Triple M is an Australian

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, for example. It was the United States' first model ...

network owned and operated by

Southern Cross Austereo Southern Cross Media Group Limited, Trade name, doing business as Southern Cross Austereo, is an Australian media company which operates broadcast radio and Terrestrial television, television stations. It is the largest radio broadcaster in Au ...

. The network consists of 45 radio stations with flagship stations broadcasting a

mainstream Mainstream may refer to: Film * ''Mainstream'' (film), a 2020 American film Literature * ''Mainstream'' (fanzine), a science fiction fanzine * Mainstream Publishing, a Scottish publisher * ''Mainstream'', a 1943 book by Hamilton Basso * ...

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

music format in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, 37 regional stations broadcasting a

modern 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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

/ adult hits format and 5

digital radio Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services. This should not be confused with In ...

stations. The network dates back to the launch of

Triple M Sydney Triple M Sydney (callsign 2MMM) is a radio station broadcasting in Sydney, Australia. Triple M Sydney is part of Southern Cross Austereo's Triple M network and broadcasts on the 104.9 MHz frequency. History The Early Days Triple M commenced ...

in 1980. On 15 December 2016, the network was amalgamated with the LocalWorks network of regional radio stations.

History

The first Triple M station was

, which commenced broadcasting to Sydney on 2 August 1980.

and then-rival

2Day FM 2Day FM (call sign 2DAY) is a commercial FM radio station broadcasting in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on a frequency of 104.1 MHz, and is part of Southern Cross Austereo's Hit Network. History 1980s 2Day FM was one of three radio st ...

were the first commercial FM radio stations in Sydney. Throughout the 1980s, Triple M was one of the highest-rating radio stations in Sydney, spearheaded by its morning show presented by Doug Mulray and featuring the writing of and occasional appearances by Andrew Denton. For all of this period and into the 1990s, Triple M's promotional campaign featured the character "Dr Dan", a

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

-playing

satyr In Greek mythology, a satyr (, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( ), and sileni (plural), is a male List of nature deities, nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, exaggerated erection. ...

with wings, inspired by artwork by legendary Australian cartoonist Peter Ledger, and a theme song that was an extended reworking of the

Mike Batt Michael Philip Batt (born 6 February 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, record producer, director, and conductor. He served as the Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry. Batt created the novelty pop band T ...

track "Introduction (The Journey of a Fool)", from his 1979 album '' Tarot Suite''. In 1988,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

radio station EON FM (3EON), 92.3 was taken over by Triple M and changed its callsign to Triple M and moved to 105.1 MHz in November 1988. EON FM was Australia's first commercial FM radio station, commencing broadcasting on 11 July 1980.

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

radio station Triple M Brisbane was launched in 1980 and took on the FM104 identity soon after. It returned to the Triple M identity in early 1990. Its callsign has remained 4MMM since its 1980 launch. Triple M Brisbane started broadcasting on 104.1FM, then late in the 1980s changed to its present frequency of 104.5-FM.

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

radio station 5KA converted from 1197

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base uni ...

to 104.7

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

on 1 January 1990 and was renamed KAFM (5KKA). The station was taken over by

Village Roadshow Village Roadshow is an Australian company which operates cinemas and theme parks, and produces and distributes films. Before being acquired by private equity company BGH Capital, the company was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange a ...

, who then owned Triple M, and they successfully negotiated the purchase of the 5MMM callsign from a community radio station in 1993. That station is now known as Three D Radio ( 5DDD), and the 5MMM callsign is now used by Triple M Adelaide (104.7).

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

radio station 96FM ( 6NOW) also carried the Triple M identity and 6MMM callsign in the early 1990s but was then sold to

Southern Cross Broadcasting Southern Cross Broadcasting (Australia) Limited was a diversified Australian media company, that owned and operated a variety of media businesses, primarily in radio and television. History Tony Bell was managing director of the business betwe ...

who changed the station's identity back to its original name. Mix 94.5 until December 2020 was "considered" to be a part of the Triple M network in Perth utilising local programming (as opposed to airing networked Triple M programmes) and Mix 94.5 didn’t carry the Triple M brand, logo or call letters. In

