Melbourne Talk Radio (callsign 3MP) was a radio 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 in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

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 station's transmitter is located in the suburb of

Rowville Rowville is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 27 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Knox local government area. Rowville recorded a population of 33,571 at the 2021 census. Rowv ...

and broadcasts at 5 kW.

History

In December 2009, existing operator Pacific Star Network and Macquarie Radio Network, the owner of top rating

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 Mounta ...

talkback radio station

2GB 2GB is a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia owned by parent company Nine Radio, a division of Nine Entertainment Co., who also own sister station 2UE. 2GB broadcasts on 873 kHz, AM. In 2010, 2GB held 14.7% of the total radio ra ...

, agreed to create the joint-venture "Melbourne Radio Operations Pty Ltd", to supply radio programming in the Melbourne market. In April 2010, the two signed an interim agreement to launch

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

talkback station MTR 1377—replacing 3MP on AM radio—to compete against incumbent

3AW 3AW is a talkback radio station based in Melbourne. It broadcasts on 693 kHz AM. It began transmission on 22 February 1932 as Melbourne's fifth commercial radio station. The station is owned and operated by Nine Entertainment Co. Hist ...

. At the station's launch on 7 April 2010, breakfast presenter and Program Director Steve Price promised the station would be "in your face, controversial, opinionated". Despite or because of this promise, the station failed to attract a stable audience, from its Station Identity Letters becoming universality referred to as "Men Talking Rubbish" The station's office was in Swan Street,

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...

, in the same location as its sister station, sports-focused SEN. After ceasing operations, its management claimed it had had little chance of succeeding due to operations being hampered by the station having a low bandwidth and therefore its signal not being able to be received by those living in the outer suburbs of Melbourne. The true reason though for MTR's failure was that its founders had overestimated the potential audience number for its station.

Closure

In November 2011, MTR was threatened with closure due to several issues, both ratings and legally related. The station's ratings were much lower than anticipated and litigation is underway relating to program syndication from Sydney's 2GB. Russell Tate, CEO of Macquarie Radio Network which half owns the station, wanted the station to have a cheaper management and staff structure. The station lost $6.2 million in the first twelve months of operation. In February 2012 Macquarie Radio Network began legal action against Pacific Star after the board failed to approve a budget for the station. In March 2012, part owner, Macquarie Radio Network issued a notice of default to MTR and Pacific Star Network demanding full payment of all monies owing. The station was closed and placed into administration on Friday 2 March at 5pm. The original station that moved to digital only as ''3MP MyMP'' when MTR began broadcasting, reoccupied the 1377 frequency.

Former Presenters

* Breakfast with Steve Price * Mornings with Steve Vizard * Afternoons with Chris Smith (∞) * Drive with Luke Grant * Money News with Ross Greenwood (∞) * Nights with Brian Wilshire (∞) * Australia Overnight with Michael McLaren (∞) * Wake Up Australia with Andrew Moore (Mon–Wed) & Luke Bona (Thurs & Fri) (∞) (∞) Aired also on

in Sydney. * Jim Ball * Martin King *

Glenn Ridge Glenn Daryl Ridge (born 21 November 1955 in Adelaide, South Australia) is an Australian television and radio presenter, and the owner and managing director of the Q Media Group, a production company making television specials and documentaries. ...

News

MTR 1377 broadcast 2GB's Macquarie National News from Sydney. The former Melbourne based newsroom was sacked in early December 2011 as part of a "cost-cutting" measure.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MTR 1377 Radio stations in Melbourne Defunct radio stations in Australia News and talk radio stations in Australia Radio stations established in 2010 Radio stations disestablished in 2012 Nine Radio 2010 establishments in Australia 2012 disestablishments in Australia