ABC Radio Sydney

History

ABC Radio Sydney is the first public radio station in Australia opened in Sydney at 8:00pm on 13 November 1923. Its first callsign was 2SB where 2 denotes the State of New South Wales and SB stood for Sydney Broadcasters Limited. The callsign was changed to 2BL when Broadcasters Limited took over the business. In May 1928 the Sydney Broadcasting Company was formed to take over stations 2BL and 2FC.

A year later a consortium of entertainment companies founded the Australian Broadcasting Company Limited (ABC) to supply programme material to 2BL, 2FC and similar "A-class" stations in other capital cities.

2BL became one of the inaugural stations, along with sister station 2FC, in the government-owned Australian Broadcasting Commission (also ABC) network when it was founded in 1932. In 1946, it became the flagship of the National Programme, forerunner of Radio National. It also began carrying parliamentary broadcasts. In 1963, it swapped formats with 2FC and assumed that station's old role as flagship of the Interstate Programme, which eventually evolved into Local Radio. However, it continued to air parliament until 1988, when the Parliamentary Broadcasting Network (PBN) was established.

The 2BL callsign was gradually phased out in 1999 as the station was renamed to 702 ABC Sydney, before another name change in 2017 which saw the station simply become known as ABC Radio Sydney.

In the second radio ratings survey of 2012, Nielsen Media Research recorded ABC Radio Sydney's share of the local radio market as the second largest at 10.3%, behind commercial talk station 2GB.

Most ABC Local Radio stations in New South Wales simulcast ABC Radio Sydney's programming when not airing local shows for their areas. The exception is 999 ABC Broken Hill, which relays ABC Radio Adelaide due to Broken Hill being on Central Time.

In November 2023, ABC Radio Sydney celebrated its 100th birthday. The station marked the occasion by removing the time signal pips which had long been heard at the top of each hour before the hourly ABC News bulletin.

On 6 May 2024, ABC Radio Sydney commenced broadcasting from the ABC's new facility at 6 & 8 Parramatta Square in Parramatta after relocating from the ABC's Ultimo headquarters. Mornings with Sarah Macdonald was the first program to broadcast from Parramatta after the facility was officially opened by chair Kim Williams, managing director David Anderson and federal member Andrew Charlton.

Programs

Daily scheduling

• Breakfast, with Craig Reucassel – 5:30am to 8:00am
• AM, with Isabella Higgins – 8:00am to 8:30am
• Mornings, with Hamish Macdonald (Monday to Thursday) and Kathryn Robinson (Friday) – 8:30am to 11:00am
• Conversations, with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski (Radio National) – 11:00am to noon
• The World Today, with Andy Park – 12:00pm to 12:30pm
• Afternoons, with James Valentine – 12:30pm to 3:00pm
• Drive, with Thomas Oriti (Monday to Thursday) and Dom Knight (Friday) – 3:00pm to 6:00pm
• PM, with Samantha Donovan – 6:00pm to 6:30pm
• ABC Sport Daily, with Patrick Stack – 6:30pm to 6:45pm
• Evenings, with Renee Krosch – 6:45pm to 10:00pm
• Nightlife, with Philip Clark (Monday to Thursday) and Suzanne Hill (Friday to Sunday) – 10:00pm to 2:00am
• Overnights, with Trevor Chappell (Monday to Thursday from Melbourne) and Rod Quinn (Friday to Sunday from Sydney) – 2:00am to 5:30am

Other programs

• Thank God it's Friday is broadcast every Friday with Charlie Pickering and features a roundup of the week's events, featuring various Australian comedians. TGIF is also available as a podcast.

• Norman the Quiz, the pet-name for what used to be simply known as "The Quiz", is hosted by Renee Krosch every Monday to Thursday evening. It is broadcast to all of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory

• The Mighty Challenge is a quiz broadcast at midnight (local time) by Phillip Clark.

• Bludging on the Blindside with Roy and HG, broadcast Saturdays during National Rugby League season from noon to 2:00pm.

• Grandstand is the ABC's sport program, which is generally broadcast from noon on a Saturday and Sunday

• Speaking Out (Radio National), with Larissa Behrendt

Former presenters

• Deborah Cameron
• Mike Carlton
• Angela Catterns
• Andrew Daddo
• Dom Knight
• Julie McCrossin
• Andrew Olle
• James O'Loghlin
• Clive Robertson
• Adam Spencer
• Virginia Trioli
• Sally Loane
• David Dale
• Frank Crook
• Ray Taylor
• John Doyle
• John Hall
• Margaret Throsby
• Bruce Menzies
• Simon Marnie
• Sarah Macdonald

References

1. (22 November 2013). "90th Anniversary of the station that became 702 ABC Sydney". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
2. Australian Communications and Media Authority. "Apparatus Licence [Licensee 1103909, Australian Broadcasting Corporation]".
3. The station never used the callsign 2BS, although this is quoted in a reputedly reputable source – ''Changing Stations. The Story of Australian Commercial Radio'' [[Griffen-Foley, Bridget]], Sydney, 2009. (The callsign [[2BS]] was later used by the local [[Bathurst, New South Wales. Bathurst]] station).
4. (2 May 1936). "Personalities Of The Exhibition". [[Daily News (Perth, Western Australia).
5. (17 May 1928). "New Broadcasting Company". [[The Recorder (Port Pirie)]].
6. (7 June 1929). "Broadcasting". [[Singleton Argus]].
7. Chapman, Heather. (8 November 1999). "All change at 2BL". The Sydney Morning Herald.
8. Fyfe, Melissa. (16 December 1999). "Hello LO, a sound farewell". The Age.
9. (30 November 2016). "ABC Local Radio rebranding for 2017". radioinfo.
10. "Radio Survey #2 2012".
11. Patterson, Sarah. (24 November 2023). "High profile guests reminisce as ABC Radio Sydney celebrates 100 years". Radio Today.
12. Saxon, Peter. (27 November 2023). "As the ABC celebrated 100 years on air, the pips were silenced, not with a beep but a whimper". radioinfo.
13. (6 May 2024). "ABC Radio Sydney launches from new Parramatta studios". radioinfo.
14. Knox, David. (6 May 2024). "ABC Parramatta opens for broadcasting". TV Tonight.
15. "Speaking Out, with Larissa Behrendts". ABC Radio.