ABC Radio Sydney (official call sign: 2BL, formerly 2SB) is an ABC radio station in Sydney, Australia. It is the flagship station in the ABC Local Radio network and broadcasts on 702 kHz on the AM dial. The station transmits with a power ( CMF) of 3,110V, which is equivalent to 50 kW (the maximum permissible in Australia) from a site west of the Sydney CBD.

History

ABC Radio Sydney is the first public radio station in Australia opened in Sydney at 8:00pm on 23 November 1923. Its first callsign was ''2SB'' where ''2'' denotes the

State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * '' Our ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and ''SB'' stood for Sydney Broadcasters Limited. However, the callsign was soon altered to ''2BL'' for Sydney Broadcasters Limited. The change was due to the audio similarity of the sounds FC and SB. 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 Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors an ...

. 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. 2BL was re-branded as 702 ABC Sydney in 2000 and then ABC Radio Sydney in 2017. In the second radio ratings survey of 2012,

Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

recorded 702's share of the Sydney radio market as the second largest at 10.3%, behind commercial talk station 2GB. Most Local Radio stations in New South Wales simulcast 702's programming when not airing local shows for their areas. The exception is 999 ABC Broken Hill, which relays 891 ABC Adelaide due to Broken Hill being on Central Time.

Programs

Daily scheduling

*''Breakfast'', with James Valentine - 6:15am - 8:00am *'' AM'', with Sabra Lane - 8:00am - 8:30am *''Breakfast'', with James Valentine - 8:30am - 9:00am *''Mornings'', with Sarah Macdonald - 9:00am - 11:00am *'' Conversations'', with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski (

) - 11:00am - 12:00midday *''The World Today'', with Sally Sara - 12:00midday - 12:30pm *''Afternoons'', with Josh Szeps - 12:30pm - 3:30pm *''Drive'', with Richard Glover - 3:30pm - 6:30pm *'' PM'', with David Lipson - 6:30pm - 7:00pm * ''Evenings'', with Indira Naidoo - 7:00pm - 10:00pm * ''

Nightlife Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, ...

'', with Philip Clark (Monday - Thursday) and Suzanne Hill (Friday - Sunday)- 10:00pm - 2:00am * '' Overnights'', with Trevor Chappell (Monday - Thursday from Melbourne) and Rod Quinn (Friday - Sunday from Sydney) - 2:00am - 6:00am

Other programs

* ''Thank God it's Friday'' is broadcast every Friday on Richard Glover's Drive show 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 Sarah MacDonald every weekday evening. It is broadcast to all of

and the ACT * ''The Mighty Challenge'' is a quiz broadcast at midnight (local time) by Phillip Clark. * ''Grandstand'' is the ABC's sport program, which is broadcast from 12 noon on a Saturday and Sunday * ''Weekends'', with Simon Marnie * ''Speaking Out'' (Radio National), with

Larissa Behrendt Larissa Yasmin Behrendt (born 1969) is an Australian legal academic, writer, filmmaker and Indigenous rights advocate. she is a professor of law and director of research and academic programs at the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Educatio ...

Former presenters

* Deborah Cameron * Mike Carlton * Angela Catterns * Andrew Daddo * Dom Knight * Julie McCrossin *

Andrew Olle John Andrew Durrant Olle (28 December 194712 December 1995), always known as Andrew Olle, was a radio and television presenter on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, beginning his career in 1967 as a news cadet and, until his death, workin ...

James O'Loghlin James O'Loghlin (born 1966) is an Australian comedian, television and radio presenter. He works for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Local Radio evening program in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Career Previou ...

* Clive Robertson * Adam Spencer * Virginia Trioli *Sally Loane * David Dale *Frank Crook *Ray Taylor * John Doyle *John Hall * Margaret Throsby Bruce Menzies

External links and references

702 ABC Sydney

ABC Online {{DEFAULTSORT:ABC Radio Sydney ABC Local Radio, Sydney Radio stations in Sydney Radio stations established in 1923