Star 101.9 (call sign 4MMK) is a

commercial radio Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model ...

station in

Mackay, Queensland } Mackay () is a city in the Mackay Region on the eastern or Coral Sea coast of Queensland, Australia. It is located about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is described as being in either Central Queensland or North Queensland ...

, Australia. Owned and operated by ARN, the station was previously owned by

Prime Media Group Prime Media Group Limited (formerly Prime Television Limited) was an Australian-based media corporation that formerly owned regional television network Prime7 in eastern Australia and GWN7 in regional Western Australia. It also owned ishop TV ...

, until Prime's radio assets were sold to Grant Broadcasters in 2013, and then were later acquired by ARN in 2022.

History

Star 101.9 FM was launched in 1999 as 4MK-FM, with an

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

format. The new FM station took on the 4MK brand that had originally been associated with the AM station on 1026 AM. When 4MK-FM was launched, the station on 1026 AM changed its name from 4MK to Easymix 1026 and was re-launched with an

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 ...

. In 2005, 4MK-FM and Easymix were purchased from owners

Macquarie Regional RadioWorks Southern Cross Media Group Limited, doing business as Southern Cross Austereo, is an Australian media company which operates broadcast radio and television stations. It is the largest radio broadcaster in Australia, operating 86 radio stations ...

. In late 2008, Prime Media Group launched the

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

-formatted Zinc in

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

and

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

. In March 2009, Prime Media Group announced that the Zinc brand would launch in Mackay as Zinc 101.9 with the 4MK brand moving back to its original place at 1026 AM, replacing Easymix 1026. Zinc 101.9's local programming consists of a local weekday breakfast show and a Saturday morning show, with all other programmes broadcast from

Zinc 96 Zinc 96.1 (ACMA callsign: 4NNN) is an adult contemporary-formatted commercial radio station based in Maroochydore, Queensland and broadcasting to the Sunshine Coast, owned by ARN. History Zinc was first launched in 1997 as ''The Heat 96.1'' b ...

on the Sunshine Coast. In 2012, Zinc 101.9 relocated from premises at 85 Sydney Street to its current home of 37 Sydney Street. In 2013, the station was sold, along with sister

4MK 4MK is a commercial radio station, licensed to broadcast in the Mackay region of Queensland. The station is currently owned by ARN and broadcasts on 1026 AM. Programming The station currently broadcasts some locally presented programming, ...

and Prime Media Group's other radio stations, to

Grant Broadcasters Grant Broadcasters is an Australian regional radio network. Founded in 1942, by 2019 it owned 53 radio stations. In 2022, it sold 46 to Here, There & Everywhere (company), Here, There & Everywhere, retaining shareholdings in seven in Canberra, G ...

. In May 2016, Zinc 101.9 was re-branded again to Star 101.9. In November 2021, Star 101.9, along with other stations owned by

, were acquired by the

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 ...

. This deal will allow Grant's stations, including Star 101.9, to access ARN's iHeartRadio platform in regional areas. The deal was finalized on 4 January 2022.ARN and Grant Broadcasters unite to create Australia's leading radio and digital audio business
''AdNews Australia'' 4 January 2022 It is expected Star 101.9 will integrate with ARN's

KIIS Network The KIIS Network is an Australian commercial radio stations owned and operated by the Australian Radio Network, ARN. Formerly branded as the Mix Network, the network was rebranded as the KIIS Network in 2015 following the relaunch of KIIS 101. ...

, but will retain its current name according to the press release from ARN.

References

External links

Star 101.9 official website
Mackay, Queensland Radio stations in Queensland Australian Radio Network Hot adult contemporary radio stations in Australia {{Australia-radio-station-stub