History of wireless telegraphy and broadcasting in Australia/Topical/Publications/Australian Radio History/Timeline

RADIO TIMELINES  of  AUSTRALIA

1900s
1906 The first official Morse code transmission in Australia was conducted by the Marconi company from Queenscliff, Victoria, to Devonport, Tasmania, overseen by Ballarat inventor Henry Sutton.

1908 Henry Sutton demonstrated voice transmissions while contacting a U.S.A. naval fleet visiting Australia.

1910s
1910 The Wireless Institute of Australia (W.I.A.) is formed by Walter Hannam (the first Australian radio operator in Antarctica), with licensed amateur operators using homemade equipment to experiment with Morse code.

1912 A Government network of coastal and island Morse code stations was established for telegrams and shipping emergencies. For security reasons, these stations were controlled by the Navy during WWI.

1913 Amalgamated Wireless Australasia (A.W.A.) was established by merging Marconi and Telefunken

1918 The first experimental direct Morse code transmissions were conducted between England and Australia.

1918 The first public demonstration of music and speech broadcasts in Australia was conducted by licensed amateur operator Walter Coxon (later 6AG and 6WF) at the Perth Royal Show.

1919 A.W.A. conducted their first demonstration of music and speech broadcasts to engineers in Sydney, hosted by their Chairman Ernest Fisk.

1919  A.W.A. established the first direct Morse radio communication between Australia and the United Kingdom.

1920s
1920  A.W.A. became Australia’s first manufacturer of valves.

1920  The second A.W.A. demonstration of broadcasting was conducted for parliamentarians in Melbourne.

1921  A.W.A. experimental station 3ME in Melbourne was the forerunner of Radio Australia (see 1939).

1922  A.W.A. applied for broadcasting licenses in all parts of Australia. All their applications were refused.

1922  Charles MacLurcan is issued with Australia’s first broadcast licence (licence number one), signed by the Prime Minister Billy Hughes, (2CM Sydney), issued under “The Regulations - Radio Laws of the Amateur 1 Dec 1922”.

1922  Thomas Edison (inventor of the phonograph) said “The radio craze will soon fade”.

1922  The popular magazine “Wireless Weekly” was launched by Will MacLardy from 2HP. It became “Radio and Hobbies” in 1939, “Radio Television and Hobbies” in 1956, then “Electronics Australia” in 1966.

1922  Valves were installed in A.W.A. radios, enabling loudspeakers to be used instead of headphones.

1923  2FC in Sydney (273 KHz.) is licensed as the first commercial station in the Southern Hemisphere (10-9-1923). However, 2SB in Sydney (which changed to 2BL in March 1924), commenced broadcasting before 2FC on 23 Nov 1923, using 857 KHz. These licences were issued under the “Wireless Telegraphy Regulations 25 Jul 1923”.

1924  3WR in Wangaratta is the first non-metropolitan station to be issued with a commercial licence.

1924  Grace Bros. department store in Sydney established the first retail outlet in Australia for selling receivers.

1925  2UE in Sydney was the first in Australia to experiment sending still pictures by radio to newspapers.

1926  2UW in Sydney was the first station in the world to broadcast serials. They didn’t stop until 1964.

1926  2BL in Sydney was the first to experiment (unsuccessfully) with “Talk Back” radio. They quickly realised the drawbacks of not being able to delay and edit the callers. (Also see the 1967 2UE and 3DB entry).

1927  A.W.A. station 2ME in Sydney was the first Australian station to experiment with F.M. (mono only on 9 MHz.).

1928  6WF in Perth became the only station to be operated by the Federal Government (for 10 months).

1929  6WF broadcast the first Australian stereo experiments on 1-9-1929 by broadcasting a play using two microphones into two transmitters on different frequencies. Two receivers were needed to hear stereo.

1929  4CM in Brisbane was the first Australian station to experiment transmitting television (earlier called ‘radiovision’). These transmissions were often received in Melbourne (also see 1935 4CM entry).

1929  The privately owned Australian Broadcasting Company took over the programming of all twelve “A” class stations. This created Australia’s first joint programming radio network.

