B105 FM
From Free net encyclopedia
B105 FM is one of Brisbane, Australia's commercial FM radio stations, primarily targeted at those in the 10 to 24 age group. It is part of the Austereo radio network and broadcasts on 105.3 MHz. Its official callsign is 4BBB.
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Station history
The station started on the medium wave band at 1296 kHz, with the callsign 4BK. In 1987, the Austereo group purchased the station, whose ratings had been poor, intending to use it as a vehicle to bid for an FM conversion licence.
Subsequently, Austereo won the licence, and in February 1990, the station changed its callsign to 4BBB (not used on-air, unlike the previous AM callsign) and commenced broadcasting on a frequency of 105.3 MHz with the name B105. It became incredibly successful in a short period of time; by March of that year, it was the highest rating station in Brisbane, a position it retained for the next fifteen years in all but one ratings survey. Many attributed the success of the station to breakfast host Jamie Dunn, a well known and respected Brisbane comic.
Studios
The 4BK studio complex was located at 16 Campbell Street, Bowen Hills. The complex was converted to an FM facility in 1990 and commenced broadcasting as B105 FM. The studio complex remained at the Bowen Hills location until August 2000, when owners Austereo relocated B105 and sister station Triple M into new combined premesis at 309 North Quay, Brisbane. The new complex was the first in Australia to use the revolutionary Klotz digital audio system.
Transmission
B105 has always transmitted from the Channel Ten tower at Mount Coot-tha Brisbane. It originally used Harris HT10 tube transmitters to deliver the service, however in 2002 a new solid state Harris Z10CD transmitter was installed at the newly created TX Australia facility under the Channel Ten tower. The existing HT10 transmitter now serves as a backup facility located at the Channel Seven tower, 1 km away from Channel Ten on Mount Coot-tha.
B105's base power is 5 kilowatts.
The B105 Morning Crew
For 16 years the B105 Morning Crew was the cornerstone to the station's rating success. Originally being made up of Jamie Dunn, Ian Skippen and Donna Lynch, it went under the name "Jamie Dunn and the B105 Morning Crew". Donna Lynch left in the 1990s, and was replaced by Robyn Bailey. Bailey was shifted to Drive in 2002, making way for Penny Cooper.
The success of "the Crew", as they became known, can be contributed to many things, but the most well known and most loved segment was that of Lord Mayor Jim (who was voiced by Ian Calder). Jim was a parody of Brisbane Lord Mayor Jim Soorely, and rang up every morning at 7:10AM, giving his versions on what was happening around the city, state, country and world. When Soorely retired from the Lord Mayor's position, Lord Mayor Jim was renamed Citizen Jim by a listener in a competition. Jim was retired from the airwaves in mid-2005 with little to no information being given as to why.
Other segments of the B105 Morning Crew that were also memorable were the daily Skits, which were often voiced by Jamie Dunn and Ian Calder, as well as the Bennetts, which made it's on air debut in 2003. The Bennetts were a parody of the life of Wayne Bennett and the Brisbane Broncos, who were all a family that did highly interesting and comedical things.
B105 Morning Crew members
- Jamie Dunn (1990 to 2005)
- Ian Skippen (1990 to 2004)
- Dean Kesby (2005)
- Donna Lynch (1990 to ?)
- Robyn Bailey (? to 2001)
- Penny Cooper (2002 to 2005)
Ratings downturn
In 2004 Austereo made the unexpected move of shifting the anchor of the B105 Morning Crew, Ian Skippen, to anchor a new show on sister station Triple M. Skippen was replaced by long serving and well respected Drive announcer Dean Kesby.
While Skippen and the new Triple M breakfast team enjoyed huge success, B105's fortunes declined. Skippen's popularity took off in his new role, and the introduction of DMG's new FM station Nova 106 hurt B105 in a way it had never experienced in it's entire history. The station dropped to third position in the ratings. It was time for action.
Breakfast shake up
On Wednesday, September 21, 2005, B105 announced the departure of long serving breakfast host Jamie Dunn. Dunn had resigned after talks with management failed to secure him a contracted future with B105.
The departure of Jamie Dunn spelled the death of 'The Morning Crew', and the well loved and long running show officially signed off the air for good on Friday December 2nd, 2005 with an outside broadcast at the Royal Brisbane Children's Hospital, a culmination of the annual Christmas Appeal which raises money for the hospital fund. The appeal raised more than $550,000 in 2005. Dunn broke down when delivering his final words, thanking the listeners for their support over his 16 year career. General manager Richard Barker also broke down when presenting gifts to the crew.
Austereo made a big mistake however, in allowing former B105 breakfast anchor Ian Skippen to "Gatecrash" the final broadcast. At around 7.30am Skippen appeared on stage in Triple M gear, and used the time on air (broadcast on both 4MMM and B105) to shamelessly promote Triple M and his new show under the guise of contributing $2,000 to the appeal. Dunn held it together but was unimpressed, saying later "How to get every TV station in Brisbane for $2,000. Good on you, Skippen,". It was a blow to the poignant end of a radio era.