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, a Triple M station existed between 1984 and 1988 when 89 Stereo FM became part of Triple M. The station previously used the call sign 1ROQ and changed to 1MMM when becoming part of Triple M. New Zealand no longer uses radio station call signs. This station later reverted to 89FM in 1988 and eventually closed down in 1994. While many of the comedy and talk programs are networked, large sections of music programming originate from the local market of each Triple M. On Friday 17 November 2006, Triple M (including Mix 94.5 in Perth) referred to itself a
U2FM
for the day, as part of a promotion relating to the band U2 and their 2006 Australian Tour and CD release. Triple M launched High Voltage Radio, a "pop up" digital radio station that exclusively played

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

for the duration of the band's 2010 tour of Australia. On 16 August 2013, Triple M Perth was launched on digital radio, returning the station to Perth. Branded as ''Perth's Real Music Alternative'', the station also carried Triple M AFL coverage. On 27 September 2014, the station was replaced by Triple M Modern Rock Digital. Featuring only new rock music, the station also expanded to Adelaide. On 25 November 2013, Triple M Classic Rock Digital radio station was launched. The station format is exclusively

, with no announcer talkback. On 1 December 2020, the Triple M brand was relaunched in Perth, replacing

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

station Hit 92.9 after sister station Mix 94.5 switched affiliation to the

Hit Network The Hit Network is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 41 radio stations broadcasting a hot adult contemporary music format, as well as 6 digital radio stations. Histor ...

Stations

, the Triple M network consists of 40 AM and FM radio stations. * Triple M 104.7 Adelaide * Triple M 783 Albany * Triple M 864 Avon Valley * Triple M 93.5 Bendigo * Triple M 105.7 The Border * Triple M 102.9 Broome * Triple M 104.5 Brisbane * Triple M 93.1 Bundaberg * Triple M 99.5 Cairns * Mix 106.3 Canberra * Triple M Cape to Cape 756 * Triple M 666 Carnarvon * Triple M 107.7 Central Coast * Triple M 101.5 Central Queensland * Triple M 105.1 Central West * Triple M 1098 Central Wheatbelt * Triple M 106.3 Coffs Coast * Triple M 864 Darling Downs * Triple M 93.5 Dubbo * Triple M 747 Esperance * Triple M 103.5 Fraser Coast * Triple M 98.1 Geraldton * Triple M 97.9 Gippsland * Triple M 92.5 Gold Coast * Triple M 981 Goldfields * Triple M 95.3 Goulburn Valley * Triple M 1071 Great Southern * Triple M 107.3 Hobart * Triple M 102.5 Karratha * Triple M 90.5 Limestone Coast * Triple M Mackay98.7 & 92.3The Whitsundays * Triple M 105.1 Melbourne * Triple M 106.7 Mid North Coast * Triple M 102.9 Newcastle * Triple M 92.9 Perth * Triple M 94.1 Port Hedland * Triple M 1152 Riverina * Triple M 963 Riverina MIA * Triple M 963 Southwest * Triple M 97.9 Sunraysia * Triple M 104.9 Sydney * Triple M 102.3 Townsville * Triple M 94.3 Warragul * Triple M Remote WA

Digital radio

, the Triple M network broadcasts an additional six radio stations on DAB+ digital radio. Southern Cross Austereo also owns Mix 106.3 Canberra along with the

Australian Radio Network ARN Media Ltd., formerly Here, There & Everywhere and APN News & Media, is an Australian media company. Divisions include broadcast radio and Out-of-home advertising. The company previously had assets in New Zealand, and previously owned Adsh ...

, and is part of the Triple M network, although it is operated primarily by ARN as part of its

KIIS Network The KIIS Network is an Australian commercial radio stations owned and operated by the Australian Radio Network, ARN. Formerly branded as the Mix Network, the network was rebranded as the KIIS Network in 2015 following the relaunch of KIIS 101. ...

Music

M-One Rock festival

In September 2002, Triple M and Frontier Touring held four rock concerts in Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney as part of the touring M-One festival, which featured

Goo Goo Dolls The Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock band based in Buffalo, New York, composed of lead vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik, bassist and vocalist Robby Takac, as well as several rotating members since its formation in 1986. After starting ...

Nickelback Nickelback is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta, Hanna, Alberta. Throughout its history, it has consisted of lead guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, rhythm guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan ...

Garbage Garbage, trash (American English), rubbish (British English), or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or ...

, Lifehouse, Default,

Midnight Oil Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by H ...

and Antiskeptic.

Essential Countdown

In 2004, the national network counted down the Triple M Essential 2005 Songs from

Boxing Day Boxing Day, also called as Offering Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Boxing Day was once a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to become a part ...