1930s
1930  2UW in Sydney formed the Federal Radio Network with nine other stations in five states.

1930  Marconi, by sending a radio signal from his yacht in Italy, turned on 2,800 lights around the Sydney Town Hall. 1930  The Federation of Australian Radio Broadcasters was established (Commercial Radio Australia in 2002). 1931  3AK in Melbourne was the only applicant for a “C” class licence, which were actually meant for universities (none were issued). Their application was rejected, however, they were eventually issued a “B” class licence. 1931  2KY in Sydney was the first station in the world to broadcast parliament.

1932  3KZ in Melbourne stated that “Television will never be introduced into Australia”.

1932  The Australian Broadcasting Commission (A.B.C.) was established, taking over the twelve commercial “A” class stations previously programmed by the privately owned Australian Broadcasting Company. From then on, they were financed by compulsory listener licence fees instead of commercials until 1972. During the first 12 months, 6,000 listeners were fined for not having a listeners licence.

1932  A proposal that all non-metropolitan stations use long wave instead of medium wave was considered.

1932  The first independent radio survey was conducted in Sydney by Bill McNair (later McNair Anderson).

1933  2GB in Sydney was the first station to play transcription records and had the world’s largest transcription library.

1934  3DB in Melbourne had the largest record library in the world.

1935  4CM in Brisbane was granted the first television licence in Australia (see pages 11, 12, and 13).

1935  2UW in Sydney was the first station in the British Empire to broadcast 24 hours per day.

1935  The A.B.C. in Sydney installed a disc recorder, enabling the recording of programs for the first time.

1936  An undersea cable was installed across Bass Strait allowing programs to be relayed to Tasmanian stations.

1936  A.W.A. launched radio 9MI with two studios on board the M/V Kanimbla. This station was used to relay some programs to A.W.A. network stations via a shortwave transmitter (see article on page 20).

1937  The one millionth listener receiver licence was issued.

1938  The first demonstration of stereo broadcasting in Australia using one transmitter was trialled by Ray Allsop from 2BL on 9 MHz. (also see the 1929 6WF entry).

1938  The Major network, headed by 2UE, and the Macquarie network headed by 2GB, were established.

1938  6PM in Perth started Australia’s first music chart with their “Top 8 Hit Parade”.

1939  All experimental broadcasting, television, and amateur licences were cancelled due to WWII security concerns.

1939  Radio Australia (“Australia Calling” until 1945) commenced with VLR (previously A.W.A. station 3ME) at Lyndhurst, and VLQ (previously A.W.A. station 2ME) at Pennant Hills. Programming was provided by the A.B.C. All programs commenced with a kookaburra laughing.

1939  2UE in Sydney was the first Australian station to broadcast the six pips every hour.

1940s
1940  A secret underground station was installed in Perth to keep information flowing in case of attack during WWII.

1940  2GB in Sydney became the largest producer of radio drama programs in the Southern Hemisphere.

1940  Grace Gibson established her radio production company, specialising in radio serial transcriptions.

1941  2HD, 2UW, 3AR, 3KZ, 4AT, 5KA, and 5AU were closed by the military for airing WWII security breaches.

1942  2UW broadcast the first nationally sponsored top rating serial “Big Sister”, five days a week for five years.

1944  The Australian Army and RAAF operated 29 broadcasting stations in New Guinea and several Pacific islands during WWII to entertain our troops. Most transcription programs were provided by 2GB (see pages 85 - 87).

1944  Australia’s longest running radio serial, “The Lawsons” by Gwen Meredith (later “Blue Hills”) started on the A.B.C. with 5,795 episodes.

1945  5KA Adelaide was the first Australian station to experience an announcers strike (caused by a flea infestation).

1945  Hector Crawford established Crawford Productions, specialising in radio serial transcriptions (later television).

1948  Australia’s first Antarctica broadcasting station, 0HI, is opened on Heard island (moved to Mawson in 1955).

1948  The A.B.C. launched experimental F.M. stations in most capital cities on 92.1 MHz. They all closed by 1958.

1948  The Australian Broadcasting Control Board is established to regulate broadcasting (Australian Broadcasting Tribunal in 1976, Australian Broadcasting Authority in 1992, and Australian Communications and Media Authority in 2005).

