100.9 Sea FM
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| City of license | Hobart, Tasmania |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Hobart |
| Branding | Sea FM |
| Slogan | Hobart's Hit Music Station |
| Frequency | 100.9 MHz FM |
| First air date | 19 March 1990 |
| Format | Top 40 (CHR) |
| Language(s) | English |
| ERP | 25,000 watts |
| HAAT | 406 m[1] |
| Affiliations | Sea FM, Today Hit Network |
| Owner | Southern Cross Austereo (Sea FM Hobart Pty Ltd) |
| Website | www |
100.9 Sea FM (call sign: 7TTT) is part of the Southern Cross Austereo network of Sea FM radio stations, based in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
Station history
Sea FM was previously called Triple T and began as TTT in 1990 (call sign 7TTT). The station was started by local Hobart businessman John Bender who obtained financial support from a number of Hobart business people, radio industry veterans including now Newcastle, New South Wales based long time radio host Carol Duncan, and a minority interest by Austereo. As a result, the station was originally aligned with the Austereo network affiliate. This meant, during the Triple T years, the station scheduled Austereo programming, such as Martin/Molloy, Take40 Australia, Ugly Phil's Hot 30, Friday Home Free, Dr Feelgood's Pillow Talk, The Hot Hits and Party Hard. Triple T also adapted local versions of national formats, such as The Morning Crew (with their "Crazy Calls" and "Battle Of The Sexes"), Two Ups At Two, Triple Plays and The Happy Hour. For a few years, the only difference between Triple T and other Today, Austereo Network stations (such as network base-station, FOX FM) was Triple T's logo not incorporating the Today blue globe - much like Perth's PMFM at the time, now known as '92.9'.
In 1996, the Bender family purchased controlling interest from all minority shareholders as the station struggled financially. In 1997, the Bender's attracted international broadcaster, Andrew Reimer (with experience at Austero and as a USA radio station owner/operator), as an equal owner and General Manager. Mr. Reimer led a change in programming after extensive market research and launched a new Breakfast program "Todd & Dave" with Todd Campbell and David Noonan. Kim Geale joined the team as news presenter and when Todd moved to work in Sydney radio in 1998, the show was rebranded "The Kim & Dave Show". The music format shifted from current pop/rock to a daytime format targeting 18- to 39-year-olds, mixing Classic Rock and new music and followed by an evening program 'The Hot 30' targeting 12- to 24-year-olds. Community promotions, live broadcasts, and aggressive marketing saw Triple T move to the top station in the market in the target age groups and for the first time profitability.
In 1998, management negotiated with the TOTE of Tasmania who held an unused FM license and launched a second FM to join Triple T. The new station, MAGIC 107FM, based upon market research, was targeted at 40- to 65-year-olds with a music format of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s coupled with John Laws in the morning shift. This strategy was to complement Triple T's focus on an under 40 market. In the initial radio survey, MAGIC 107FM captured over one third of the Hobart radio listeners and dominated its target market.
With the higher audience share of Triple T and the new success of MAGIC 107, the two stations captured an increased advertising revenue representing almost 70% of the market. The success of the two stations attracted the owners of the developing RG Capital radio network to purchase the two stations in July, 2000 and appoint Mr. Reimer as General Manager.
Up until 2001, Triple T used the positioner "Great Classics & Today's Best New Rock". Then, their positioner was changed to "Hobart's Best Music".
In 2003, Triple T was rebranded as Sea FM (to align with the network of RG Capital stations). RG Capital was in turn purchased by Macquarie Regional RadioWorks, now Southern Cross Austereo. And in 2006, MAGIC 107 was rebranded as Heart FM (to aligned with that network of Macquarie Regional Radioworks). In 2012, the "Kim & Dave Show" moved from SeaFM to HeartFM and continue to be Hobart's top rated Breakfast program.
The radio station, Triple T, is still referred to as this by some Hobartians many years after its name change.
In 2014 the station moved into the brand new media centre developed my Southern Cross Austereo with stable mate Heart 107.3 in Melville Street. This move finally co-located all the SCA Brands, staff and technical assets in Hobart, in the one location.
References
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