2SER

Programming

2SER broadcasts a wide range of music and talk shows. Talk show topics include science, current affairs, health, conservation, publishing, gender and queer culture, music, arts and theatre. Music genres include experimental, country, metal, pop and spatial audio. In 2024 station won a Community Broadcasting Association Australia Award for Excellents in Australian Music, sponsored by APRA AMCOS.

Some programs have been on air for more than 40 years, including Back To Funk, Static and The Phantom Dancer. Gaywaves, Sydney's first an LGBTQIA+ program, aired from November 1979 to 2005. Gaywaves returned to air in 2022 after 17 years.

The station is also one of few media outlets that has a special program for prisoners, Jailbreak.

History

On 1 October 1979 2SER was opened by the Federal Minister for Education, Senator John Carrick.

In the mid-1990s the station expanded its programming to emphasise underground dance music. This caused friction within the station but 2SER organised a series of highly lucrative fund raising events called Freaky Loops in association with Sydney promoters such as Cryogenesis, Clan Analogue, Club Kooky and Elefant Traks which sustained the move to a new musical format for several years until 2001.

The station worked on improving its brand across the 2003-2005 period, incorporating a new logo, while the station's online presence and content experience was also redesigned.

In late 2004, the station was faced with a projected budget shortfall of up to $100,000 that financial year. Management addressed the situation by reducing the number of paid staff, putting forward proposals to scale down the use of its studio at Macquarie University and attempting to cater for a slightly older audience. These ideas were met with frustration from some volunteers. Internal activism resulted in a softening of policy and in early 2005, the new program grid was launched. Despite the controversy in its lead-up, it proved to be a simple reshuffle of the existing grid rather than a dramatic overhaul.

From the late 2000s and into the 2010s, 2SER has continued to expand its offerings across broadcast and digital, as well as with podcasting. It has won international awards for its collaborations, including a Silver Radio Prize at the New York Festivals Radio Awards for History Lab (with Impact Studios).

The station celebrated its 40th anniversary in October 2019 with a podcast series, exhibition and book, An Incomplete History of Community Radio: 2SER's 46 Boxes of Stuff. The station's long-term publication, Listening Post, was also digitised in full and placed in the Australian open access archive Trove. The station also regularly runs live events like the acclaimed. In Your Hood series supported by the Inner West Council and Live@2SER performance series based on NPR's Tiny Desk. Kobi Shetty mentioned the February 2025 event in her address to NSW Parliament as an example of "vital community work" performed by the station.

Today it runs out of University of Technology Sydney and Macquarie University.

People

The station helped launch the broadcasting careers of Julie McCrossin, Robbie Buck, Richard Kingsmill, Helen Razer, Eleanor Hall, Fenella Kernebone, Steve Ahern, Jess Scully, Barbara Morison, Tanya Plibersek, Tracee Hutchison, Tiga Bayles, Stuart Coupe, Lorna Clarkson and Jonathan Harley - all of whom started out on the station as volunteers.

The founding station manager was Keith Jackson. Former station managers include Philip Shine, Kaye Blackman, Melanie Withnall, and Paula Kruger. The current station manager is Cheryl Northey supported by Michael Jones as operations coordinator, Lachlan Holland as music director, Jonathan Chang as volunteer coordinator, and Chris Yates as communications and sponsorship.

References

References

1. (2018-07-13). "Guardian Australia and 2SER launch new podcast Breathless: the death of David Dungay Jr". The Guardian.
2. (2024-10-20). "2024 CBAA Community Broadcasting Awards Winners".
3. . (n.d.). ["Back To Funk"](https://2ser.com/back-to-funk/). *Sydney Educational Broadcasting Limited*.
4. . (24 July 2002). ["Yes, there is an alternative to Triple J"](https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/yes-there-is-an-alternative-to-triple-j-20020724-gdfh80.html). *Nine Entertainment Co. Pty Ltd*.
5. NFSA. (2023). "Gaywaves community radio".
6. (2005-06-19). "Gaywaves ceases broadcasting".
7. "Gaywaves".
8. (2006-07-10). "Jailhouse rock".
9. "2SER {{!}} The Dictionary of Sydney".
10. (2008). "The SER Story". 2SER FM 107.3.
11. "(December 1997 - February 1998)".
12. "Snarl Heavy Industries {{!}} Home of Sub Bass Snarl » Freaky Loops (1996-2001)".
13. Jave, Sue. (8 December 2004). "Money matters: 2SER relaunch plans". Nine Entertainment Co. Pty Ltd.
14. (25 June 2019). "Congratulations to the History Lab Podcast for winning the Silver Radio Prize – The Australian Historical Association".
15. "Forty Years of 2SER clips".
16. (2019-08-16). "2SER wants to hear from its former staff and volunteers".
17. (2021-11-09). "Community radio history book out now".
18. "Listening post".
19. "Long time listener".
20. Shetty, Kobi. "2SER In Your Hood".
21. (2004-09-14). "Birth centre".
22. Seyderhelm, Jennifer. (2024-09-27). "Vale Philip Shine - RadioInfo Australia". RadioInfo Australia.
23. "SCA announces Melanie Withnall as head of news and information".
24. Ahern, Steve. (March 26, 2023). "Paula Kruger joins 2SER as MD".
25. McNamara, Lauren. (2024-11-28). "2SER appoints new managing director".
26. sarahdowns.nz. (2024-07-08). "Turn It Up: 2SER's Amrap Music Picks".
27. https://2ser.com/the-team