Hitztory Hitz FM was established by a group of young people in the early 1990’s, at a time when Melbourne radio that was characterised by commercial radio stations playing Classic Rock to 25 to 59 year old listeners and disjointed community radio stations that were also more interested in older audiences. The only real alternative for the 12-25 year olds in Melbourne was ABC’s Triple J which was based in Sydney and typically played “alternative” music. The founders of Hitz FM conducted a series of school surveys in 1992. It confirmed their theory that young people don’t want to listen to endless hours of classic rock, flashbacks and goodtime oldies. Young people in Melbourne want their own station which listens, responds and interacts with a younger audience. HITZ FM was established to provide Melbourne with a real youth radio service - presenting cutting edge music, news, and issues of interest to the young people of Melbourne. Hitz FM was incredibly successful at capturing the imagination of young people in Melbourne. The Hitz FM formula was simply.
Hitz FM (89.9 FM) was conducting short term test broadcasts between 1992 and 2001 varying in duration from one week to up to three months at a time. During this period of test broadcasting Hitz FM was on air for approximately 730 days and attracted a very substantial and loyal following of young people across Melbourne.
After 9 years, 20 test broadcasts and support from tens of thousands of young people from all over Melbournethe Australian Broadcasting Authority finally invited Hitz FM to apply for a full time community broadcasting licence. In December 2001 the Australian Broadcasting Authority decided not to issue a full time broadcasting licence to Hitz FM. |
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