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 and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...

. The number one song was

Violent Femmes Violent Femmes are an American folk punk band from Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The band consists of founding members Gordon Gano (guitar, lead vocals) and Brian Ritchie (bass, backing vocals), joined by multi-instrumentalist Blaise Garza ( ...

' " Blister in the Sun". Triple M have held an Essential Countdown based on listener votes since 2006, beginning in October of each year, counting the same number of songs as the year (e.g., 2006 songs in 2006). The countdown has received some criticism for being overly similar to the

Triple J Hottest 100 The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music poll presented by the publicly-funded Australian youth radio station Triple J. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Music of Australia, Australian and alternative music of th ...

countdown, despite the

only including songs from the preceding 12 months.

Sports broadcasting

Australian Football League

Triple M Melbourne first broadcast

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

games in 1997 after securing broadcasting rights. In 1999 Triple M expanded its coverage to Triple M Adelaide followed by

and Triple M Brisbane in 2005 and

Triple M Perth Triple M Perth (official callsign: 6MMM) is a commercial radio station owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo as part of the Triple M network. The station is broadcast to Perth, Western Australia from studios in Subiaco. The station comm ...

in 2021 with regional stations around the country also having coverage. The 2024 coverage includes the following broadcasters: Commentators * James Brayshaw * Brian Taylor * Luke Darcy * Mark Howard * Nathan Brown * Leigh Montagna * Jack Heverin * Barry Denner * Tim Solly * Nigel Carmody * Will Ralston * Brenton Speed (NSW) * Brad Seymour (NSW) * Liam Flanagan (QLD) * Brett Thomas (QLD) * Richard Champion (QLD) *

Chris Dittmar Chris Dittmar (born 16 January 1964) is an Australian sports commentator who was formerly the World No. 1-ranked men's squash player. Dittmar is widely considered to be the "best player never to have won" one of squash's two biggest titles. H ...

(SA) * Brenton Yates (SA) *

Rhett Biglands Rhett Biglands (born 4 September 1977) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules foo ...

(SA) * Mark Soderstrom (SA) * Lachy Reid (WA) * Ryan Daniels (WA) * Tom Atkinson (WA) Experts * Jason Dunstall * Nathan Brown * Dale Thomas * Leigh Montagna * Kate McCarthy * Isaac Smith * Steve Johnson * Luke Darcy * Ash Chua (statistician) * Billy Brownless * Chris Johnson * Sarah Hosking * Josh Bruce * Ethan Meldrum (statistician) * Jude Bolton (NSW, VIC) * Troy Luff (NSW) * Simon Black (QLD) * Tom Rockliff (QLD) * Richard Champion (QLD) * Bernie Vince (SA, VIC) *

Shaun Burgoyne Shaun Playford Burgoyne (born 21 October 1982) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club and Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Burgoyne was the first Indigenous Austral ...

(SA) * Mark Ricciuto (SA) * Dom Cassisi (SA) *

Erin Phillips Erin Victoria Phillips (born 19 May 1985) is an Australian basketball player and former Australian rules football player. She played nine seasons in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for five different teams and is a two-time ...

(SA) * Tom Jonas (SA) * Taylor Walker (SA) *

Andrew Embley Andrew Gerard Embley (born 27 June 1981) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is known for winning the Norm Smith Medal as the best player in the 2006 AFL Gran ...

(WA) * Xavier Ellis (WA) * Mark Cometti (statistician, WA) Boundary * Nat Yoannidis * Michael Roberts * Jay Clark * Abbey Holmes * Ruby Schleicher * Alex Bryant * Ryan 'Rabs' Warren * Troy Luff (NSW) * Justin Edwards (NSW) * John Kehoe (NSW) * Belinda Mellen (QLD) *

(SA) * Tom Jonas (SA) * Ebony Marinoff (SA) * Mark Thomas (SA) * Tom Atkinson (WA) * Britt Taylor (WA) * Hamish Brayshaw (WA) * Andy Taylor (TAS) Journalists * Damian Barrett - Chief correspondent at AFL Media * Jay Clark - AFL reporter at the Herald Sun * Nat Yoannidis - Sports reporter at Channel 9 Triple M is the only commercial FM broadcasters of the AFL in Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Sydney (although only the local teams - the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...

and

Gold Coast Suns The Gold Coast Suns, officially the Gold Coast Football Club, are a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast in the ...

