Final siren for Triple S
Terry Giesecke
It is rare event. Very few Australian radio stations have gone off the
air. Most have survived war recession, corporate mismanagement and the
introduction of new media. Although many have undergone name and
frequency changes. TripleS FM is the first Canberra station to
succumb.
Why?
The impetus for TripleS FM came from a decision by 2CA (Canberra’s
first commercial broadcaster) to drop racing broadcasts in the 1970s.
2CA was under pressure from a new rival- 2CC. Commencing operations in
late 1975 2CC had grabbed a huge chunk of 2CA’s audience with a 24
hour top 40 format. At the time 2CA programming was typical of
regional commercial radio. Comprehensive news, a mix of musical genres
and lots and lots of racing, dogs and trots. 2CA’s only opposition was
the ABC’s 2CN (now 666) and 2CY (now radio national). Both had a
hotch-potch of programming rather than their current focussed formats.
2CA set out to recapture audience by dropping racing and moving to an
all music format.
Except for a limited coverage by the ABC, the racing, trotting and
greyhound interests were now without racing descriptions. They
together with the ACT TAB (ACTTAB) expressed their concern. But racing
was finished on 2CA. Commercial radio was dropping racing all over
Australia in response to a new generation’s preference for
contemporary music.
ACTTAB decided to fill this gap thtough community station 2XX. ACTTAB
bought Wednesday afternoon airtime to broadcast key mid week race
meetings. However, 2XX could not provide much more without
compromising its obligations to other community groups who relied on
it to get access to the airwaves. As TABs were moving into the era of
nationwide seven day a week betting 2XX was not a solution.
The solution was a new broadcaster. No commercial licenses were
available. In any case the viability of racing on a commercial station
was now doubtful. When the then broadcasting authorities decided to
allocate two additional community licenses in the Canberra area ACTTAB
and the racing clubs saw an opportunity. These licenses were to be
contested in 1985. As community licenses could only be held by
incorporated “not for profit” organisations, the racing community and
ACTTAB decided to create a new body Canberra District Racing and
Sporting Broadcasters to contest the license hearings. If successful
this organisation would broadcast all race, trots and dog meetings
covered by ACTTAB. Any time left over could be dedicated to local
sports.
There bid was successful and the then 2SSS (the name was changed to
Triple S-FM later) went to air on 4 November 1986 broadcasting all
race meetings covered by ACTTAB. It was also the first FM station to
broadcast popular music in Canberra and was able to obtain a
significant audience share. Although the “official” radio ratings
never specifically included 2SSS. They were covered by “other FM” but
then “other FM” was 2SSS. In the first survey “other FM” registered
about 5 per cent, a big share for a community station.
Jim Paterson was appointed as manager in 1985 and remained in that
position until the end, some 18 years. Jim was a veteran of ABC and
Commercial radio but adopted to the community sector without missing a
beat. He had a close call with cancer in the early 1990s but survived
10 hours of surgery to make a remarkable recovery.
Problems for Triple S started to arise when racing went to Sundays and
effectively prevented the station diversifying into other sports such
as Rugby League and Basketball. As well costs become a problem. ACTTAB
insisted that racing coverage be sourced from Melbourne to fit in with
ACTTAB’s affiliation with Super TAB. The 2KY racing service was
primarily linked with the NSW TAB which operated on its own. The
Melbourne service was more expensive but attempts to persuade ACTTAB
to increase its contribution met with stiff resistance. As a
consequence in the late 1990s the station started to incur losses that
had to be met from its cash reserves.
Many community stations rely on volunteers who provide their services
free. While Triple S had many of these they still needed paid staff.
Coordinating racing is generally accepted as being one of the most
difficult jobs for radio announcers. To maintain standards expected by
punters Triple S had to employ experienced and competent staff.
ACTTAB has always had a curious attitude to radio racing. Its official
line is that it does not have much impact on betting one way or the
other. This view is belied by the fact that it has always sought to
have broadcasts, firstly on 2XX then on Triple S and has been prepared
to pay.
The dispute with ACTTAB reached a point of no return in 2002 when
failing to obtain a better deal Triple S decided to drop racing
altogether. Unfortunately, it left a huge hole in the station’s
programming. Replacing it with other sport proved difficult.
Professional sports such as Rugby, Rugby Leauge, Australian Football
and Cricket cost a lot to broadcast, costs that need to be recovered
from advertising. Not an easy task in Canberra where four commercial
radio stations, three commercial television stations and printed media
are chasing limited advertising dollars. Amateur sports are mainly for
participants and are of limited interest to radio audiences.
It is to be regretted that Canberra is losing one of its locally owned
and controlled media assets. In an age of globalization and media
conglomerates the small independent operator is facing a severe
challenge. Young people looking for a media career will also miss out.
According to Jim Paterson Triple S, over the last 17 years, has
provided training for at least 100 people who are now in either the
ABC or commercial media. These include Rosemary Church (CNN), Gavin
Morris (CNN), Craig Lorenburgs (SBS Sport), Chris Coleman (ABC Central
West), Peter Newlands (ABC Tasmania) and Geoff Knobel (WIN News).
Triple S is not broke but unlike HIH or One Tel has ceased operations
before defaulting on any creditors. According to Jim Paterson Triple S
has not surrendered its license and may come back. Only time will
tell.