ABC Upper Hunter (call sign: 2UH) is an Australian

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

. It is the

Upper Hunter The Upper Hunter Shire is a local government area in the Upper Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire was formed in May 2004 from the Scone Shire and parts of Murrurundi and Merriwa shires. The mayor of the Upper Hunter Shir ...

service of the

ABC Local Radio ABC Local Radio is a network of publicly owned radio stations in Australia, operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ABC Local Radio stations broadcast across the continent using terrestrial transmitters and satellites. Its programm ...

network, and serves

Muswellbrook Muswellbrook ( ) is a town in the Upper Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle. Geologically, Muswellbrook is situated in the northern parts of the Sydney bas ...

and surrounding areas.

History

ABC Upper Hunter commenced as a local relay of

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

's 2NC (now

ABC Newcastle ABC Newcastle (call sign: 2NC) is an Australian radio station. It is the Newcastle station of the ABC local radio network, and is licensed to, and serving Newcastle and surrounding areas. It operates on the AM band at 1233 kilohertz. Formerly kn ...

) in 1964. While there was some local information on the station, the reporter responsible was based in Newcastle. It wasn't until 1990 when a local office of the ABC was established in the Upper Hunter, basing itself in Market Lane Muswellbrook.

Mike Pritchard Michael Robert Pritchard (born October 26, 1969) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Colorado. He played in the NFL fo ...

joined the broadcaster from the '' Scone Advocate'' newspaper, and was the station's rural reporter until his retirement in 2021, even acting as the lone employee in the region on occasion. In 1997, the station moved to its current facilities in Brook Street. Throughout 2009, the station's programming went on hiatus while the studios were upgraded with digital equipment. Rural programming came from

ABC New England North West ABC New England North West is an ABC Local Radio station based in Tamworth and broadcasting to the regions of New England, the Northern Tablelands and North West Slopes in New South Wales. This includes the towns and cities of Armidale, Mor ...

, while local news and other programming continued to originate from ABC Newcastle. Regular programming resumed mid-year once the upgrade was complete.

Frequencies

ABC Upper Hunter transmits on both the AM and FM bands from four transmitter sites in the Upper Hunter. The main AM signal, with the callsign 2UH (as in Upper Hunter), operates on 1044

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base uni ...

, and reaches most of the Upper Hunter. This signal is transmitted from the

Broadcast Australia BAI Communications, formerly Broadcast Australia, is an Australian telecommunications systems company. History Macquarie Bank completed its acquisition of National Transmission Agency in 2002 – the seed asset in the publicly listed Macquari ...

site on Sandy Creek Road just outside Muswellbrook. The station relays its programs on the FM band from three transmitter sites, all using the callsign 2HVR (as in Hunter Valley Radio).

Programming

The station produces a daily breakfast program between 6:30 am and 8:00 am weekdays, with local news bulletins at 6:30 am and 7:30 am. Supplementary news bulletins are provided by

until 9 am. The bureau's rural reporter also co-produces the daily Upper Hunter New England North West Rural Report with

's rural reporter, which airs from 6:15 am to 6:30 am weekdays. The station broadcasts ABC Newcastle's Mornings and Drive programs, but diverts at midday to broadcast ''

The Country Hour ''The Country Hour'' is Australia's longest running radio program, established in 1945. The program is currently broadcast on all regional ABC Local Radio stations from midday to 1pm each weekday, presenting news from rural and regional Australia, ...

'', followed by '' The World Today'' on a one-hour delay at 1.00 pm. In mid-2009, the station broadcast an hour-long program called ''Upper Hunter Weekend'', which previewed events in the Upper Hunter for the coming weekend. It was hosted by Silas Moss and Niav Owens. The station now broadcasts ABC Newcastle's Saturday Breakfast program, hosted by Craig Hamilton, between 6 am and midday. In 2021, ABC Upper Hunter commenced streaming capabilities via a podcast service on its website. The Radio National program ''

Late Night Live ''Late Night Live'' (''LNL'') is an Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio program, broadcast on Radio National and also available as a podcast. It covers a wide variety of topics through interviews with the host, including current affairs, p ...

'' occasionally broadcasts from these studios, as presenter Phillip Adams and his partner

Patrice Newell Patrice Lesley Newell (born 2 September 1956) is an Australian former model, television presenter turned author, and biodynamic farmer. Career In 1980s Newell was in a high-profile career with the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) and the Nin ...

own an organic farm in the area.

On-Air Staff

*Amelia Bernasconi – Hunter Rural Reporter and Upper Hunter Breakfast presenter.

Former Staff

– Hunter Rural and Resources Report and breakfast presenter from 1990 to June 2021.

References

Sources

ABC Upper Hunter
*ACMA technical documents

External links

ABC Upper HunterHunter Rural and Resources Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:ABC Upper Hunter

Radio stations in New South Wales Radio stations established in 1964 Mass media in the Hunter Region