in Brisbane and

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a Austral ...

and GWS Giants in Sydney respectively - are covered in the latter two cities with the local teams in Adelaide and Perth coverage in the two cities along with neutral games.) Triple M is best known for offering a less formal coverage than AM radio, providing listeners with a sense of comedy to the call while still calling the action. The station is the only radio station that provide listeners with the umpires microphones often heard on TV coverage. The

TISM TISM ( ; an acronym of This Is Serious Mum) are a seven-piece anonymous alternative rock band, formed in Melbourne, Australia on 30 December 1982 by vocalist/drummer Humphrey B. Flaubert, bassist/vocalist Jock Cheese and keyboardist/vocalist ...

song ‘ Shut Up the Footy’s on the Radio’ the radio stations theme song and is often heard throughout the broadcast before and after ad breaks in games.

National Rugby League

In October 2006, the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

announced that beginning in 2007, Triple M Sydney would be the exclusive commercial broadcaster of Monday Night

Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

matches. The coverage began on 19 March with the Round 1 match between the

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

and

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, also known as the South Sydney Rabbitohs, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Maroubra that competes in the Nat ...

. Currently, Triple M broadcast 5 games a round, a Thursday night, two Friday nights, a Saturday and a Sunday, all Finals and all State of Origin matches. The commentary team includes the following:

Andrew Johns Andrew Gary Johns (born 19 May 1974), also known by the nickname Joey, is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He is considered one of the greatest rugby league players of all time. Johns ...

, Peter Sterling, Dan Ginnane, Gorden Tallis,

Ryan Girdler Ryan Girdler (born 19 September 1972) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australia international representative goal-kicking centre, he played ...

Wendell Sailor Wendell Jermaine Sailor (born 16 July 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby footballer who represented his country in both rugby league and rugby union – a dual code international. In rugby league Sailor was a member of the succes ...

, Mark Geyer, Emma Lawrence, Tony Squires, Paul Kent, Ben Dobbin, Brent Read and James Hooper.

Cricket Australia

In 2009, Triple M broadcast

twenty20 cricket Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

live between the

Australian Cricket Team The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in international cricket. Along with England, it is the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing and winning the first ever Test match in 1877; the team also plays One ...

South African Cricket Team The South Africa men's national cricket team, also known as the Proteas, represents South Africa in men's international cricket and is administered by Cricket South Africa. South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council. T ...

and the

New Zealand Cricket Team The New Zealand national cricket team represents New Zealand in men's international cricket. Nicknamed the Black Caps (), they played their first Test in 1930 against England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. ...

. Commentators included

Damien Fleming Damien William Fleming (born 24 April 1970) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer who played for the Australian national cricket team and domestic cricket for Victoria. He played in 20 Tests and 88 ODIs from 1994 to 2001 a ...

, Stuart MacGill, Greg Blewett, and Brendan Julian. In December 2016, Triple M became the first FM radio station to broadcast test cricket. Commentators included James Brayshaw, Kerry O'Keeffe, Michael Slater,

Brett Lee Brett Lee (born 8 November 1976) is an Australian former international cricketer, who played all three formats of the game. During his international career, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in the world. With his time representin ...

, Brad Haddin, Merv Hughes, Darren Berry, H.G Nelson, Jules Schiller,

Lawrence Mooney Lawrence Mooney (born 22 April 1965) is an Australian comedian, actor, writer, and former television and radio presenter. Radio career Mooney has held various jobs including a customs officer, cleaner, salesman, furniture polisher and collectin ...

Gus Worland Gus Worland is an Australian television and radio personality. He worked on Triple M breakfast radio from 2009 to 2019, and on a series of reality television programs: ''Man Up (2016 TV series), Man Up'' on the ABC, ''An Aussie Goes Barmy'', ' ...

, Neroli Meadows, Isa Guha, Mick Molloy and Mark Howard. In May 2018, it was announced that Triple M will no longer broadcast cricket, after the station chose not to renew their contract with Cricket Australia. However in August 2021, Triple M announced that they will return to broadcasting Test Cricket along with One Day Internationals played in the next three summers starting in the 2021/22 season which included the Ashes Series.

References

External links

*
Triple M Classic Rock Digital
{{Authority control Australian radio networks Active rock radio stations in Australia Adult contemporary radio stations in Australia 1980 establishments in Australia Radio stations established in 1980 Companies based in Melbourne