Triple J
Triple J is an Australian public service radio station owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian content than commercial networks.
The station was set up under the Whitlam government to extend the appeal of the ABC to young Australians. 2JJ or Double Jay began broadcasting in Sydney on 19 January 1975. It stood apart from commercial stations and rapidly garnered an audience due to its fringe rock music programming and lack of advertising. Following a transition to FM in 1981, the station rebranded to 2JJJ or Triple J and expanded regionally throughout the 1990s. Two spin-off digital stations were launched in the 2010s: Double J targets more mature audiences and Triple J Unearthed only plays local unsigned musicians.
Despite declining radio ratings, Triple J remains a dominant tastemaker in the Australian music scene and has been historically praised for making popular culture accessible for young people in regional Australia. Unearthed provides airplay opportunities for independent artists, and has helped launch the careers of celebrated Australian musicians. The network also organises its own festivals like One Night Stand, and the Hottest 100, an annual public poll of popular music. Triple J has long been criticised over its evolving sound and for promoting a homogenous music scene.
History
1970s: Launch and early years
Plans
The launch of a new, youth-focused radio station was a product of the progressive media policies of the Whitlam government of 1972–75. Prime minister Gough Whitlam wanted to set the station up to appeal to the youth vote, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, worried about its declining audience, "wanted a station for young people who would grow up to be ABC listeners." A new station was also a recommendation stemming from the McLean Report of 1974, which suggested expanding radio broadcasting onto the FM band, issuing a new class of broadcasting licence which permitted the establishment of community radio stations, and the creation of two new stations for the ABC: 2JJ in Sydney, referred to as Double Jay Rock and the short-lived 3ZZ in Melbourne.Double Jay was intended to be the first link in Whitlam's planned national youth network, however, his administration was not re-elected in the 1975 federal election. The succeeding Fraser government's budget cuts to the ABC also halted this plan from moving forward. By the time 2JJ went to air, the Whitlam government was in its final months of office, and presenters on the station were frequently accused of left-wing bias in the months that followed.
First broadcasts
Double Jay commenced broadcasting at 11:00 am on Sunday, 19 January 1975, at 1540 kHz on the AM band. The station was restricted largely to the Greater Sydney region, and its local reception was hampered by inadequate transmitter facilities. However, its frequency was a clear channel nationally, so it was easily heard at night throughout south-eastern Australia. After midnight, 2JJ would use off-air ABC networks to increase its broadcasting range.Its first broadcast demonstrated a determination to distinguish itself from other Australian radio stations. The first on-air presenter, DJ Holger Brockmann, notably used his own name, which, at his previous role at 2SM, was considered "too foreign-sounding". After an introductory montage that featured sounds from the countdown and launch of Apollo 11, Brockmann launched the station's first broadcast with the words, "Wow, and we're away!", and then played Skyhooks' "You Just Like Me 'Cos I'm Good in Bed". The choice of this song to introduce the station was significant, as it represented several important features of the 2JJ brand at the time. Choosing an Australian band reflected the network's commitment to Australian content at a time when American acts dominated pop stations. Further, the song was one of several tracks from the Skyhooks' album that had been banned on commercial radio for its explicit sexual content. The station chose to play songs that were banned from commercial airwaves, including the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil". Because 2JJ was a government-funded station operating under the umbrella of the ABC, it was not bound by commercial censorship codes, and was not answerable to advertisers nor the station owners. In contrast, their Sydney rival, 2SM, was owned by a holding company controlled by the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, resulting in the ban or editing of numerous songs.
The internal politics of 2JJ were considered a radical departure from the formats of commercial stations. 2JJ's presenters had almost total freedom in their on-air delivery, and all staff participated in major policy decisions. For example, as former announcer Gayle Austin reflected: "In early March, women took over the station as announcers to celebrate International Women's Day", and "The listeners owned the station... and if they wanted to come to the meetings and join the debate, they were welcome".
In its early years 2JJ's on-air staff were mainly recruited from either commercial radio or other ABC stations. In another first for the industry, their roster also featured presenters who did not come from a radio background, including singer-songwriters Bob Hudson and John J. Francis, and actor Lex Marinos. Other notable foundation staff and presenters in January 1975 were Chris Winter, Gayle Austin, Marius Webb, Ron Moss, Arnold Frolows, Mark Colvin, Jim Middleton, Don Cumming, and Mac Cocker. Alan McGirvan was the breakfast announcer. Early staff also included Ted Robinson, Chris Winter, and Jim Middleton. Marius Webb and Ron Moss were the station coordinators, while Ros Cheney was programme coordinator, and they established the workplace as kind of collective. Producer and programmer Sammy Collins later said of Cheney that she was "more political and more dedicated than the men", and it was her presence which enabled female representation at every level. Double Jay was the first Australian music radio station to allow women DJs; one of these was Gayle Austin.
