1116 SEN (call sign

3AK 3AK is the call sign of SEN 1116, an earlier the on-air name of a former Melbourne talk-back radio and music station, which, in 2003, leased its licence to sports network SEN 1116. A number of unusual events and precedents throughout the stati ...

) is an Australian radio station in

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 ...

. Owned and operated by Pacific Star Network, it broadcasts a

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on ...

format from Lower Plenty to Greater

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 met ...

. First broadcast on 29 November 1931 as 3AK, the station currently broadcasts from studios in

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 ...

History

The station first broadcast on 29 November 1931 as 3AK. In October 2003, amid growing debt and struggling ratings, 3AK operators Data & Commerce Limited placed the station up for sale. In November, owners Data & Commerce Limited entered into a lease with the newly formed Sports Entertainment Network to create SEN 1116, a 24-hour

station. Headed by managing director Danny Staffieri, formerly of

FIVEaa FIVEaa (pronounced ''Five Double A'') is Adelaide's only commercial talkback radio station. The station has a range of programs including news, sports, current affairs, social issues, football calls, gardening, lifestyle, cars, travel and heal ...

, the new station was promoted as 'entertaining radio with a sports focus', and would rival horse racing station Sport 927. On 19 January 2004, SEN 1116 launched onto Melbourne's airwaves, with former AFL footballers

Garry Lyon Garry Peter Lyon (born 13 September 1967) is a former professional Australian rules football player and was captain of the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Since his retirement from football, he has been mainly ...

Tim Watson Timothy Michael Watson (born 13 July 1961) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). After retiring from the game, he has continued working in the Australian footb ...

and

Billy Brownless Anthony William Brownless (born 28 January 1967) is a former Australian rules footballer and radio and television media personality who represented in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the 1980s and 1990s. Early life Brownless was ...

heading the station's "Morning Glory" breakfast show, Richmond Football Club premiership player Kevin Bartlett in mornings, ABC Radio National's

Francis Leach Francis Leach (born 1968) is an Australian radio announcer, sports editor and journalist. Career Leach began his career at Triple J in the early 1990s hosting the ''Three Hours of Power'' show, the weekly late night heavy metal show. Later on he ...

in afternoons, and

Dermott Brereton Dermott Hugh Brereton (born 19 August 1964) is an Australian former professional Australian rules football player in the Australian Football League (AFL) who is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation. Of Irish descent (his p ...

and Anthony Hudson in drive. In the year's first radio ratings survey, the station jumped from reaching 1.2% of the Melbourne radio market as 3AK, to 2.1% as SEN, growing to 2.8% in the year's fourth survey despite the lack of coverage of any major sports. However, in July, the station secured broadcast rights to the 2004 Summer Olympics, alongside 2GB,

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 ...

, 6iX, HO-FM and Hot 100, among others. SEN also carried coverage of the

2004 NRL Grand Final The 2004 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2004 NRL season. It was contested by the Sydney Roosters, who had finished the regular season in 1st place, and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, who had finished ...

from 2GB, and the

2004–05 FA Premier League The 2004–05 FA Premier League (known as the FA Barclays Premiership for sponsorship reasons) began on 14 August 2004 and ended on 15 May 2005. Arsenal were the defending champions after going unbeaten the previous season. Chelsea won the t ...

from BBC Radio 5 Live. In December 2004, the SEN brand was revealed to be expanded into

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, with Sports Entertainment Network leasing news talk

5DN Cruise 1323 (call sign: 5DN) is one of Adelaide's longest running radio stations. In its 80+ years it has changed considerably. It was the first commercial station to begin broadcasting in South Australia. History Radio 5DN began operating ...

from Australian Radio Network to create SEN 1323. Launching on 1 February 2005, the station became a simulcast of its Melbourne sister station, with only one Adelaide-based programme - "The Boys Next Door", hosted by former FIVEaa presenter

Mark Aiston Mark Aiston is an Australian sports journalist and sports presenter. Aiston is currently a breakfast radio presenter on FIVEaa. He was previously a sport presenter on ''Ten Eyewitness News'' and breakfast radio presenter on Mix 102.3. Career Ai ...

