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3MP is a commercial radio station, broadcast from Rowville and licensed to
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
, Australia. Owned and operated by
Ace Radio Ace Radio Broadcasters is an Australian media company. Formed in 1984, it operates 21 commercial radio stations in Victoria and southern New South Wales, as well as the digital marketing agency Ace Digital and ''The Weekly Advertiser'', a free ...
from studios in
South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at the 2021 ...
, it broadcasts 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 ...
music format on 1377 AM and
DAB+ Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) is a digital radio international standard, standard for broadcasting digital audio radio services in many countries around the world, defined, supported, marketed and promoted by the WorldDAB organisation. T ...
digital radio Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services. This should not be confused with In ...
.


History


Early years

3MP commenced transmission on 22 July 1976 from studios in the Bayside Shopping Centre, Frankston. It initially broadcast on 1380
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 ...
AM from a transmitter located at Rowville and, despite being based outside of the Melbourne city centre, was regarded by many listeners as Melbourne's seventh
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, the first new commercial licence since the launch of
3XY Magic 1278 (official List of radio station callsigns in Victoria, callsign: 3EE) is a commercial radio station in Melbourne, Australia owned by Nine Entertainment, and run under a lease agreement by Ace Radio. History 1935–1991: 3XY 1935 ...
in 1935. The original licence holder was a consortium of businessmen and media identities and broadcast a music format of
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 ...
music blending solid gold and current
top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...
records. Devised by the station's first General Manager, Ray Bean and Operations Manager, Geoff Brown, the station aimed to target an older demographic than the then-market leading 3XY. The first
announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience on a broadcast media programme or live event either on radio or television. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaki ...
heard on the station was John Burgess, with an initial presenting line-up including future ''
Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...
'' weatherman
Brian Bury Brian Frederick Bury (born 14 June 1937) is an Australian former radio and television personality and weather presenter, best known for his tenure on the Nine Network's breakfast show ''Today'' as weathermen from the program's inception in 1982 ...
and former 3LO presenter Richard Coombe. The first song played on the station was " Howzat" by Sherbet. In 1978, as part of the Australian implementation of the Geneva Frequency Plan, 3MP changed frequencies from 1380 to 1377 kHz.


AWA era

Although the original Articles of Association prohibited any one person from owning more than 5% of the shares in 3MP's licensee, the station was sold outright to AWA in 1980. In January 1986, the station dropped its adult contemporary music format in favour of
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 ...
, which had been abandoned two weeks prior by rival 3AK. The move grew 3MP's previously modest ratings.In October 1987, AWA sold its radio assets to Wesgo for $40 million.


Wesgo era

In 1993, Wesgo purchased rival station 3EE The Breeze, replacing 3EE's format with a
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...
of 3MP. However, following complaints from
Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 45 radio stations with flagship stations broadcasting a mainstream/classic rock music format in Sydney, Melbourne, and B ...
, Gold FM, Fox FM and 3AW, the
Australian Broadcasting Authority The Australian Broadcasting Authority was an Australian government agency whose main roles were to regulate broadcasting, radio communications and telecommunications. The Authority took over the functions of the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal ...
ruled against this, and in 1994 Wesgo launched
oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...
formatted Magic 693, ending the simulcast. Magic 693's format, along with coverage of weekend AFL matches, proved successful as ratings climbed, albeit at the displacement of 3MP. In 1995, the stations were sold to
Southern Cross Broadcasting Southern Cross Broadcasting (Australia) Limited was a diversified Australian media company, that owned and operated a variety of media businesses, primarily in radio and television. History Tony Bell was managing director of the business betwe ...
, which at the time operated 3AW and 3AK, and the newsroom used by both 3EE and 3MP closed. Southern Cross Broadcasting was made to sell two stations, including 3MP. By 1996, it was sold to Goulburn Valley Broadcasters, which operated
Shepparton Shepparton () (Yorta Yorta language, Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River (Victoria), Goulburn River in northern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Mel ...
-based 3SR. In 2001, ownership of 3MP was transferred to Data and Commerce Limited, which owned and operated Melbourne AM station 3AK. In 2002, 3MP relocated its studios from Frankston to inner suburban
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 ...
where it shared facilities with 3AK.


