1197 AM Switch Brisbane (call sign: 4BI) is a community broadcast radio station operated by Brisbane Interactive Radio Group Inc., which is a community-based not-for-profit youth organisation based in
Brisbane, Queensland,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. The station also simulcasts its programming output on
Digital Radio.
History
Brisbane Interactive Radio Group Inc. (BIRGI) was founded in 1998 by Matthew Boyd, Tim Casey, Andrew Stephens, Steven Mcveigh, Jon Mustchin and Cass Myles, and was granted a series of temporary radio broadcasting licences, allowing shared transmissions with other aspirant broadcasters on 97.3 MHz between 1999 and 2001, then in 2001 the 97.3 frequency was auctioned to the
Australian Radio Network, to become what was then known as
97.3, The New FM.
In 2002, the
Australian Broadcasting Authority granted a high-powered FM community licence to Christian broadcaster
96five Family FM on 96.5
MHz
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 u ...
, and a high-powered AM community licence to BIRGI on 1197
kHz.
BIRGI commenced test transmissions in late 2002 and began full-time broadcasting at 8am on 7 April 2003, identifying as i-1197. From this period until January 2005, the station broadcast an uninhibited range of music genres and programming, with a slight focus on Top 40 music.
In January 2005, the station was re-branded to the programming format based upon its predecessor, Switch FM, focusing on playing a more
Rhythmic format, along with adopting the brand name of Switch 1197. In April 2013, the station celebrated its 10th consecutive broadcasting year on the AM band, by airing daily compiles of material collected both on and off-air over that decade-long period.
In 2017, the station re-branded as Brisbane Youth Radio, with a new callsign of 4YB.
In 2019, the station was re-branded once again from Brisbane Youth Radio to 1197 AM.
In 2020, Matthew Boyd, who was a founding member of BIRGI, took over the station, reverting many of the changes made by the former management, and changing the name back to Switch, this time as Switch Brisbane, deemphasizing the AM transmission.
Audio streaming
In 2004, the station was the first radio station in Australia to stream with aacPlus technology and it continues to provide both near CD quality (64 kbit/s) and Mobile (32 kbit/s) compatible streams, as well as a 128k MP3 stream.
In 2007, the station was added to the Internode Broadband Radio Streams that are provided by Australian ISP
Internode.
Programming
The stations general weekday daytime programming contains a
Rhythmic format, with various information segments mixed in, most with a specific focus on local events and community services for the Youth.
The stations night-time and weekend programming, as required by the licence, focuses on more specialist program material including specialist talk and information programming.
See also
*
List of radio stations in Australia
References
External links
Official websiteSwitch Brisbane Facebook
{{AusStudentMedia
Radio stations in Brisbane
Community radio stations in Australia
Radio stations established in 2003