Grant Broadcasters secures eight new FM signals for South Australia

Staff Writer

Grant Broadcasters’ ‘adult hits’ stations in South Australia will now be broadcast across FM signals, which will go live from March 1.

Some of its AM frequencies will remain, however 5MU 1125AM and 5AU 1242AM will cease broadcasting on March 28.

The Gulf Region’s 5AU will now be 97.9, Eyre Peninsula’s 5CC will be on 765AM as well as 93.9 and 99.5FM, Riverland & Mallee’s 5RM stays on 801AM, but adds 91.5 and 89.9FM, and the Adelaide Hills, Murraylands and South Coast’s 5MU will be on three FM frequencies: 94.3, 96.3 and 97.1.

The broadcaster said the move demonstrates it commitment to investing heavily in its local markets and teams.

Centre State’s 5CS will remain on 1044AM.

CEO Alison Cameron said: “We are thrilled to finally launch these FM signals for our brands across South Australia after years of planning and execution. It will be fantastic for the audience to hear our stations in crystal clear FM quality. This coupled with our increasing focus on live and local programming is great news for our audiences and advertisers.”

Regional general manager for Victoria and South Australia, Peter Upton, added: “Our engineering team has done a fantastic job getting all of this new infrastructure in place and ready to go. A couple of our translators, Waikerie and Mt Neild are still in development stages, but should be on air in the very near future. Both of these markets will continue to receive the AM signal to ensure coverage. Additionally, 5CS listeners will continue to receive their local information and music on AM.”

And South Australian content operations manager, Glenn Baker, said the move should increase audience share.

“We’re extremely pleased to be launching the new FM signals for our ‘Adult Hits’ stations. We believe the upgrades will increase audience share across all markets, which will assist our brands being able to continue delivering strong results for our valued clients,” he said.

This is the latest in a series of announcements from Grant Broadcasters in South Australia, with the network launching a state-wide Drive show helmed by Inga Milosic, and a series of localised sports programs.

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Brett Cameron
20 Feb 2021 - 10:22 am

AM should be a thing of the past. All stations should be made to migrate to the FM band in my view.

AJ
22 Feb 2021 - 11:11 am

ACMA need to find a way to get all stations off AM and onto FM.
AM is unlistenable in most metro areas due to electrical interference. The industry and ACMA refuse to push DAB+ so FM and online is the only way forward, even in metro areas. Some new cars (e.g. electric cars) don’t even have AM, and try buying a clock radio or other home stereo with AM.

Graeme Sinclair
22 Feb 2021 - 12:24 pm

Poor decision to take 5MU off of AM, geographically it’s reach through the hills, mallee and upper south east is a vital to those communities. FM does not have the coverage to compensate.

Trevor M Scott
22 Feb 2021 - 12:42 pm

AM is still vital in many country areas and it is terrific to see that AM will still be there where it is needed. Well done to Grants for this investment in the future of Australian Radio.

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