Dunn has since signed a ten year contract with a Sunshine Coast Station, Noosa Heat 96.1 FM and commenced broadasting with them in 2006.
Former co-host Penny Cooper was made redundant, and left the station on December 2nd, 2005.
Anchor Dean Kesby hung up his headphones in January 2006, and became program director of Newcastle FM stations KOFM and NXFM.
B105's New Breakfast show
After the announcement of Dunn's departure from B105, the station began trialling possible candidates for the new Breakfast Show by having a Drive program that ran from 4PM-6PM. It began with "Katie, Ryan and Whipper", then "Stav and Mike" (with B105's AV anchoring), then "Stav, Mike and Whipper", then "Stav, Mike, Whipper and Gabby. B105 chose to go with Gabby, Mike and Stav, along with Ben Wasley, who had previously anchored Austereo's The Arvo.
Members
Gabby Millgate
The Australian comedic film actress who delivered the line, "You're terrible Muriel" in the classic aussie film "Muriel's Wedding". Millgate also appeared in the 2003 series of "Celebrity Big Brother" in which she shared the famous house for weeks with the likes of Dylan Lewis, Adriana Xenides and Sara Marie Fidel. Millgate is well known for her knack with sketch comedy, appearing in aussie sketch shows such as "Fast Forward". On the show she is known as "Gab" or "Gabby".
Mike van Acker
Brisbane born and based comedian who has headlined every major comedy venue in Australia. On the show he is known as "Mike".
Stewart "Stav" Davidson
Made the finals of Triple J's Raw Comedy Competition in 2000, won the Bacardi Breezer New Comic of the Year competition in 2000 and was invited to perform on The Comedy Channel’s “Hahn Ice Headliners”. Known on the show as "Stav".
Ben Wasley
This bald headed chappy is no newcomer to aussie radio. Ben has worked on air at various stations around Australia since 1989 developing a lot of experience over that time, including:-
- Hosting a weekly radio countdown in Perth as Bad Boy Ben from 1993 - 2000
- Anchoring Austereo's short lived drive program The Arvo with Judith Lucy
- Producing the radio version of Rove McManus' TV show, Saturday Morning Rove.
- Anchoring the ill fated Judith Lucy breakfast show on 2day FM in sydney
- Anchored and produced Rove Live Radio and the Peter Helliar Show, all on Austereo stations.
A thoroughly likeable character, Ben is undoubtedly one of the country's most promising anchors. On the show he is known as "Ben".
The Announcement
Austereo Brisbane general manager Richard Barker announced: "B105’s new breakfast show is dynamic, light-hearted, it’s local and it’s relatable – the four people who will entertain Brisbane every morning are normal and very, very funny." "After studying the Brisbane radio landscape and talking to our listeners about what they want, the new B105 breakfast team now has its foundations set, with a very strong focus on humour and being local, but this is just the start, a work in progress."
Networking and Automation
Like most radio stations that are part of a national network, B105 participates in networking and automation of certain shows. Currently the following shows are networked:-
- Lowie's Hot 30 (7pm to 10pm) - From Sydney
- Late Date Show (10pm to Midnight) - From Melbourne
- Australia First (Sundays 10pm to Midnight) - From Melbourne
Currently B105 has panel operators looking after the networked shows, inserting local Brisbane commercials as necessary. However Austereo is looking to automate networking in all states, elminiating the need for a panel operator to be present during networking, and reducing the costs related to this.
B105 also uses local automation from Midnight to 6am, where the computerised playout system plays music, commercials and sweepers continuously without the need for a human to be present. What was once known as the 'graveyard shift' is now gone, removing for good one of the best new announcer training grounds.
Current On air staff
- BREAKFAST - B105's New Breakfast Show with Gabby, Mike & Stav (with Ben Wasley)
- MORNINGS - Matty White
- AFTERNOONS/DRIVE - Natalie Wust
- 4PM-5PM - The Best Of B105's New Breakfast Show
- 5PM-7PM - Natalie Wust
- NIGHTS - Lowie's Hot 30 (Craig Low)
- LATE NIGHTS - The Late Date Show (Bessie Bardot & Richard Marsland)
- WEEKENDS - Matty White, Natalie Wust, AV (Andrew Very)
Current executive team
- GENERAL MANAGER - Richard Barker
- SALES DIRECTOR - Damon Rielly
- FINANCE MANAGER - Petrea Grant
- PROGRAM DIRECTOR - Rex Morris
- TECHNOLOGY MANAGER - Dan Chalmers
- NEWS DIRECTOR - Melissa Martin
- PRODUCTION MANAGER - Rick Wade
- PROMOTIONS DIRECTOR - Charlie Murdoch