Casey Radio (original) (raw)

Radio station in Cranbourne East, Victoria

Casey Radio 3SER
Cranbourne East, Victoria
Broadcast area City of CaseyCity of Greater Dandenong
Frequency 97.7 MHz
Branding Casey Radio (from 2003)
Programming
Language(s) English, LOTE
Format Community, Ethnic, Sport, Religion, Music, Youth and School
Ownership
Owner Market City Radio Inc.[1]South Eastern Radio Association Inc.[2]
History
First air date 1984 (1984) (as Market City Radio)1987 (1987) (as 3SER)[3]
Former frequencies 88.3 MHz
Call sign meaning 3South Eastern Radio
Technical information
ERP 400 watts
HAAT 12 meters
Transmitter coordinates 38°00′14″S 145°19′43″E / 38.003889°S 145.328611°E / -38.003889; 145.328611[4]
Links
Webcast Tune-in
Website www.3ser.org.au

Casey Radio 3SER is a non-commercial community radio station which caters to the greater south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.

As a community broadcaster, Casey Radio's role is to provide general local community programming including entertainment, news and information,[5] and aims to "inform, entertain and involve" its listeners. The station caters to the communities' diverse needs with an eclectic mix, ranging from local council news to sport, country to comedy, retro to modern, rock to rockabilly, and a wide diversity of ethnic and multilingual programmes.[6]

The current Association President is Nia McMartin.[7]

Their licence covers an area of 637.6 km2 and 410 514 residents (2017).[8] This includes most of the City of Casey and the City of Greater Dandenong, and eastern parts of the City of Frankston. The transmitter is limited to a maximum 400 watts of power and is located at a former landfill site off Quarry Road in Narre Warren North, Victoria.[9]

The Melbourne South East RA1 licence is bounded

Casey Radio began life as Market City Radio in 1983, and the first test transmission was carried out from JC Mills Reserve, Dandenong on 6 May 1984. A further transmission later occurred from the Dandenong Show.

After a 2-year hiatus, the station was revived by several early members, particularly life member Fred Harrison (originally from 3RPP), who assisted in the original licence application.[12]

Station facilities were established at Fountain Gate Shopping Centre on Magid Drive, Narre Warren in 1987. The frequency allotted for testing was 88.3 MHz, and the test transmissions were broad, extending to the Peninsula and the City of Knox. Some listeners even reported receiving the signal from Coburg and Geelong (which are 42 km and 83 km away respectively). These test transmissions continued four times a year (a week each time).[13]

Graeme Lewis and Andrew Tokely formed part of a technical team that oversaw the construction of the original transmission tower in April 1991. A full-time broadcast licence was later granted on 7 July 1991. Broadcasts were originally between 6am and midnight.[14] The station celebrated its officially opening on 30 September 1991, and moved to another location at the shopping complex shortly thereafter.

David Lentin (a former Melbourne radio personality and Victoria Police detective, now deceased) became president of the ailing station in 1996. He and longtime volunteer Jim Hines are credited for turning 3SER around, and were responsible for the decision to venture into outside broadcasts at local sporting events.[15]

Later in the mid-1990s, the station moved to a location in Narre Warren on the corner of Princes Highway and Webb Street.[16]

In September 2002, 3SER FM moved into their current council-owned premises in Cranbourne East known as the Casey Complex. The City of Casey retained ownership but agreed from 2003 to provide financial support and grants in exchange for station presenters highlighting the term "Casey Radio" during announcements.[17]

Webcasting of the signal began on 15 July 2005.[18]

In 2007 after almost 16 years, efforts to improve the stations' broadcast signal required building a new comms building and antenna and the disassembly of the old one. This was a joint cooperation between the City of Casey and Telstra.[19]

After Mr Lentin took ill in late 2007, Geoff Ablett stepped in as station manager whilst also balancing a few stints as City of Casey mayor.[20]

The 2008-09 period was tumultuous for the Cranbourne station, having secured a further 4 years of council funding but still trying to establish "transparent management practices". Efforts were made to establish a sub-committee, new board members welcomed and salaried staff were employed.[21]

3SER began refreshing its identity and logo, utilising the Casey Radio moniker (to which had a couple of iterations between 2011 and 2014), and some funds had been put aside to bring a new website to fruition. New station signage at the Casey Complex was installed.

The City of Casey quarantined an allocation of $75 000 in funding from the 2017-18 financial year in part due to perceived poor governance and relationship with the council. A report to the council on progress made is due in 6 months, upon which time the held funds may be released.[22][23]

Casey Radio is a media partner of the Victorian Football League and Victorian Premier Cricket competitions,[24] an arrangement that has continued since it began in 1993. The station hosted a special Saturday morning radio program in winter for the VFL, and summer for the Victorian Premier Cricket competition, and then follows this by broadcasting matches of both competitions live on weekends. Currently it broadcasts the S.E.F.N.L. Game of the Day on Saturdays and the VFL Game of the Day on Sundays.

Casey Radio also broadcasts from many charity-related sporting events, as well as Indoor cricket, Netball, Baseball (Claxton Shield), Basketball (NBL), Picnic Racing, (Non TAB) Soccer and Boxing.

  1. ^ Market City Radio (31 October 1988). "Newsletter" (PDF). South Eastern Radio Association. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  2. ^ "MPR001 Radio Broadcasters" (PDF). ACMA. Australian Broadcasting Authority. 30 June 2004. p. 13. Retrieved 2 June 2018.[_permanent dead link_]
  3. ^ "About Us". 3SER 97.7FM. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  4. ^ "TV & Radio Handbook Electronic" (PDF). ACMA. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  5. ^ "Allocation of four community radio broadcasting licences for Melbourne" (PDF). Australian Communications and Media Authority. p. 162. Retrieved 2 June 2018.[_permanent dead link_]
  6. ^ "Organisation Directory". City of Casey. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  7. ^ "About Us". 3SER 97.7FM. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  8. ^
  9. ^ "Results - Individual Facility Detail". www.npi.gov.au. Department of the Environment and Energy. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  10. ^ "MELBOURNE SOUTH EAST RA1 Area ID: 467" (PDF). ACMA. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  11. ^ "Broadcasting licence areas". www.acma.gov.au. ACMA. 28 September 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  12. ^ "3SER officially on the air". South Eastern Radio Association Inc. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  13. ^ "South Eastern Radio on air for new trial" (PDF). August 1989. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  14. ^ "3SER-FM Community Radio". www.tarahall.com.au. 2005. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  15. ^ "David a doyen of the dial". Star News Cranbourne. 4 May 2008. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  16. ^ "3SER Homepage". South Eastern Radio Association. Archived from the original on 14 July 2001. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  17. ^ "Council Agenda" (PDF). City of Casey. pp. 15 April 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 March 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  18. ^ "3SER-fm Radio Casey". Archived from the original on 24 July 2005. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  19. ^ "AGM 2007". South Eastern Radio Association. Archived from the original on 30 August 2007. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  20. ^ "Geoff Ablett - Liberal - Cranbourne". UNIPOLLWATCH. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  21. ^ "The Broadcaster Presenters & Members Newsletter" (PDF). Henry Grossek. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  22. ^ "Minutes of Council Meeting" (PDF). City of Casey. 1 May 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.[_permanent dead link_]
  23. ^ "Casey Radio has as little as one year to become financially self-sufficient after end of four-year council funding deal". Herald Sun. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  24. ^ "Casey Radio 97.7FM - VFL". VFL. Retrieved 5 June 2018.