Before the launch of Double Jay in Sydney, Melbourne was the undisputed capital of music; the new station shone the light on musicians from Sydney musicians, and publicised gigs happening in the city. The station played artists such as Midnight Oil, Radio Birdman, INXS, Mental As Anything, and AC/DC long before they had exposure on any other media.
Rise in popularity
The station rapidly gained popularity, especially with its target youth demographic: media articles noted that in its first two months on air, 2JJ reached a 5.4% share of the total radio audience, with 17% in the 18–24 age group, while the audience share of rival 2SM dropped by 2.3%. Despite the poor quality of reception caused by the Sydney transmitter, the station still saw rapid growth. Austin explained that station staff threatened industrial action in July 1975 due to the transmitter issues, but officials of the BCB still refused to meet with 2JJ representatives. A new transmitter was not provided until 1980, following the transition to the FM band.After the station hosted an open-air concert in Liverpool, New South Wales, in May 1975 featuring Skyhooks and Dragon, city's Sun newspaper claimed that attendees were "shocked" by "depictions of sexual depravity and shouted obscenities", which allegedly caused women in the audience to clap their hands over their ears, prompting Coalition frontbencher Peter Nixon to call for the station to be closed down.
During the 1970s, the music programming varied a lot and depended on the presenters and producers, with various factions favouring different artists and styles. There is also archival evidence of marijuana being used by presenters while on ABC grounds.
1980s: Relaunch and national expansion
On 11 July 1980, 2JJ began broadcasting on the FM band at a frequency of 105.7 MHz and became 2JJJ, referred to as Triple J. The first song played was another track then banned from commercial radio, "Gay Guys" by the Dugites. To celebrate the relaunch, the station organised a concert in Parramatta Park on 18 January 1981, featuring Midnight Oil and Matt Finish, who performed to a crowd of 40,000 people.On 19 January 1981, the AM transmissions ceased, and Triple J became an FM-only station. It was not until the 1989 that the ABC was finally able to expand to Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, and Perth. During this period, there were attempts to establish a playlist for the whole station.
In 1990 the station took strike action after ABC management censored the N.W.A. song "Fuck tha Police". In retaliation, the presenters played N.W.A.'s song "Express Yourself" 82 times in a row. Triple M director Barry Chapman was appointed as general manager to oversee Triple J's network expansion and instil cultural change. His tenure generated controversy, most notably in 1990, when all senior announcers in the Sydney office were fired, including the most popular presenters Tony Biggs and Tim Ritchie. Several protests were held outside its William Street studios, including a 105-hour vigil, and a public meeting that packed the Sydney Town Hall with angry listeners spilled out onto the street. Listeners were concerned Chapman would bring a more commercial flair to Triple J with music programming that was less dominated by Sydney acts.
1990s–2000s: Regional and digital expansion
Throughout the 1990s, Triple J commenced expansion to more regional areas of Australia and, in 1994, it was extended to another 18 regional centres throughout the country. In 1996, the total was brought to 44, with the new additions including Launceston, Tasmania; Albany, Western Australia; Bathurst, New South Wales and Mackay, Queensland. Triple J's most recent expansion was to Broome, Western Australia in 2005.From the 1990s until around 2010, Triple J "set the cultural agenda, particularly for Australian music". Grunge music came to the fore, and bands such as Spiderbait, the Beasts of Bourbon, and The Cruel Sea attained critical and popular success, boosted by Triple J's playlist.
In May 2003, Arnold Frolows, the only remaining member of the original 2JJ staff of 1975, stepped down after 28 years as Triple J music director. He was replaced by presenter Richard Kingsmill, who joined the station in 1988. Kingsmill had previously worked as a producer and presenter at 2SER alongside Robbie Buck and Tracee Hutchison.
In late 2004, the station's promotion for their annual Beat the Drum contest – in which listeners were to send in the most remarkable places they could promote the Triple J logo – caused brief controversy after it issued a promotional image of the former World Trade Center draped with a huge drum flag. A notable winner of the competition was a Queensland farmer who formed a drum logo-shaped crop circle in his wheat-fields.
Triple J launched its own music magazine, JMag, in 2005. It was initially published quarterly, then monthly, but in 2013 the magazine ceased publication by News Custom Publishing. It returned as an annual edition, produced in-house, until 2016.
Adapting to the digital streaming age, in 2004, the station began to release podcasts of some of its talkback shows, including Dr. Karl, This Sporting Life, and Hack. In 2006, Triple J launched JTV, a series of television programs broadcast on ABC1 and ABC2 including music videos, live concerts, documentaries, and comedy, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at Triple J's studios.