2SER

2SER is a non-profit radio station in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, broadcasting on the frequency 107.3 FM. It is a member of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia. The station has a metro-wide license and broadcasts a mix of programming styles: specialist music, general magazines, and specialist talks. It currently broadcasts a variety of talk shows on topics such as science, current affairs, health, conservation, publishing, gender and queer culture, music, the arts, and theater.

2SER
Broadcast areaGreater Sydney Area
Frequency107.3 MHz FM
Programming
FormatCommunity radio
NetworkCommunity Broadcasting Association of Australia; Community Radio Network (Australia)
AffiliationsUniversity of Technology Sydney, Macquarie University
Ownership
OwnerSydney Educational Broadcasting Limited
History
First air date
1 October 1979
Former call signs
108.0 MHz FM
Technical information
Licensing authority
ACMA
Transmitter coordinates
33°53′03″S 151°12′06″E
Links
Public licence information
Profile
Websitehttps://2ser.com

2SER is also one of the few media outlets that has a special program for prisoners, Jailbreak. The station helped launch the broadcasting careers of Julie McCrossin, Robbie Buck, Richard Kingsmill, Helen Razer, Eleanor Hall, Fenella Kernebone, Steve Ahern, Jess Scully, and Jonathan Harley, all of whom started out on the station as volunteers.

History

On October 1, 1979, the station was opened by the Federal Minister for Education, Senator John Carrick.[1]

The station broadcasts a wide range of music and talkback programs. Some of these have been on air for more than 30 years, like Back to Funk,[2] Static,[3] and The Phantom Dancer,[4] while also making room for experimental and short-lived explorations into metal, pop, and spatial audio. Although the station is co-funded by two universities, the University of Technology Sydney and Macquarie University, it remains independent and not-for-profit.

In the mid-1990s, the station expanded its programming to emphasize underground dance music. This caused friction within the station, but 2SER organized a series of highly lucrative fund-raising events called Freaky Loops in association with Sydney promoters such as Cryogenesis, Clan Analogue, Club Kooky, and Elefant Traks which sustained the move to a new musical format for several years until 2001.

In late 2004, the station was faced with a projected budget shortfall of up to $100,000 that financial year. Management addressed the situation by reducing the number of paid staff, putting forward proposals to scale down the use of its studio at Macquarie University, and attempting to cater for a slightly older audience—ideas that were met with frustration from some volunteers.[5] Internal activism resulted in a softening of policy. In early 2005, the new program grid was launched, and despite the controversy in its lead-up, it proved to be a simple reshuffle of the existing grid rather than a dramatic overhaul.

The station worked on improving its brand across the 2003–2005 period, incorporating a fresh new logo and brand elements, while the station's online presence was also redesigned to deliver a rich content experience.

From the late 2000s and into the 2010s, 2SER has continued to expand its offerings across broadcast and digital, as well as with podcasting. It has won international awards for its collaborations, including a Silver Radio Prize at the New York Festivals Radio Awards for History Lab (with Impact Studios).[6]

The station's 40th anniversary was celebrated in October 2019 with a podcast series,[7] exhibition,[8] and book, An Incomplete History of Community Radio: 2SER's 46 Boxes of Stuff.[9] The station's long-term publication, Listening Post, was also digitized in full and placed in the Australian open access archive Trove.[10]

Today it runs out of UTS as well as Macquarie University, and the current station manager is Paula Kruger.[11]

See also
  • The Wire, an Australian current affairs program broadcast through the Community Radio Satellite
  • Gaywaves, a pioneering LGBTQIA+ program from the 1970s whose influence and archive shaped national conversations and change

References
  1. 2 SER FM (2008). "The SER Story". 2SER FM 107.3 Official Website. 2SER FM 107.3. Archived from the original on 9 February 2008. Retrieved 20 February 2008.
  2. "Back To Funk". 2ser.com. Sydney Educational Broadcasting Limited. n.d. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  3. "Yes, there is an alternative to Triple J". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, Australia: Nine Entertainment Co. Pty Ltd. 24 July 2002.
  4. "In the swing of things". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, Australia: Nine Entertainment Co. Pty Ltd. 30 April 2007.
  5. Jave, Sue (8 December 2004). "Money matters: 2SER relaunch plans". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, Australia: Nine Entertainment Co. Pty Ltd.
  6. "Congratulations to the History Lab Podcast for winning the Silver Radio Prize – The Australian Historical Association". Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  7. "Forty Years of 2SER clips". omny.fm. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  8. "2SER wants to hear from its former staff and volunteers". Community Broadcasting Association of Australia. 16 August 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  9. "Community radio history book out now". Community Broadcasting Association of Australia. 9 November 2021. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  10. "Long time listener". Trove. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  11. Ahern, Steve (26 March 2023). "Paula Kruger joins 2SER as MD". Radio Info.
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