1950s
1951  The transistor (which led to Integrated Circuits) is invented, which eventually revolutionised portable radios and other electronic devices.

1952  Most radio variety and drama programs were replaced by quiz programs compared by Bob Dyer and Jack Davey.

1956  Television begins in Australia, resulting in an increase of music programs on radio, and a further decrease in radio serials (also see 1935 4CM entry, and the First Licensed Television article on pages 11, 12, and 13).

1956  The A.B.C. opens offices in London, New York, Singapore, and Port Moresby.

1957  2GB in Sydney is the first Australian station to broadcast news on the hour, every hour.

1957  A.W.A. produced Australia’s first transistor radio. It was called the “Transistor Seven”.

1957  A Government inquiry into the possible introduction of F.M. radio generates little interest.

1958  2UE in Sydney started the popular “Top 40 Charts” with “April Love” by Pat Boone as the first number one.

1960s
1961  2UV in Sydney was issued with the first educational broadcast licence in Australia, operating on 1900 KHz.

1962  2FC in Sydney established a duplicate station at Emu Plains in case of a nuclear attack on Sydney during the cold war. Apart from late night testing, it never went to air. The tower was in the Emu Plains prison until 2009.

1967  2UE in Sydney and 3DB in Melbourne were the first to legally broadcast “Talk Back” programs at midnight on the 17th April. (Also see 1926 2BL entry).

1970s
1972  The Federal Government abolished radio and television receiver licence fees which were used to fund the A.B.C.

1972  The Federal Government decided to introduce F.M. radio on the U.H.F. band. However, this decision was quickly changed to the generally recognised international V.H.F. band after intense industry lobbying.

1972  5UV in Adelaide was issued with the first community broadcasting licence in Australia. Eleven other community licences were then issued despite legal advice that the licences were illegal.

1972  2MBS in Sydney was issued with the first fulltime F.M. broadcasting licence in Australia.

1975  Ethnic radio stations 2EA in Sydney and 3EA in Melbourne (Ethnic Australia) were launched.

1975  2JJ in Sydney became Australia’s first non-commercial 24 hour rock music station.

1975  Some stations started using satellites to relay their programs.

1977  The Special Broadcasting Service (S.B.S.) was formed to take over 2EA and 3EA after the A.B.C. refused to.

1978  A.M. radio station frequencies were changed from 10 KHz. spacing to 9 KHz. spacing, which created twelve additional A.M. channels on the medium wave band.

1978  2WEB in Burke became the first of a small number of A.M. stations to be issued with a three letter callsign.

1980s
1980  3EON in Melbourne was the first commercial station to be issued with an F.M. licence. They were quickly followed by 3FOX in Melbourne, 2MMM and 2DAY in Sydney, 4MMM in Brisbane, and 5SSA in Adelaide.

1980  The A.B.C. changed from a Commission to a Corporation.

1982  7RPH in Hobart became the first Radio for the Print Handicapped station.

1985  A.M. radio stations were allowed to convert to stereo; however, A.M. stereo receivers were almost nonexistent.

1986  2GF Grafton announcer Mike Summers broke the world record for the “Longest Continuous Broadcast by One Announcer” (120 hours). This world record was then broken by Bruce Carty at Gosford in 1993, and published by the Guinness Book of Records.

1990s
1990  The A.B.C. launched its’ Parliamentary Broadcast network. Since August 1994, this network has also been used as a 24 hour ‘News Radio’ outlet whenever Parliament is in recess.

1991  2VM in Moree became the first A.M. regional station to be granted a supplementary F.M. licence.

1998  Some stations started relaying their programs live on the internet. 2GB in Sydney was the first.

2000s
2007  The A.M. medium wave band was extended to 1701 KHz., creating another eleven channels. However, very few receivers covered these additional frequencies.

2009  Digital radio transmissions were introduced in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth, using the proposed but never activated 9A television channel.