1116 SEN (call sign 3AK) is an Australian radio station in

Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

. Owned and operated by Sports Entertainment Group, it broadcasts a

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

format. It commenced broadcasting on 29 November 1931 as 3AK, the station currently broadcasts from studios in South Melbourne.

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 healt ...

, the new station was promoted as 'entertaining radio with a sports focus', and would rival

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

station Sport 927. On 19 January 2004, SEN 1116 launched onto Melbourne's airwaves, with former AFL footballers Garry Lyon, Tim Watson and Billy Brownless heading the station's "Morning Glory" breakfast show,

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or colloquially the Tiges, is a professional Australian rules football team competing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Founded in 1885 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, Victoria, Ric ...

premiership player Kevin Bartlett in mornings,

Radio National ABC Radio National, more commonly known as Radio National or simply RN, is an Australian nationwide public service radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. ...

's Francis Leach in afternoons, and Dermott Brereton 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 The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, alongside 2GB, 2CC,

, 6IX, HO-FM and

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

, among others. SEN also carried coverage of the 2004 NRL Grand Final from 2GB, and the 2004–05 FA Premier League from

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...

. In December 2004, the SEN brand was revealed to be expanded into

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 ...

, with Sports Entertainment Network leasing news talk 5DN from

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 ...

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, The Sunday Footy Show panelist Mark Bickley and

Port Adelaide Football Club Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where it is nicknamed the ...

ruckman Matthew Primus. 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, Sports Entertainment Network entered voluntary administration, 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 the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

-format Cruise 1323. 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 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. In November 2015, it was announced that Francis Leach would depart ABC Grandstand Digital following the axing of the ''Grandstand Breakfast'' programme, and rejoin SEN, hosting ''SEN Breakfast'' alongside David Schwarz to replace ''The Morning Glory''. Co-host Andrew Maher moved to afternoons, launching ''SEN Lunch Break'', moving Daniel Harford into drive with Mark Allen. Andrew Gaze and Tim Watson, 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 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 Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

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 ...

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 ...

, Gold Coast, Darwin and

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

Notable announcers

Current announcers

* Mark Bickley * Dermott Brereton * Nathan Buckley * Kane Cornes * Kym Dillon * Sam Edmund * Mark Fine * Andrew Gaze * Tim Gossage * Ben Graham * David King *Cam Luke * Garry Lyon * Andrew Maher * Cameron Mooney * Tom Morris * Liam Pickering * Michelangelo Rucci * Dwayne Russell * Peter Vlahos * Tim Watson * Gerard Whateley

Former announcers

* Mark Aiston * Mark Allen * Dan Clark - MLB Writer * Christian Argenti * Kevin Bartlett *Darren Berry * Billy Brownless *Edwin Cowlishaw * Mark Doran *Bruce Eva *Tristan Foenander *Matthew Hardy * Daniel Harford *Andrew Hayes *Jack Heverin * Anthony Hudson * Francis Leach *Bryan Martin * Sam McClure * Hamish McLachlan *Darren Parkin * Matthew Primus *Jason Richardson *John Rothfield *Tony Schibeci * David Schwarz *Brad Spicer * Terry Wallace

Sports coverage

SEN has exclusive and non-exclusive rights to various sports in Australia: Australian rules football *

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 ...

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

Basketball * 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 The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 12th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament was hosted bet ...

Football *

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

Golf *

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

* U.S. Masters Tournament Horse racing * Spring Racing Carnival *

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is an annual Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia, at the Flemington Racecourse. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and older, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club that forms part of the ...

* Zipping Classic Rugby League * State of Origin Rugby Union *

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

Tennis *

Related stations

SEN SA

On 13 October 2018, SEN parent company Pacific Star Network confirmed it had purchased an AM narrowband licence in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, 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 Gerard Whateley'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 RadioTAB's 1539AM Adelaide frequency. On 2 December, a second South Australian frequency was launched – also on 1629 AM – covering

Mount Gambier Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in South Australia, with a population of 25,591 as of the 2021 census. The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier (volcano), Mount Gambier, a volcano in the south east of the state, about ...

SEN Track

SEN Track is a radio network broadcasting coverage of

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

and

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around an oval track. The sport originates from Hare coursing, coursing. Track racing uses an artificial lure (usually a form of windsock) that travels ahead of th ...

, 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 17 October 2021 SEN Top End launched on 1611 AM Narrowcast broadcasting coverage of the Northern Territory Football League,

and

SEN Hobart

On 7 July 2021 SEN Hobart launched on 1629 AM Narrowcast providing coverage of several local and national sports such as Cricket, AFL,

and

. There are live programs from Hobart on Friday, Saturday and Monday mornings.

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,

and

Former stations

SEN 1323

SEN 1323 was launched on 1 February 2005 in Adelaide, replacing

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 ...

. 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

Classic Rock Radio 3MP is a commercial radio station, broadcast from Rowville and licensed to Melbourne, Australia. Owned and operated by Ace Radio from studios in South Melbourne, it broadcasts an easy listening music format on 1377 AM and DAB+ digital radio. ...

. The station broadcast live coverage of the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

and

as well as live and timeshifted programming from the main SEN station. On 28 March 2020, it was replaced by

SEN Track SEN Track is an Australian radio network operated by Sports Entertainment Network, a division of Pacific Star Network. The network launched on 28 March 2020 and broadcasts live coverage of horse, thoroughbred and greyhound racing to nine cities ...

and has since been purchased by ACE Radio Broadcasters to relaunch as 3MP.

Notable programs

*'' The Good Oil''

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 Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

-centric podcast hosted by SEN fill-in and weekend host and

MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the el ...

public address announcer Tony Schibeci and SEN producer's Mitchell Scott and Karl Bianco. *''The Carlton Show'', a Carlton-centric podcast co-hosted by Maher. *''The Geelong Show'', a

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

-centric podcast co-hosted by Ben Casanelia of ''Inside Football'', SEN's AFL magazine. *''SEN America'', covering American sports leagues such as the NBA.

Controversy

In February 2025, SEN sacked cricket journalist

Peter Lalor Peter Fintan Lalor ( ); 5 February 1827 – 9 February 1889) was an Irish-Australian rebel and, later, politician, who rose to fame for his leading role in the Eureka Rebellion, an event identified with the "birth of democracy" in Austra ...

for his social media posts about the

Gaza genocide According to a United Nations Special Committee, Amnesty International, and other experts, Israel is committing genocide in Gaza against the Palestinian people during its ongoing invasion and bombing of the Gaza Strip as part of the Gaza w ...

, with CEO Craig Hutchinson claiming that his posts "made Jewish people in Melbourne feel unsafe".

References

External links

1116 SEN website
{{Adelaide radio Radio stations in Melbourne Radio stations established in 2004 Sports radio stations in Australia 2004 establishments in Australia