, The Sunday Footy Show panelist

Mark Bickley Mark Alan Bickley (born 4 August 1969) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Bickley was a player for the Crows from 1991 until 2003, captaining the team to bo ...

and Port Adelaide Football Club ruckman

Matthew Primus Matthew Richard Primus (born 12 January 1975) is a former coach of the Port Adelaide Football Club and Australian rules footballer, captain and All-Australian ruckman. He was also previously an assistant coach at the Gold Coast Football Club. ...

. However, while the station remained flat in Melbourne, ratings dwindled in Adelaide; despite gaining coverage of the New Zealand cricket tour of Australia and the

2005 VFL season The 2005 Victorian Football League season was the 124th season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Sandringham Football Club, after it defeated Werribee in the Grand Final on 18 September by nine points; ...

, Sports Entertainment Network entered

voluntary administration As a legal concept, administration is a procedure under the insolvency laws of a number of common law jurisdictions, similar to bankruptcy in the United States. It functions as a rescue mechanism for insolvent entities and allows them to carry o ...

, citing $3.5 million in losses. The SEN 1323 lease was cancelled, resulting in ARN launching

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 ...

-format

Cruise 1323 Cruise 1323 (call sign: 5DN) is one of Adelaide's longest running radio stations. In its 80+ years it has changed considerably. It was the first commercial station to begin broadcasting in South Australia. History Radio 5DN began operating ...

. The Melbourne station was sold back to Pacific Star Network, the renamed Data & Commerce Limited.

2010s

In July 2015, the newsroom shared between SEN and sister station 3MP 1377 was closed, replaced with the Victorian news service from

Macquarie National News Nine News is a radio news service providing the half-hourly radio news bulletins to radio stations across Australia. History On 16 September 2009, Macquarie Radio Network shut down its news website, livenews.com.au after two years of existence, ...

, based at

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 ...

. In November 2015, it was announced that

would depart ABC Grandstand Digital following the axing of the ''Grandstand Breakfast'' programme, and will again join SEN, hosting ''SEN Breakfast'' alongside David "The Ox" Schwarz to replace ''The Morning Glory''. Current co-host Andy Maher will move to afternoons, launching ''SEN Lunch Break'', moving

Daniel Harford Daniel Harford (born 19 March 1977) is the senior coach of the Carlton Football Club in the AFL Women's league and a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club and Carlton Football Club in the Australian Footb ...

into drive with Mark Allen.

Andrew Gaze Andrew Barry Casson Gaze (born 24 July 1965) is an Australian former professional basketball player and coach. He played 22 seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL) with the Melbourne Tigers from 1984 to 2005, winning the league's MVP a ...

and

, while losing regular timeslots, would remain with the station as a contributor. In January 2018, the station's schedule was again refreshed. Former ABC commentator

Gerard Whateley Gerard Whateley is a Melbourne-based sports broadcaster and writer. Since January 2018 he has been chief sports caller and host of the ''Whateley'' program on the sports radio station SEN1116. He is also co-host of Fox Footy's ''AFL 360'' program ...

joined the station as chief sports caller and mornings presenter, with Kevin Bartlett moving to the drive show following the departure of Harford. In April 2018, parent company Pacific Star Network merged with sports media business Crocmedia, most notable for producing the AFL Nation broadcast call heard across regional Australia. In July 2019, SEN has partnered with Crocmedia has purchased 23 narrowband radio licences across Australia including Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Gold Coast, Darwin and Alice Springs.

Notable announcers

Current announcers

*Andrew Hayes * Andy Maher * Anthony Hudson * Ben Graham * Cam Luke * David King *

Dwayne Russell Shane John Russell (born 4 March 1965) known as Dwayne Russell is a former professional Australian rules footballer and currently a commentator of the sport. Born in Adelaide, Russell made his senior football debut as a sixteen-year-old in 19 ...

