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KIIS 1011 (official callsign: 3TTT) is a
commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...
FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting that uses frequency modulation (FM) of the radio broadcast carrier wave. Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to transmit high fidelity, high-f ...
station broadcasting in
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 ...
,
Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...
, on a frequency of 101.1 MHz and is the Melbourne affiliate of 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. ...
. The station was formerly known as 3DB and 3TT, broadcasting on 1026 kHz AM, before converting to FM in 1990.


History


3DB

3DB was awarded its broadcast licence in 1925 but did not immediately come on air due to debates in Federal Parliament as to whether or not Australia should proceed with the then-unique system of A Class (later ABC) and B Class (later commercial) stations. Griffen-Foley, Bridget, ''Changing Stations: The Story of Australian Commercial Radio'',
University of New South Wales Press The University of New South Wales Press Ltd. is an Australian academic book publishing company launched in 1962 and based in Randwick, a suburb of Sydney. The ACNC not-for-profit entity has three divisions: NewSouth Publishing (the publishing arm ...
, 2009, Sydney
The station was originally owned by Druleigh Business and Technical College Pty Ltd,McLaughlin, Bill, ''From Wireless to Radio: The 3DB Story'', Herald & Weekly Times Melbourne, 1985 hence the callsign DB. 3DB eventually made its on-air debut on 21 February 1927 in a fairly low-key manner. From 1929 until 1987, 3DB was owned and operated by the Herald & Weekly Times (HWT), owners of '' The Herald'' and '' The Sun News-Pictorial'', then separate
newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
s. For most of this era 3DB was one of Melbourne's most popular stations, topping ratings surveys for some decades. 3DB was extremely popular in all fields in which it broadcast. Music ranged from
pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...
and
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 ...
to classical, some of it live. The station was also a big producer of
radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the liste ...
(including
soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
s), live variety programs, quizzes, etc. 3DB also transmitted many sporting events, particularly
horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...
, VFL football, and
test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...
from England. 3DB's women's programs and children's session were also popular. One of the most important people in 3DB's history was David Thomas Worrall, who was appointed manager of the station by the ''Herald and Weekly Times'' Sir
Keith Murdoch Sir Keith Arthur Murdoch (12 August 1885 – 4 October 1952) was an Australian journalist and media proprietor who was the founder of the Murdoch media empire. He amassed significant media holdings in Australia which after his death were expan ...
in 1929, and who was to remain as manager until 1958. He was responsible for introducing many big budget programs. From 1942 onwards, 3DB was the radio broadcaster of the
Royal Children's Hospital The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH), colloquially referred to as the Royal Children's, is a major children's hospital in Parkville, Victoria, Parkville, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Regarded as one of the great C ...
's Good Friday Appeal and played a major part in promoting the appeal, with the sums raised annually increasing dramatically from 1942 onwards.Carty, Bruce, ''On the Air: Australian Radio History'', privately published, 2011, Gosford, N.S.W. After purchasing the
Geelong Advertiser The ''Geelong Advertiser'' is a daily newspaper circulating in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, the Bellarine Peninsula, and surrounding areas. First published on 21 November 1840, the ''Geelong Advertiser'' is the oldest newspaper title in Victo ...
and its subsidiary 3GL in 1987, the Herald and Weekly Times owned more than one station in the Melbourne/Geelong region and, thus, was required by the
Australian Broadcasting Tribunal The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is an Government of Australia, Australian government statutory authority within the Department of Communications and the Arts, Communications portfolio. ACMA was formed on 1 July 2005 wit ...
to divest itself of one station. 3DB was sold and actually had four owners for short periods in the 12 months of 1987. J Albert & Son, a
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
based music company and owners of 2UW, purchased 3DB in late 1987 and changed the
call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...
to 3TT. The last program to be broadcast under the 3DB call sign, in the very early hours of 2 April 1988, was a repeat of
Bert Newton Albert Watson Newton (23 July 1938 – 30 October 2021) was an Australian media personality. He was a Logie Hall of Fame inductee, quadruple Gold Logie–winning entertainer, and radio, theatre and television personality and compère. Ne ...
's 1987 documentary on the 60th anniversary of 3DB.


