Broadcast Operations Group is an Australian media company, operating radio stations across various centres across regional

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 ...

and Queensland, Australia. Branded as the Super Radio Network, stations carry one of two formats – a news talk and classic hits format based at 2SM Sydney; and a

hot 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 based at New FM

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

. In June 2019, the Group acquired 2BS and B-Rock FM in Bathurst from local proprietors Ron and Stephanie Camplin. 2BS immediately replaced its broadcast of ''The Ray Hadley Morning Show'' with ''The

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 ...

Show'', syndicated from 2SM. On 19 July 2024, founder and owner Bill Caralis died as a result of a heart attack at the age of 81. In December 2024, the company expanded again, taking over the stations of Coastal Broadcasters in Far North Queensland.

Radio stations

As of , Broadcast Operations Group operates 50 radio stations. 22 of these stations form their AM network, mostly broadcast on

AM radio AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transmi ...

and featuring local news, music and syndicated talkback programming. * 2AD 1134 Armidale * 2BH 567 Broken Hill * 2BS 95.1 Bathurst * 2DU 1251 Dubbo, 972 Cobar * 2EL 1089 Orange * 2GF 89.5 Grafton * 2HC 639 Coffs Harbour (also on 100.5 FM) * 2HD 1143 Newcastle, 97.5 FM Port Stephens, 90.5 FM Lake Macquarie * 2LF 1350 Young, 105.3 Cootamundra, 100.7 Cowra, 100.7 Grenfell, 104.9 Temora * 2LM 900 Lismore, 104.3 Kyogle * 2MG 97.1 Mudgee, 101.5 Kandos * 2MO 1080 Gunnedah, 103.3 Coonabarabran * 2NZ 1188 Inverell * 2PK 1404 Parkes * 2RE 88.9 Taree * 2SM 1269 Sydney * TMFM 95.5 Tamworth * 2VM 1530 Moree/Narrabri, 89.5 Goondiwindi, 92.9 Lightning Ridge, 103.5 Collarenebri, 106.7 Walgett, 105.5 Mungindi * 4GY 558 Gympie, 107.1 Noosa * 4AK 1242 Oakey/Toowoomba, 99.5 Stanthorpe * Cruze FM 531 Kempsey, 93.5 Port Macquarie * Radio 97 972 Murwillumbah, 103.5 Mullumbimby, 104.1 Currumbin/Gold Coast A further 16 stations form the FM network, broadcast mainly on

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 ...

with

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 and syndicated programming: * 4WK 963 Warwick, 95.5 Toowoomba, 91.5 Stanthorpe, 95.9 Dalby * B-Rock 99.3 Bathurst * FM92.9 Tamworth * FM100.3 Armidale * FM104.7 Grafton * Gem FM 95.1 Inverell * Hill FM 96.5 Broken Hill * Max FM 107.3 Taree * New FM 105.3 Newcastle * Now FM 98.3 Moree/Narrabri, 88.7 Goondiwindi, 91.3 Lightning Ridge, 101.9 Collarenebri, 105.1 Walgett, 101.7 Mungindi * Real FM 93.1 Mudgee * Roccy FM 93.9 Young * The Rok 95.5 Parkes * Triple G 97.5 Gunnedah * Zoo FM 92.7 Dubbo * ZZZ FM 100.9 Lismore In addition, the Group broadcasts four stations 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 ...

in Sydney, alongside simulcasting 2SM: * Fun Super Digi, playing classic hits music * Dance Super Digi, playing 1990s and 2000s dance music * Gorilla Radio, playing

electronic dance music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...

* Zoo Super Digi, playing

music Finally, the Group owns 8 stations in

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

and

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns, Queensland, Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stret ...

, which have not yet been placed in to either Super Radio Network feed. *

8HA 8HA is a radio station based in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia. It broadcasts on the medium wave radio band, at a frequency of 900 kHz. It also broadcasts on radio channel 42 on the Optus Aurora Optus Aurora was a free-to-vie ...

900 Alice Springs, 100.5 Yulara, running mostly

, while taking overnight talk from the AM Network. *

Sun FM Sun FM may refer to: * Nation Radio North East's previous name * Sun FM (Sri Lanka), an English language radio station based in Sri Lanka * CICF-FM, a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 105.7 FM in Vernon, British Columbia, using the on-air br ...

96.9 Alice Springs, running a

Contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

format. * Tourist Gold 98.7 Alice Springs, running a mixture of tourist information and classic hits. * 4KZ 531 Innisfail, 94.7 Cardwell, 90.3 Tully, 102.5 North Innisfail, 1611 Gulf of Carpentaria, running a

full service Full service or Full Service may refer to: Entertainment Books * ''Full Service'' (book), a 2012 memoir by Scotty Bowers * '' Full Service No Waiting'', a 1998 album by Peter Case Music * "Full Service", a song by the New Kids on the Block fr ...

format. * Kool FM 98.3 Innisfail, 94.9 Babinda, 94.9 Bramston Beach, 91.9 Cardwell, running

* 4AY 873 Innisfail, running

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

* 4AM 558 Mareeba, 1422 Port Douglas, 91.3 Ravenshoe, running a

format. * Kik FM 88.7 Mareeba, 87.6 Ravenshoe, 88.0 Normanton, 88.0 Croydon, running

Controversy

Senate Inquiry

The BOG was cited in several instances during a Senate Inquiry into Regional Radio. There had been concerns raised as to loss of localism due to networking of radio stations. Bill Caralis was asked to appear several times at various hearings around the country, but never attende

Local Content

In October 2009, Broadcast Operations Group was named by the ABC's Media Watch (TV program), Media Watch program for failing to provide sufficient local content as stipulated by ACMA licence conditions. Media Watch identified three stations; 2HC Coffs Harbour, 2EL Orange and Radio 531 Port Macquarie, which all took the Grant Goldman breakfast show feed out of 2SM in Sydney and failed to meet local content conditions. In response to enquiries by Media Watch, Caralis stated that he believed local news, weather and community announcements played during the Grant Goldman program was sufficient to meet ACMA's licence conditions. As a result, ACMA launched an investigation into the matter. As of November 2009, this investigation was ongoing, however, as of 30 November 2009, the three aforementioned stations commenced broadcasting a three-hour locally produced program from 12 pm weekdays.

Underpayment of staff

Broadcast Operations Group has often been accused of a reluctance to pay experienced staff to cut operating costs. In September 2009, Broadcast Operations Group was found to have underpaid a journalist and has been ordered to make a $10,000 back payment. The journalist, who was studying communications at a Gold Coast university, worked part-time over a two-year period in the newsroom for Tweed Heads radio station Radio 97 was graded as a cadet. The

Fair Work Ombudsman The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) (or formally, the Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman), is an independent statutory agency of the Government of Australia that serves as the central point of contact for free advice and information on the Australian ...

found that the Journalist was performing tasks that would normally be given to a Grade 1, Band 1 journalist under the Commercial Radio Journalists Award.

References

{{National radio networks in Australia Australian radio networks