*Kane Cornes *Kym Dillon *Liam Pickering *Michelangelo Rucci *Nathan Buckley *Peter Vlahos *Sam Edmund *Tim Gossage *

Former announcers

*Brad Spicer *Bruce Eva *Bryan Martin *Christian Argenti *

*Darren Berry *Darren Parkin *David Schwarz (footballer), David Schwarz *

*Jack Heverin *Jason Richardson *John Rothfield *Hamish McLachlan * Kevin Bartlett *

*Mark Doran *Mark Fine *

*Matthew Hardy *Mark Allen (presenter), Mark Allen *Sam McClure *Terry Wallace *Tony Schibeci *Tristan Foenander

Sports coverage

SEN has exclusive and non-exclusive rights to various sports in Australia: Australian rules football *Australian Football League *Victorian Football League Basketball *National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League Cricket *Australian cricket team in the United Arab Emirates in 2018–19 *Big Bash League *Indian cricket team in Australia in 2018–19 *2019 Cricket World Cup Football *A-League Golf *Australian Open (golf), Australian Open *Masters Tournament, U.S. Masters Tournament Horse racing *Spring Racing Carnival *Melbourne Cup *Zipping Classic Rugby League *State of Origin series, State of Origin Rugby Union *Super Rugby Tennis *Australian Open

Related stations

SEN SA

On 13 October 2018, SEN parent company Pacific Star Network confirmed it had purchased an AM narrowband licence in Adelaide, South Australia, returning the SEN brand to South Australia. The station launched on 1629 AM on 6 December 2018, with local presenters Kane Cornes, Andrew Hayes, Kym Dillon and Michelangelo Rucci. Other programs, including

's morning show and live sports coverage, will be syndicated live from the Melbourne station. On 9 September 2019, ''SEN SA Breakfast'' commenced simulcasting on Radio TAB, RadioTAB's 1539AM Adelaide frequency. On 2 December, a second South Australian frequency was launched – also on 1629 AM – covering Mount Gambier, South Australia, Mount Gambier.

SEN Track

SEN Track is a radio network broadcasting coverage of horse racing, horse, thoroughbred racing, thoroughbred and greyhound racing, which launched on 28 March 2020.

1170 SEN

1170 SEN Official Callsign 2CH is a Sports Radio Station in Sydney, New South Wales.

SEN Top End

On the 17th October 2021 SEN Top End launched on 1611 AM Narrowcast broadcasting coverage of the Northern Territory Football League, horse racing, horse, thoroughbred racing, thoroughbred and greyhound racing.

SEN Hobart

On 7 July 2021 SEN Hobart launched on 1611 AM Narrowcast providing coverage of several local and national sports such as Cricket, AFL, horse racing, horse, thoroughbred racing, thoroughbred and greyhound racing.

SEN Gold Coast

On the 3rd March 2021 SEN Gold Coast launched on 1620 AM Narrowcast providing coverage of several local and national sports such as Cricket, AFL, horse racing, horse, thoroughbred racing, thoroughbred and greyhound racing.

Former stations

SEN 1323

SEN 1323 was launched on 1 February 2005 in Adelaide, replacing 5DN. It largely simulcast 1116 SEN, with a single opt-out program for the Adelaide market. The station closed following parent company Data & Commerce Limited entering voluntary administration in June 2005.

SEN+

SEN+ commenced broadcasting on 13 August 2018, replacing 3MP, Classic Rock Radio. The station broadcast live coverage of the National Football League, NFL, National Basketball Association, NBA, A-League and Super Rugby as well as live and timeshifted programming from the main SEN station. On 28 March 2020, it was replaced by SEN Track.

Notable programs

Former

*''No Man Should Ever Walk Alone'', a Monday night hour-long show hosted by Danny Frawley on men's health, including mental health (a cause he championed after opening up about his own struggles), addiction and lifestyle. Frawley hosted the show until his death in 2019.

Podcasts

The station also has produced some podcasts, including: *''Tiger Tragics'', a Richmond Football Club, Richmond-centric podcast hosted by SEN fill-in and weekend host and Melbourne Cricket Ground, MCG public address announcer Tony Schibeci and SEN producer's Mitchell Scott and Karl Bianco. *''The Carlton Show'', a Carlton Football Club, Carlton-centric podcast co-hosted by Maher. *''The Geelong Show'', a Geelong Football Club, Geelong-centric podcast co-hosted by Ben Casanelia of ''Inside Football'', SEN's AFL magazine. *''SEN America'', covering American sports leagues such as the NBA.

References

External links

1116 SEN websitePacific Star Network website
{{Navboxes, list1= {{National radio networks in Australia {{Melbourne radio {{Adelaide radio 1116 SEN Radio stations in Melbourne Radio stations established in 2004 Sports radio stations in Australia