3TT

The 3TT station name and a classic hits format were launched at 5.00 am on 2 April 1988. The first song played was
The Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in San Jose, California in 1970. Known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies, the band has been active for over five decades, with their greate ...
" Listen to the Music". The major reason cited for the change of name was the fact that 3DB had recently broadcast under the slogan ''3DB - The New Beginning'' and it was felt that that would have made it difficult to dramatically change the format whilst retaining the name, 3DB. However, the new owners had actually considered a few other new call-signs, particularly names which included the same initial being repeated twice, such as 3BB or 3MM. Lawrence Costin who had been on the 3DB announcing staff for over 30 years was the only 3DB on-air personality to be retained by 3TT; as a newsreader and reporter.


From AM to FM

At midnight on 23-24 June 1990 the station converted to FM broadcasting on 101.1 MHz. 3DB/3TT's old AM frequency of 1026 AM was returned to the government, and from 1991, it was used by the ABC for 3PB, which broadcast intermittently with live coverage of federal parliament. In 1994, 3PB became a full-time news and parliament station
ABC NewsRadio ABC NewsRadio, since 2017 broadcast under the ABC News brand and for a short time known as ABC News on Radio, is a 24-hour news radio service broadcast by the Australian public broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). ABC ...
. The events leading up to the transference of 3TT's licence to the
FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting that uses frequency modulation (FM) of the radio broadcast carrier wave. Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to transmit high fidelity, high-f ...
band are quite complicated and political. Broadcasting on the FM band commenced in the US as early as 1933. There had been Australian experiments on the FM band in earlier years, but in the 1970s the Whitlam Labor government decided to issue the first permanent FM licences in Australia to community radio stations. The first such licence in Melbourne was issued to
3MBS 3MBS is an FM radio station in Victoria, Australia, and began transmitting to Melbourne and surrounding areas on 1 July 1975. Since then it has operated successfully as a non-profit community-based organisation broadcasting classical and jazz mus ...
in 1975. The
Fraser Fraser may refer to: Places Antarctica * Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands Australia * Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen * Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal ...
coalition government continued the Whitlam policy and expanded the range of FM broadcasters, firstly by introducing the Australia-wide ABC FM network. This was followed by a number of brand new commercial stations; the first to open in Melbourne being EON FM. Not surprisingly, there were protests from commercial stations on the AM band because they were not able to bid for stations on the FM band. This was seen by many as a big problem as FM was then seen as the future of radio broadcasting, and many stations who had pioneered the commercial side of the Australian industry saw themselves as being left out of its future development, even though many of them - including 3TT - had a history dating back to the 1920s. The Fraser government was not prepared to allocate FM licences to all AM stations, which is what the industry wanted, and what had occurred in many overseas countries. However, under some pressure, in the late 1980s the government decided to transfer one or two stations in the major cities from the AM to FM band, using a much criticised auction-style system in which those stations wishing to transfer bands were to put in bids, with the highest bids being accepted. In Melbourne the two highest bids were to be accepted, with six of the seven existing AM stations placing bids. (The exception being 3AW which argued that its older listening-base preferred the AM band to the FM band.) The three highest bids were received from:
3KZ GOLD104.3 (call sign: 3KKZ) is a radio station broadcasting in Melbourne, Australia. It is part of ARN Media's Gold Network and broadcasts on the 104.3 MHz frequency. History 3KZ 3KZ commenced operations on 8 December 1930. The radio station ...
- $32 million; 3AK - $22 million; and 3TT - $11 million. The vast disparity in the bids suggests that there was no collusion between stations, and virtually no industrial espionage. Further,
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 ...
which had put in an even lower bid was quite convinced that it would get one of the two FM licences being offered. In 1987,
Kerry Packer Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...
of Australian Consolidated Press had sold the Nine Television Network to Alan Bond, and 3AK was included in the deal, even though Bond had made it clear that he was interested in the TV stations but not in radio - he therefore defaulted on his payment for an FM licence. The second Melbourne FM licence on offer was, therefore, eventually given to the third-highest bidder, 3TT.


TT-FM

Initially from opening on 24 June 1990, 3TTT retained the format of 3TT, using the on-air name 101.1 TT-FM. The first song that aired on TT-FM was "
In the Air Tonight "In the Air Tonight" is the debut solo single by English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released as the lead single from Collins's debut solo album, ''Face Value (album), Face Value'', in January 1981. It was selected as the s ...
" by
Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...
. In 1993, TT-FM was relaunched as an adult contemporary music station.


