the schedule, but new shows are only added when the schedule is updated.

News

JOY runs a news roster covering weekdays and weekends in the morning, noon, and drive. Many newsreaders have found employment in the commercial industry, such as Nathan Gardiner who is now a newsreader at

Gold 104.3 Gold 104.3 (call sign: 3KKZ) is a radio station broadcasting in Melbourne, Australia. Gold 104.3 is part of the Pure Gold Network (which itself is a part of the Australian Radio Network) and broadcasts on the 104.3 MHz frequency. History 3KZ ...

, and Anthony Laughton who was employed by

Nova 100 Nova 100 (call sign: 3MEL) is a commercial radio station in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, broadcasting on 100.3 MHz. The station is owned by NOVA Entertainment along with sister station, smoothfm 91.5. History Nova 100 commenced on th ...

/ Classic Rock 91.5 and

MTR 1377 Melbourne Talk Radio (callsign 3MP) was a radio station in Melbourne that commenced broadcasting on 19 April 2010 until its closure on 2 March 2012. It replaced, and was later succeeded by, 3MP, which used the 1377 kHz frequency. The stat ...

. JOY Newsreaders are volunteers.

Q-mmunity Network News

QNN
is a news feed produced on a weekly basis and is syndicated to several

stations across Australia.

Awards and honours

Since JOY 94.9's inception varying shows, personalities and events have gained interest, honours and awards for their excellence in broadcasting and representation of the LGBTQI Community.

Community Broadcasting Association Australia Awards

GLOBE Community Awards

The GLOBE Community Awards celebrates achievement in Victoria's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex communities, highlighting the work of a diverse range of organisations and individuals that benefit and unite the Victorian LGBTIQ community. * 2020 Finalists: ** Preventing social isolation in LGBTIQ communities: Kerrie & Dolly ** Outstanding LGBTIQ media reporting: The Informer Daily ** Outstanding LGBTIQ media reporting: Dean Arcuri (Community Darling: Kerrie & Dolly) ** LGBTIQ Artist of the year: Dean Arcuri * 2018 - Media Excellence award winner - Chicks Talking Footy * 2015 - Connecting Our Community Winner

ALSO Foundation Awards

2008 * Most Outstanding Media award

Other Awards

* 1997 – Melbourne Rainbow Media Award * 1996 – Melbourne Rainbow Media Award * 1992 – Pride Young Achievers Award

References

External links

Official siteAustralian Broadcasting Authority Licence Allocation Report December 2001
{{LGBT in Australia LGBT-related radio stations Radio stations in Melbourne Community radio stations in Australia LGBT-related mass media in Australia LGBT culture in Melbourne 1990s LGBT-related mass media Radio stations established in 1993 1993 establishments in Australia