2GB 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 ...

radio station in

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 ...

, Australia, owned by

Nine Radio 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 ...

, that also owns

2UE 2UE is an all-music radio station in Sydney owned by Nine Entertainment and run under a lease agreement by Ace Radio. It currently broadcasts from its studios in Pyrmont, New South Wales. History 1920s 2EU Electrical Utilities applied to the P ...

. 2GB broadcasts on 873

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. In 2024, 2GB held 14% of the total radio ratings share, making it one of the most widely listened-to radio stations in Sydney.

History

2GB commenced intermittent broadcasting in August 1926. The operator, Theosophical Broadcasting Station Pty Ltd, owned by interests associated with the local branch of

Theosophical Society Adyar The Theosophical Society was founded by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and others in 1875. The designation 'Adyar' is sometimes added to the name to make it clear that this is the Theosophical Society headquartered there, after the American se ...

, was granted a radio broadcasting licence for the Sydney area. The initials honour

Giordano Bruno Giordano Bruno ( , ; ; born Filippo Bruno; January or February 1548 – 17 February 1600) was an Italian philosopher, poet, alchemist, astrologer, cosmological theorist, and esotericist. He is known for his cosmological theories, which concep ...

. George A. Saunders, previously with 2BL, became 2GB's first station manager and (as "Uncle George") on-air personality in 1927. 2GB became the first Australian station to play transcription records by 1933, holding the world's largest transcribed record library at the time. The controlling interest in the station was purchased by Denison Estates Ltd in 1936. A new board of directors was appointed under chairman

Hugh Denison Sir Hugh Robert Denison KBE, originally Hugh Robert Dixson (11 November 1865 – 25 November 1940) was a businessman, parliamentarian and philanthropist in South Australia and later New South Wales. He was a member of the South Australian H ...

and included Frederick Daniell and A. E. Bennett, who continued as station manager. In what radio historian and writer Richard Lane termed "The Golden Age of Australian Radio Drama", Denison and his media adviser Daniell inaugurated the Broadcasting Service Association Players, renamed the Macquarie Players in 1938. 2GB produced local weekly serials such as ''Dolly and Dan'' and ''Doctor Mac'', and presented a full-length drama on Sunday afternoons. Writers included John E. C. Appleton, Lynn Foster, E. Mason Wood, William L. Power (who dramatised Helen de Guerry Simpson's ''Boomerang'', a series on "Famous Escapes", and ''Tales Told to Peter and Pam'', a popular children's series), E. V. Timms and Ken Pawley. Actors included

James Raglan James Raglan (6 January 1901 – 15 November 1961) was a British stage, film and television actor. In Australia Early in 1935 he was brought out to Australia with the Gabriel Toyne company by J. C. Williamson, playing ''Laburnum Grove'' and ...

Lou Vernon Lou Vernon (born Clarence Alphonse Lambert, 26 June 1888, Brisbane – 22 December 1971, Sydney) was an Australian actor of stage, radio and screen and producer. He started his career in musical comedy, and was particularly noted for his versati ...

Peter Finch Frederick George Peter Ingle Finch (28 September 191614 January 1977) was an English-Australian actor of theatre, film and radio. Born in London, he emigrated to Australia at the age of ten and was raised in Sydney, where he worked in vaudevi ...

, Betty Suttor and Harry Dearth. The station launched the Macquarie Radio Network, in February 1938, in competition with the Major Network, started by fellow Sydney station

. "Calling the Stars" was an expensive show created locally and sponsored by

Colgate-Palmolive The Colgate-Palmolive Company, commonly known as Colgate-Palmolive, is an American multinational corporation, multinational consumer products company headquartered on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company specializes in ...

. The stars of the show included comedians

Jack Davey John Andrew Davey (8 February 190714 October 1959), known as Jack Davey, was a New Zealand-born singer and pioneering star of Australian radio as a performer, producer, writer and host from the early 1930s into the late 1950s. Later in his caree ...

