2GZ
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2GZ is an Australian radio station, licensed to Orange, New South Wales. It is owned and operated by Macquarie Regional RadioWorks, and transmits on 105.1Mhz on the FM band. It originally broadcast on 1089AM, before being turned into a relay station of an automated Sydney station, and later purchased by Broadcast Operations Group.
Its callsign is 2GZF (2GZ, being the original station, F for FM band).
The station was founded in the mid 1930s. It was opened by the Postmaster General, Sen. McLauchlan on the evening of 31 October 1935. The ceremony was actually performed in Sale, Victoria, as the Senator was performing a similar duty opening the new ABC regional station 3GI. The speech was relayed by landline to Orange. Contrary to popular thought, 2GZ was not the first to open west of the Blue Mountains as previously thought, that honour goes to 2MK at Bathurst, it opened in 1925 and closed in 1930/31. The original licencee of 2GZ was Country Broadcasting Services (later Country Television Services Ltd), who also launched CBN-8 Orange and CWN-6 Dubbo, now Prime Television, in the 1960s.
The station converted to the FM band on September 14, 1996.
Today the station broadcasts an Adult Contemporary/Classic Hits format, with a wide playlist of songs from the 1960s through to the 1990s and today, with a target demographic of 35-55 years.
It was the Central West outlet for the John Laws morning show, as well as running its own breakfast program, similar to most of the former DMG-owned stations. It now runs the Charles Wooley morning show instead, sending Lawsy to 2EL. Ironically, 2GZ was once one of the regional stations that he worked at before becoming a national radio icon.
[edit] See also
- 2EL - the station that now operates on 2GZ's old frequency.