Australia Radio Dial 1931

Little more than a decade after the end of WWI in 1918, some 6.5m Australians in all states could listen to music, sports commentaries and results and ‘educational’ talks on a wide variety of subjects from the newly emerging entertainment medium of radio.

In 1931, Australia was still in the grip of a global economic depression with almost 30% unemployment. The Sydney Harbor Bridge was under construction. The first airmail service between Australia and England was in the future, and ‘talking’ pictures relatively new.

Listeners to the Australian Broadcasting Company station 2BL Sydney could enjoy such programs as ‘a description of the fight at the Sydney Stadium’ at 8pm on Saturday, or ‘a two-pianoforte recital by Carl Morris and Madame Evelyn Greig: “Concerto in G Minor” at 8.15pm the night before.

The population of Sydney was about 1.3m, and listeners had eight local stations to choose from. Of course, they broadcast for only a few hours daily, often closing down for lunch and dinner. There were 55 licensed stations nationwide, although radio amateurs were also allowed to broadcast music and talks for local audiences as experimental stations.

The ‘NZ Radio Record’ reported in May 1930 ‘that Mr KH Thow of the Wellington office of the Standard Telephones and Cables [Australasia] Ltd, left Wellington by the ‘Makura’ last week for Sydney to assist in the installation of five new broadcasting stations for the Commonwealth Government, ordered from the above company. Two of the stations, which are to have an aerial power of 2 kilowatts, will be erected at Newcastle and Rockhampton. Three 5-kilowatt stations will be erected at places not yet disclosed.’

The most powerful stations in the Commonwealth were at Corowa [2CO] in the Riverina district on the border of Victoria and NSW, and north of Adelaide at Crystal Brook [5CK] to serve the northern Spencer Gulf ports and Broken Hill.

The private stations were much lower powered, only 2GB Sydney [3kW] with a strong enough signal to cover the city and surrounding districts, and both 2KY and 2UW having only half this power and less coverage.

However, Sydney was already the dominant ‘radio city’ at this time, and listeners further afield soon became accustomed to the programs and personalities of the Sydney stations, especially as night fell and signals reached further inland and across the Tasman Sea.

In the coming decade, Australian radio flourished as new studio buildings were constructed, new stations and ever more popular personalities came on air to a growing audience, and local manufacturers built beautiful radio receivers that became standard living room and lounge furniture.

By 1931, the shift from amateur to professional radio broadcasting that was to shape the structure and sound of the Australian radio industry for the following five decades was well underway.

This reflection of the Australian Radio Dial in that pivotal year pays tribute to those men and women of early Australian radio who informed and entertained listeners across the Commonwealth and in far flung Pacific territories as the 1930’s dawned with new hope.

Frequency	Call-Sign	Location	Owner	Transmitter Power [kW]
560	2CO	Corowa	National Broadcasting Service	7.5
580	7ZL	Hobart	National Broadcasting Service	3
610	3AR	Melbourne	National Broadcasting Service	5
635	5CK	Crystal Brook	National Broadcasting Service	7.5
665	2FC	Sydney	National Broadcasting Service	5
690	6WF	Perth	National Broadcasting Service	5

730	5CL	Adelaide	National Broadcasting Service	5
760	4QG	Brisbane	National Broadcasting Service	5
800	3LO	Melbourne	National Broadcasting Service	5
855	2BL	Sydney	National Broadcasting Service	5
880	6PR	Perth	Nicholson’s Ltd	0.2

890	7HO	Hobart	Commercial Broadcasters Ltd	0.05
910	4RK	Rockhampton	National Broadcasting Service	2
930	3UZ	Melbourne	J Nilsen & Co	0.5
950	2GB	Sydney	Theosophical Broadcasting Station	3
960	5DN	Adelaide	Hume Broadcasters Ltd	0.5
970	3BO	Bendigo	Amalgamated Wireless [A/asia] Ltd	0.2
1000	4GR	Toowoomba	Gold Radio Service	0.05
1010	3HA	Hamilton	Western Province Radio Co.	0.2

1025	2UE	Sydney	Radio House	1
1041	5PI	Port Pirie	Midland Broadcasting Co.	0.05
1050	2CA	Canberra	AJ Ryan	0.05
1070	2KY	Sydney	Trades & Labour Council	1.5
1080	3SH	Swan Hill	Swan Hill Broadcasting Co.	0.05
1100	7LA	Launceston	Findlay & Willis Pty Ltd	0.2

1110	2HD	Newcastle	Airsales Building Co.	0.2
1125	2UW	Sydney	2UW Radio Broadcasting Ltd	1.5
1135	6ML	Perth	Musgroves Ltd	0.3
1145	4BC	Brisbane	JB Chandler & Co.	0.6
1145	3YB	Melbourne	Mobile Broadcasting Service	0.025
1170	4TO	Townsville	Amalgamated Wireless [A/asia] Ltd	0.1

1180	3DB	Melbourne	3DB Broadcasting Station Pty	0.5
1190	4MK	Mackay	Williams’s Agencies Ltd	0.1
1200	5KA	Adelaide	Sport Radio Broadcasting Co.	0.3
1210	2CH	Sydney	Council of Churches	1
1220	6KG	Kalgoorlie	Goldfield’s Broadcasters Ltd	0.1

1220	2MV	Moss Vale	Moss Vale Broadcasting Service	0.05
1245	2NC	Newcastle	National Broadcasting Service	2
1260	3WR	Wangaratta	Wangaratta Broadcasting Pty Ltd	0.05
1270	2SM	Sydney	Catholic Broadcasting Co.	1
1280	3TR	Sale	Gippsland Broadcasting Service	0.05

1290	4BK	Brisbane	Brisbane Broadcasting Co.	0.2
1300	3BA	Ballarat	Ballarat Broadcasters Pty Ltd	0.05
1310	5AD	Adelaide	Advertiser Newspaper Ltd	0.3
1330	2MO	Gunnedah	MJ Oliver	0.05
1340	2XN	Lismore	GW Exton	0.05
1350	3KZ	Melbourne	3KZ Broadcasting Station	0.2
1380	4BH	Brisbane	Broadcasters [Aust] Ltd	0.2

1390	2GN	Goulburn	Goulburn Broadcasting Co.	0.05
1400	3GL	Geelong	Geelong Broadcasting Pty Ltd	0.05
1415	2KO	Newcastle	Newcastle Broadcasting Co.	0.2
1425	3AW	Melbourne	Vogue Broadcasting Co. Ltd	0.3
1435	2WL	Wollongong	Wollongong Broadcasting Co.	0.05
1480	2AY	Albury	Charles Rice	0.05
1500	3AK	Melbourne	Akron Broadcasting Services Ltd	0.05

2CA Canberra Voices

2CH Sydney

3MA The Sunraysia Station

5DN Adelaide

Early Australian AM Radio

Koalas, Kangaroos & Kiwis – The Australian Radio Listener Clubs

Collecting Classic Radios