, `Mo’ (

Roy Rene Roy Rene (pron. ''reen''; born Henry van der Sluys, 15 February 189122 November 1954) was an Australian comedian and vaudevillian. As the bawdy character Mo McCackie, Rene was one of the most well-known and successful Australian comedians of th ...

) and Willie Fennell. Dorothy (Dilly) Foster and Rita Pauncefort read double entendres as the not too bright, "Ada and Elsie" in a script written by Foster until 1954. In 1940, the station became the largest producer of radio drama programs in the Southern Hemisphere. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 2GB provided transcription records to the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

's network of radio stations in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

and the

Pacific Islands The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...

. Station announcer Ted Harris, aided by American

Ted Schroeder Frederick Rudolph "Ted" Schroeder (July 20, 1921 – May 26, 2006) was an American tennis player who won the two most prestigious amateur tennis titles, Wimbledon and the U.S. National. He was the No. 1-ranked American amateur player in 1942 ...

, became the first man to give a direct ball-by-ball description of the

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...

from Forest Hills to Australia on 27 August 1955. Two years later, 2GB became the first Australian station to air news bulletins on the hour, every hour during its broadcast day. Prior to 1964, the controlling interest (45%) was held by Broadcasting Associates Pty Ltd, with 14% owned by

John Fairfax John Fairfax (24 October 1804 – 16 June 1877) was an English-born journalist, company director, politician, librarian and newspaper owner, known for the incorporation of the major newspapers of modern-day Australia. Early life Fairfax was bo ...

, and the balance owned by various smaller shareholders. Broadcasting Associates was owned by ATV (Australia) Pty Ltd, the Australian subsidiary of ITV company

Associated Television ATV Network Limited, originally Associated TeleVision (ATV), was a British broadcaster, part of the ITV (TV network), ITV (Independent Television) network. It provided a service to London at weekends from 1955 to 1968, to the Midlands on week ...

. In 1964, Fairfax purchased ATV's Australian assets, including the 45% share in 2GB. Although the ownership of the station has subsequently passed to strictly commercial interests, the Theosophical Society was still presenting programmes on the station as late as 1975.

Ray Hadley Raymond Morris Hadley (born 27 September 1954) is a retired Australian talkback radio broadcaster and a rugby league football commentator for Channel Nine. He presents 2GB Sydney's Monday to Friday morning show, and leads the Continuous C ...

, previously with

, became a presenter at the station in 2001. 2GB had a standby mast and its original 873 AM transmitter tower at Wentworth Point at

Homebush Bay Homebush Bay is a bay on the south bank of the Parramatta River, in the west of Sydney, Australia. The name is also sometimes used to refer to an area to the west and south of the bay itself, which was formerly an official suburb of Sydney, a ...

. Its location was visible via the Ryde Bridge, and also via the train line to Rhodes and Concord train stations. Due to a redevelopment occurring on the same land, the tower was brought down on Friday 11 September 2015. A month or two before, a new tower was erected for 2GB and is now situated at the 2KY transmitter site, also in Homebush. In October 2012, following the Alan Jones "died of shame" controversy, 2GB suspended advertising on the Alan Jones show. This decision was reversed in October 2012, but many advertisers declined to return to sponsoring the program. In June 2014, Michael Smith was fired as fill-in commentator for calling

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

paedophile Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of pube ...

; Program Director David Kidd referred to Muhammad as a deity.

Merger

On 1 April 2015 The Macquarie Radio Network merged with the Fairfax Radio Network of

Fairfax Media Fairfax Media was a media (communication), media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased ''The ...

. The news teams of 2UE and 2GB are being merged with "significant job cuts." Consequently, on 9 April 2015 the 2UE newsroom was closed.

Callsign and frequency

The number 2 of the callsign refers to the state of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, which also has

postcode A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or numerical digit, digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, inclu ...

s starting with 2. The two letters GB indicate an AM station, and were chosen to honour the Italian philosopher

, who was much admired by Theosophists. Its original frequency allocation was 950 kHz and moved to 870 kHz in 1935,Wavelengths and Frequencies
''The Argus (Melbourne)'' 16 February 1935 Retrieved 16 September 2011 then to 873 on 23 November 1978, when channel separation was reduced from 10 kHz to 9 kHz as a result of an international medium wave frequency realignment. It has also been attributed to Grace Brothers the department store building where the station originally broadcast from.

