Fox FM (Melbourne)
Coordinates: 37°51′40″S 144°59′05″E / 37.8612°S 144.9848°E
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| City | Mount Dandenong |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Melbourne, Victoria |
| Branding | Fox FM |
| Slogan | Melbourne's #1 for Hits & Old Skool |
| Frequency | 101.9 MHz FM |
| First air date | 1 August 1980 |
| Format | Top 40 (CHR) |
| Language(s) | English |
| ERP | 56 kW |
| Class | Commercial |
| Callsign meaning | 3 - Victoria Fox FM |
| Affiliations | Hit Network |
| Owner |
Southern Cross Austereo (SCA Digital Pty Ltd) |
| Sister stations | Triple M |
| Website |
www |
Fox FM (call sign: 3FOX) is a radio station that serves Melbourne, Victoria, broadcasting on the FM band at a frequency of 101.9 MHz. Licensed to Mount Dandenong, Victoria, the station is currently owned by Southern Cross Austereo and part of the Hit Network. The station's transmitter is located on the ATV-10 transmission tower on top of Mount Dandenong.
Fox FM has held the coveted number one FM position for many years in the ACNielsen ratings, and is currently the most listened to radio station in Australia, with over 1.1 million listeners weekly since 2007. It is home to Australia's most successful radio shows, Fifi, Dave & Fev, Hamish & Andy and Ash London Live.
History
Fox FM started life at 5:00:00 PM on 1 August 1980. The station was put together by radio consultant Rhett H. Walker, who also acted as first General Manager. This followed a successful stint for Walker as a consultant for Radio 3KZ in 1979. One of Fox FM's original advertising lines was 'Catch the Fox' (at one-0-one-point nine).
The first song to be played on air, George Benson's "Breezin'," was played at the wrong speed by the station's first presenter, John Aimes. Aimes suggested this was due to harassment by studio manager Gary Collins, who was allegedly fussing around him in the studio right before the station went on air.
The first station studio equipment was a 16 channel Poul Kirk mixing desk, four cuemaster cart decks, JBL studio pro speakers and (then brand new) Technics turntables. The studio was pleasant to work in with a floor-to-ceiling window giving a view of filming of such Channel Ten programs as Neighbours, Prisoner and the short-lived Holiday Island.
The first two years of the station's life were not easy. Melbourne listeners did not initially flock to the new FM stations, sticking to their regular listening habits with stations such as 3AW, 3MP and 3XY. It was positioned originally as a classy easy listening style format. The format, FM is Fox Music, came later, under the management of former 3XY station manager Graham Smith.
In 1982, the station's owners (which included Sir Donald Trescowthic, major shareholder of the Age Newspaper group) lost confidence in the original format and hired Mr. Smith to implement changes.
All the former announcers, except for Geoff Harrison were let go. Also, the station's instigator and first General Manager, the late Rhett H. Walker (later Associate Dean at La Trobe University) moved on to greener pastures.
From then on, the station was positioned with a pop rock format, appealing to the widest possible audience. This caused a steady rise in ratings through the mid-1980s, eventually landing the station in top position in Melbourne by 1986. The changes included new presenters, such as Gavin Wood (former TV show Countdown and 3XY announcer) and Barry Bissell. Take 40 Australia was a weekly countdown of the current ARIA Top 40 singles chart. During this time, the station also aired American Top 40 with Casey Kasem.
Fox was one of two original FM radio license holders in Melbourne. It aimed to be the first commercial FM station to commence broadcasting in Australia, although it was eventually beaten by 3EON (which is now Fox's sister station, 3MMM). FOX started life playing popular easy listening music whilst its other FM rival had adopted a more rock album orientated format. Throughout the history of the station its logo and marketing have always included a picture of a fox, although this was discontinued in 2005 when the entire Today Network introduced new standardised logos, much to the disappointment of many.
In 1986, Fox FM was bought by the owners of SAFM to create the Austereo Radio Network, which now - as the Hit Network - boasts five additional stations around Australia. It was at this time that announcer Mark Carter was moved from the breakfast shift to the afternoon shift, quickly becoming the most popular announcer in Melbourne over a record 11 surveys conducted and contributing to the rise in popularity of the station.
In 1996, the Today Network, owned by Austereo, merged with the Triple M network to form a single radio company. The merge was unpopular with Fox staff due to the rivalry between the two stations.
During September 2008, Fox FM re-located from studios at 180 St Kilda Road (with sister station Triple M) to brand new studios at 257 Clarendon Street, South Melbourne. The Matt and Jo Show gave away many items from the old studios during their last show at the St Kilda Road studios.
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Fox FM building (1989-2008), St Kilda Road, St Kilda
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Fox FM building sign before 'Hit 1019' rebrand (2008–2015), Clarendon Street, South Melbourne
Transmission
Fox FM transmits from the ATV-10 transmission tower on top of Mount Dandenong, from a shared facility alongside radio stations Nova 100, Triple M, Gold 104.3, KIIS 101.1, SYN 90.7 and Triple R. Its base power is 10 kW, and this is provided by a Harris HT10 FM transmitter.
The station is simulcast on digital radio in Melbourne.
Programming
Fox FM gradually grew from a top 40/pop format into a top 40/dance format over its history. Notable past announcers and programs have included Pillowtalk with Dr Sally Cockburn (Dr Feelgood), Danger: Low Brow with David Armstrong and Brett McLeod, net@nite with Andy Grace, Barry Bissell's Take 40 Australia, and ABC TV's Jodie J. Hill.
From 1995 to 1998, Fox FM broadcast the Martin/Molloy drive program with Tony Martin and Mick Molloy. This program was networked to over 50 stations around Australia, and is considered one of Australia's most successful FM radio shows.
For six years the breakfast shift was held by Tracy Bartram and Matt Tilley, using the title Tracy and Matt in the Morning. After a gradual increase in ratings, the pair secured the number one position for the Melbourne breakfast shift in the ACNielsen survey during 2001, beating traditional Melbourne number one station 3AW. Along with the rest of the station, Tracey and Tilley's ratings fell with the introduction of rival station Nova 100 into the market.
In 2003, Fox FM launched the The Matt & Jo Show, featuring Matt Tilley and Jo Stanley with Troy Ellis as anchor. The show has consistently won the FM breakfast time slot, beating closest rivals Hughesy & Kate at Nova 100 for over 7 years.
From 2006, Fox FM was home to Australia's most successful networked radio show ever, Hamish & Andy, starring Hamish Blake and Andy Lee. They finished their daily drive program on Friday 26 November 2010 and went on to broadcast a drive program on Mondays and a late morning program on Fox FM every day from Tuesday to Friday. Blake and Lee then went on to host Hamish & Andy's Happy Hour which aired at 3pm on weekdays. Blake and Lee have returned to host the drive show in January 2015.
It was announced on 4 October 2013 that The Matt & Jo Show would finish at the end of the year after hosting breakfast for the last 10 years.
In November 2013, Fifi Box and Dave Thornton were announced as the new Fox FM breakfast team. The new breakfast show Fifi & Dave launched in January 2014. In April 2016, Brendan Fevola joined the show and it was renamed to Fifi, Dave & Fev.
Branding
Fox FM has been a long lasting broadcast identity - and a name that has transcended the many format changes in the past 35 years. From the Years of 3FOX, to FM is Fox Music to the short lived Hit 1019 the Fox. The Hit 1019 sub-brand was introduced in January 2015; however it was duly discarded in favour of using solely "Fox FM" in August 2015.