Pacific Star era


MTR and MyMP

In December 2009, Pacific Star Network announced a joint-venture agreement with the
Macquarie Radio Network Nine Radio (formerly Macquarie Media Limited) is an Australian media company, owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and headquartered in North Sydney. The company operates radio stations nationally in the capital cities of Sydney, Melbou ...
, operators of Sydney talkback radio station 2GB, to supply radio programming into Melbourne. In April 2010, the joint-venture launched
MTR 1377 Melbourne Talk Radio (callsign 3MP) was a radio station in Melbourne that commenced broadcasting on 19 April 2010 until its closure on 2 March 2012. It replaced, and was later succeeded by, 3MP, which used the 1377 kHz frequency. The stat ...
, replacing 3MP programming on 1377 AM. The easy listening music format continued on
DAB+ Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) is a digital radio international standard, standard for broadcasting digital audio radio services in many countries around the world, defined, supported, marketed and promoted by the WorldDAB organisation. T ...
digital radio Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services. This should not be confused with In ...
branded as MyMP, albeit without announcers. Announcers returned to MyMP on 13 May 2011, including Mark Johnson, John Tamb and Eddie Olek. In October 2011, the
Australian Communications and Media Authority The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is an Australian government statutory authority within the Communications portfolio. ACMA was formed on 1 July 2005 with the merger of the Australian Broadcasting Authority and the Aus ...
, acting on a complaint, shut down a
pirate radio Pirate radio is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license, whether an invalid license or no license at all. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are rec ...
station operating from the Melbourne suburb of
Chadstone Chadstone is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Monash local government area. Chadstone recorded a population of 9,552 at the 2021 census. Landmarks in ...
, re-broadcasting the MyMP signal on AM radio. In March 2012, the MTR joint-venture entered
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...
, and on 2 March ceased broadcasting. MyMP returned to the 1377 AM frequency shortly after.


Return to AM

In April 2012, MyMP was granted a power increase to better cover the northern and western areas of Melbourne – first applied for while operating as MTR. Also in 2012, MyMP introduced 'lifestyle weekends', with Phil Wall hosting ''My Fishing'' and Richard Stockman hosting ''My Wine & Food''. Former ''
Sale of the Century ''Sale of the Century'' (stylized as ''$ale of the Century'') is an American television game show that originally debuted on September 29, 1969, on NBC daytime. It was one of three NBC game shows to premiere on that date, the other two being t ...
'' host Glenn Ridge moved into weekday mornings, hosting ''My Melbourne''. In 2015, MyMP adopted the positioner of "Melbourne's greatest hits from the 60s, 70s & 80s", and in May reverted to the 3MP brand. In July, the newsroom shared between 3MP and sister station
1116 SEN 1116 SEN (call sign 3AK) is an Australian radio station in Victoria, Australia. Owned and operated by Sports Entertainment Group, it broadcasts a sports radio format. It commenced broadcasting on 29 November 1931 as 3AK, the station currently ...
was closed, replaced with a 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, ...
. On 24 October 2016, the station relaunched as Classic Rock Radio.


SEN+ and SEN Track

On 13 August 2018, Classic Rock Radio was replaced with SEN+, an expansion of
1116 SEN 1116 SEN (call sign 3AK) is an Australian radio station in Victoria, Australia. Owned and operated by Sports Entertainment Group, it broadcasts a sports radio format. It commenced broadcasting on 29 November 1931 as 3AK, the station currently ...
. SEN+ was home to much of SEN's soccer coverage, with some additional unique cricket and racing coverage. The rest of the time it repeated the main SEN station. On 27 March 2020, SEN+ relaunched as SEN Track, a
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 ...
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 ...
station. On 5 June 2020,
ACE Radio Ace Radio Broadcasters is an Australian media company. Formed in 1984, it operates 21 commercial radio stations in Victoria and southern New South Wales, as well as the digital marketing agency Ace Digital and ''The Weekly Advertiser'', a free ...
announced it had acquired the 3MP licence.


Ace Radio era

On 3 July 2020, the station was relaunched as 3MP, returning to an easy listening music format.


Notable presenters

;Former * John Burgess *
Brian Bury Brian Frederick Bury (born 14 June 1937) is an Australian former radio and television personality and weather presenter, best known for his tenure on the Nine Network's breakfast show ''Today'' as weathermen from the program's inception in 1982 ...
* Shawn Cosgrove * Geoff Cox * Keith McGowan * Glenn Ridge * Richard Stockman


References


External links

* {{Authority control Ace Radio Easy listening radio stations in Australia Radio stations established in 1976 1976 establishments in Australia