Current presenters

Monday to Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Former presenters

Brian Carlton Brian Carlton (born 27 December 1962) is an Australian radio announcer, producer and journalist. He is known professionally as The Spoonman. Biography Carlton was born in Australia, into a Catholic household. He grew up in Beacon Hill on Syd ...

* Philip Clark *

Bob Dyer Robert Neal Dyer OBE (22 May 1909 – 9 January 1984) was a Gold Logie-award-winning American-born vaudeville entertainer and singer, radio and television personality, and radio and television quiz show host who made his name in Australia. Dy ...

* Terry Dear * John Dease * Ken Howard (race caller) * John Tapp (race caller) * John Pearce *

Gwen Plumb Gwendoline Jean Plumb Member of the Order of Australia, AM British Empire Medal, BEM (2 August 1912 – 5 June 2002), was an Australian performer of international appeal, actress and comedian active in literally every form of the art genre, (exc ...

* Dita Cobb * Ian McRae * Grant Goldman (formerly with

2SM 2SM is an Australian radio station, licensed to and serving Sydney, broadcasting on 1269 kilohertz on the AM band. It is owned and operated by Broadcast Operations Group. The SM call sign is taken from the initials of Saint Mary's. 2SM's prog ...

) *

Tim Webster Tim Webster (born 15 December 1951) is an Australian television and radio personality and sports broadcaster. He held various presenting roles on Network 10 from 1981 until 2008. Career Early career In 1972, Webster started working for B ...

(now with 2CH) * Jim Wilson * Malcolm T. Elliott *

John Laws Richard John Sinclair Laws CBE (born 8 August 1935) is a retired Australian radio announcer who had a broadcasting career that spanned 71 years. His distinctive voice earned him the nickname ''Golden Tonsils''. Career Best known as a talkback ...

Mike Carlton Michael James Carlton, (born 31 January 1946) is an Australian former media commentator, radio host, television journalist, author and newspaper columnist. He formerly co-hosted the daily breakfast program on Sydney radio station 2UE with Pete ...

* Bob Rogers * Peter Hand * Owen Delaney (Australia Overnight) * Jason Morrison * Jim Ball * Luke Bona * Alan Jones *

Terry Willesee Terence Joseph Willesee (born 27 April 1945) is a retired Australian journalist, television and radio presenter. Family Willesee is the son of Gwendoline Clark Willesee and Don Willesee, a long-time member of the Australian Senate, and Whitlam ...

Kerri-Anne Kennerley Kerri-Anne Kennerley (née Wright; born 22 September 1953) is an Australian television and radio presenter, actress and singer. She has more than 50 years in the industry, and is an inductee into the Logie Hall of Fame. Kennerley co-hosted Netw ...

Stan Zemanek Stan Zemanek (29 May 1947 – 12 July 2007) was an Australian shock jock, radio broadcaster, television presenter, radio producer and author who presented a night-time show on The Macquarie Network station 2UE in Sydney and which was networked ...

Graham Richardson Graham Frederick Richardson (born 27 September 1949) is an Australian former Labor Party politician who was a Senator for New South Wales from 1983 to 1994 and served as a Cabinet Minister in both the Hawke and Keating governments. He is c ...

* Clive Robertson * Glenn Wheeler * Brian Wilshire * Ross Greenwood * Steve Price * Ron Casey * Chris O'Keefe *

* Mike Jeffreys

References

External links

Brief History
– transcript of talk by Alan Jones on the early history of this station and others
Talkback Radio 2GB 873 AM

Macquarie National News
{{DEFAULTSORT:2 gb Radio stations in Sydney Radio stations established in 1926 News and talk radio stations in Australia Nine Radio Giordano Bruno 1926 establishments in Australia