Magic 1278

Magic 1278

City	Lower Plenty, Victoria
Broadcast area	Melbourne RA1
Slogan	The Songs You Know and Love
Frequency	1278 kHz AM
First air date	8 September 1935 (1935-09-08) (as 3XY)
Format	Oldies, easy listening
Language(s)	English
Former callsigns	3XY (1935–1991)
Former frequencies	693 kHz AM (1992–2006) 1420 kHz AM (1935–1978) 1422 kHz AM (1978–1991)
Affiliations	Magic Network
Owner	Macquarie Media (Radio 1278 Melbourne Pty. Ltd.)
Sister stations	3AW
Website	Magic 1278

Magic 1278 (call sign: 3EE) is a radio station operating in Melbourne, Australia.

History

The station commenced broadcasting in 1992, but was derived from radio station 3XY which began broadcasting in 1935. 3XY was Melbourne's dominant music radio station during the 1970s and early 1980s with a Top 40 music radio format, but its fortunes declined in the late 1980s with the advent of FM radio in Australia.

After losing the ratings and financial battle with FM rivals 3EON and 3FOX, the 3XY licence was bought by Sydney-based AWA Limited who also owned 2CH in Sydney. AWA shut down 3XY almost immediately upon their purchase of the licence from a Geelong-based consortium. The shutdown occurred at 1pm on 23 September 1991. 3XY's final on air program was a one-hour pre-recorded special produced by music historian Glenn A. Baker, a tribute showcasing the music of 1976 when 3XY was number one in the radio ratings. Roxanne Bennett was the last 'live' announcer on 3XY, finishing her shift at 12noon that day with Spectrum's song I'll Be Gone the final song played.

AWA formally applied for a change of callsign from 3XY to 3EE and a change of frequency from 1422 kHz to 693 kHz. Both requests were granted by the Australian Broadcasting Authority. Although it was a relaunch of the 3XY licence that had existed since 1935 and not the issuing of a new one, AWA chose to promote the forthcoming 3EE as a "completely new" station.

3EE began official transmission at 7.00am Friday 2 July 1992. Promoted as The Breeze, the station had a mix of easy listening music, personality talk and Saturday AFL football. Some programs garnered a loyal and growing following but overall the station failed to gain a commercially viable audience with 1.2% overall share in the Melbourne radio ratings. AWA, faced with a loss making station, offsold 3EE to another Melbourne station, 3MP, based in Frankston, an outer southern suburb. 3MP and 3EE simulcast until the ABA ordered that they cease the practice and recommence two separate formats. 3EE then became known as Magic 693 with a 40s, 50s and 60s music format, while 3MP maintained its more mainstream 'easy listening' format on 1377.

Media operator Southern Cross Broadcasting who also owned Melbourne radio stations 3AK and 3AW, bought the 3MP and 3EE licences and in accordance with media ownership laws, chose to keep 3AW and 3EE (Magic 693), selling off the lower rating 3AK and 3MP licences. A new licence for the 1422 kHz frequency was purchased at auction in 1994 by the Greek Media Group. Initially the licence was for a specified period of three years, and was then to be subject to a five yearly auction cycle. This rule was removed, and the station was effectively permitted to continue on a permanent basis. The new station^[1] adopted the 3XY call letters. It is a narrowcast Greek language commercial station with no tie to the station of 1935–91.

From May 1, 2006, Magic 693 became Magic 1278 after switching frequencies with 3AW.

On 13 April 2015, the station's entire on air lineup and most of the programming and production team was made redundant, as the result of the merger of Fairfax Media's radio assets and the Macquarie Radio Network. Immediately, a new music format was introduced that focused on the classic hits of the 1960s and 1970s.^[2]

In November 2015, it was announced that the station would begin networking programming into Brisbane on sister station Magic 882.

References

External links

• Official site
• Magic 693/3AW Change-over