Mix 101.1

In June 2001, the station rebranded to Mix 101.1 after joining the
Mix Network Mix networks are routing protocols that create hard-to-trace communications by using a chain of proxy servers known as ''mixes'' which take in messages from multiple senders, shuffle them, and send them back out in random order to the next dest ...
. The station was similar to Mix 106.5 in Sydney in creating an emphasis on more music and less talk. The last song that aired on Mix 101.1 was " Bye Bye Bye" by
NSYNC NSYNC ( ; also stylized as *NSYNC or N Sync) was an American vocal group and pop boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich. The group consists of Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez, ...
.


KIIS 101.1

In November 2014, 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 ...
announced that Mix 101.1 would rebrand to KIIS 101.1 on 19 January 2015 with a new breakfast and drive show. '' Matt & Jane'' replaced '' Chrissie & Jane'' in the station's breakfast timeslot, with existing presenter Jane Hall to remain alongside former Fox FM breakfast and
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 ...
drive host Matt Tilley. ''Rosso on Drive'' was replaced by '' Hughesy & Kate'', hosted by
Dave Hughes David William Hughes is an Australian stand-up comedian, television and radio presenter. He is known for his larrikin personality, drawling Australian accent, and deadpan comedic delivery. Hughes has previously been co-host of '' Hughesy & K ...
and Kate Langbroek and formerly of Nova 100 breakfast. Both shows began on 19 January 2015, with the latter being networked across the
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. ...
of stations. In October 2015, Jane Hall announced that she would be leaving the station and '' Matt & Jane'' at the end of the year to return to acting. She was replaced by Nova 100 breakfast co-host
Meshel Laurie Meshel Laurie (born Michelle Laurie 29 May 1973) is an Australian podcaster and author. Comedy career Laurie's first Melbourne International Comedy Festival show was ''Dairy Belles'' which she performed with Corinne Grant. In 1998 she was gr ...
. In October 2017, ARN announced that Matt Tilley, Meshel Laurie, Dave Hughes and Kate Langbroek would leave the station at the end of the year. ''Matt & Meshel'' was replaced by Jason 'Jase' Hawkins and Polly 'PJ' Harding. Will McMahon and Woody Whitelaw from Hit 92.9 have been announced as the new drive hosts. '' Hughesy & Kate'' moved to
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 ...
's
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 ...
to replace '' Hamish & Andy''. In July 2021, ARN announced that Jason 'Jase' Hawkins would be joined by Lauren Phillips with '' Jase & Lauren'' starting 9 August following Polly 'PJ' Harding's departure from the station on July 23, 2021. In November 2023, after months of media speculation, it was announced that ''
The Kyle and Jackie O Show ''The Kyle and Jackie O Show'' is an Australian breakfast radio show hosted by Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O (radio host), Jackie O on KIIS 106.5 in Sydney and KIIS 101.1 in Melbourne. The show is syndicated in the late drive slot on the KIIS N ...
'' would be networked from KIIS 106.5 Sydney in 2024 effectively ending '' Jase & Lauren.'' The final show aired on Friday 1 December 2023. In March 2024, '' Jase & Lauren'' replaced '' Ben, Liam & Belle'' to host breakfast on Nova 100. In March 2024, ARN announced changes to its daytime programming with Gordie Waters being networked from Sydney into Melbourne and KIIS 97.3 in Brisbane from April. Byron Cooke had previously announced his resignation.


Studios

3DB's original studio was on the 10th floor of Capitol House, above the Capitol Theatre,
Swanston Street Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia. It was laid out in 1837 as part of the original Hoddle Grid. The street vertically bisects Melbourne's city centre and is famous as the wor ...
, next to the Druleigh Business and Technical College, original owners of the station. In 1929, a short while after the HWT purchased 3DB, the studios and offices were moved to 74 Flinders Street, to the east of the HWT building on the corner of Flinders and Exhibition Streets. In 1966 the HWT truck dock was expanded, and in the process 74 Flinders Street was pulled down, with the station then moving to 61 Flinders Lane, immediately behind the HWT building. When 3DB became 3TT the station continued to broadcast from 61 Flinders Lane, but within a short time, in December 1988, 3TT moved to new studios in Queensbridge Street,
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 ...
. The station is now located in the inner suburb of Richmond in the Pelaco building, sharing facilities with sister station Gold 104.3.


References


External links


KIIS 1011
{{Melbourne FM Adult top 40 radio stations Australian Radio Network Contemporary hit radio stations in Australia Radio stations established in 1927 Radio stations in Melbourne 1927 establishments in Australia