Hot FM was a radio network broadcasting to

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. Owned and operated by

Southern Cross Austereo Southern Cross Media Group Limited, Trade name, doing business as Southern Cross Austereo, is an Australian media company which operates broadcast radio and Terrestrial television, television stations. It is the largest radio broadcaster in Au ...

, the stations broadcast a mix of local and networked programming. On 15 December 2016, the stations were merged into the

Hit Network The Hit Network is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 41 radio stations broadcasting a hot adult contemporary music format, as well as 6 digital radio stations. Histor ...

History

The first Hot FM branded station was launched in

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 ...

Rural Press Australian Community Media (ACM) is a media company in Australia responsible for over 160 regional publications. Its mastheads include the '' Canberra Times'', '' Newcastle Herald'', '' The Examiner'', '' The Border Mail'', '' The Courier'' and ...

in 1994. This was followed by successive launches in Mackay and

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 ...

, before a sale to DMG Regional Radio saw the brand expand throughout Queensland and into Western Australia. In 2004, Hot FM and its heritage sister stations - including the RadioWest network in Western Australia - were sold to

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 2005, following DMG's purchase of an FM radio licence in

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 ...

, Hot 91.1 Sunshine Coast was sold to A Investments, and later to

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 ...

. Under DMG's ownership, network stations broadcast a variety of local and networked programming, from network hubs based in Townsville, Bunbury,

Albury Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

and the Gold Coast. Following the merger of Southern Cross Media with

Austereo Austereo was an Australian mass media company based in Melbourne. It was founded in 1980 by Paul Thompson, and operated 16 radio stations in metropolitan and regional Australia under the Today Network and Triple M brands. In 2011, the company ...

in February 2011, the Hot FM network - along with regional counterparts

Sea FM Sea FM was an Australian radio network, consisting of stations in Queensland and NSW owned by Southern Cross Austereo. Some Sea FM stations were later sold to meet media ownership requirements. Prime Television Limited purchased Sea FM Towns ...

and Star FM - became more closely aligned with the

Today Network The Hit Network is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 41 radio stations broadcasting a hot adult contemporary music format, as well as 6 digital radio stations. Histor ...

, including networking programming from 2DayFM Sydney and Fox FM Melbourne. On 15 December 2016, as part of a national brand consolidation by parent company

, the stations were merged into the

List of stations

As of 14 December 2016, the Hot FM network comprised 8 stations: * Hot FM Cairns * Hot FM Central Queensland * Hot FM Charters Towers (Owned & operated by

Resonate Broadcasting Resonate Broadcasting is an Australian media company, operating radio stations across various centres across regional Queensland, as well as Hawaii. Formed in 2008, it currently operates 16 radio stations across Australia and the United States. ...

) * Hot FM Mackay * Hot FM Mount Isa * Hot FM Queensland * Hot FM Townsville * Hot FM Western Australia

References

{{Southern Cross Austereo Defunct Australian radio networks Southern Cross Media Group Radio stations established in 1994 Radio stations disestablished in 2016