KIIS 106.5

KIIS 1065

Broadcast area	Sydney, Australia
Branding	KIIS 1065
Slogan	So Sydney
Frequency	106.5 MHz FM
First air date	13 February 1925 (as 2UW) 30 April 1994 (as Mix 106.5) 19 January 2014 (as KIIS 106.5)
Format	Top 40 (CHR)
ERP	150,000 watts
HAAT	224 m[1]
Transmitter coordinates	33°48′20″S 151°10′51″E / 33.80556°S 151.18083°E / -33.80556; 151.18083
Former callsigns	2UW (1925-1994)
Owner	Australian Radio Network
Website	KIIS 1065

KIIS 1065 (official callsign 2WFM) is a commercial FM radio station in Sydney, Australia and is owned by the Australian Radio Network (ARN). The station was formerly known as 2UW, broadcasting on 1107 kHz AM, before converting to FM in 1994.

History

2UW

The station, now known as KIIS, began life as 2UW, commencing transmission on 13 February 1925 on 1125 kHz on the AM band. On 1 September 1935, the frequency changed to 1110 kHz and in 1978 changed again to 1107 kHz.^[2] 2UW was the home of many live radio plays and had studios for live programmes at Market Street in Sydney, near the intersection with George Street.

The management of 2UW moved the station to 365 Kent Street Sydney although for a time they retained the Market Street live audience theatre that had been used for live plays. One of its early breakfast presenters, Russ Walkington, had a character known as Gerald the Grasshopper who pre-dated Sammy Sparrow who appeared on 2UE with Gary O'Callaghan.

From the early 1960s, 2UW moved away from its older audience and actively pursued the youth market through the introduction of a Top 40 format in response to the music coming from the United States and Great Britain and to provide a vehicle for the up-and-coming Australian local rock scene.

2UW was one of the most innovative AM radio stations in Australia during the mid-1960s through to the early 1970s thanks to the programming of Ray Bean. Ray introduced the NEW2UW '1110' men comprising announcers John Melouney (breakfast), John Thompson (morning), Tony McLaren (afternoon), Ward "Pally" Austin (drive time), Rod Christopher (early evening), and Jeff Hall (late nights and Dial A Hit on Saturday nights). They were later joined by 'Baby' John Burgess, Donnie Sutherland, Phil Hunter, Gary Stewart, Graham Sawyer and a range of others who took Top 40 radio to a new level as part of the NEW2UW format being broadcast from the Kent Street studios in Sydney. The '1110 men' also took their music to the streets with promotions in such places as beaches, parks and shopping centres. One of the most successful promotions was the NEW2UW studio at the Sydney Royal Easter Show at the old RAS showgrounds at Moore Park. This provided a unique opportunity for the radio stations stars to mingle with their listeners. In 1969 the NEW2UW managed to lure announcer John Laws from his drive time slot at 2UE and gave Laws his first morning programme in Sydney radio which was an immediate success, but also brought much confusion to the audience as the radio station went through a series of breakfast announcers and format changes which sought to capitalise on the success of the John Laws programme, while trying to hang on its huge audience - many of whom were not ready for the introduction of talk-back radio by their beloved NEW2UW.

The NEW2UW had a close association with the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph and operated a news service from its own Kent Street studios and a news studio in the Daily Telegraph Building in Park Street Sydney when the Telegraph papers were owned by Sir Frank Packer. The NEW2UW newsroom was operated by Don Rodgers a newspaper journalist who served Prime Ministers Chifley and Curtin during the Second World War as their press secretary. Don's style was very much in the mould of newspaper reporting, but he instilled in his staff the fundamentals of accuracy and clarity in their reporting.

Mix 106.5

2UW was one of two Sydney AM radio stations to be successful in bidding for the right to convert to FM, and on 30 April 1994 commenced transmission on 106.5 MHz on the FM band.^[3] The 1107 kHz frequency is now assigned to SBS Radio.

The familiar 2UW call sign was now broadcasting as Mix 106.5, adopting its name and logo from the United States. The only announcer to be kept from when he joined the station in 1979, through the transitions of 1107 2UW (1979), The New2UW (1981), Magic 11 (1984), the return of 1107 2UW (1984), Classic Hits 2UW (1986), and the conversion to the original MIX106.5 (post 1994) was Trevor Sinclair. The official callsign became 2WFM (though this was not used on-air). During the 1994 relaunch, MIX 106.5 had Sydney's Best Mix from the '70s, '80s and '90s (the format is now used by Classic Hits Network and smoothfm). From 2000 the slogan was replaced by Sydney's Best Mix from the '80s, '90s and now.

In 2004, Mix 106.5 went with a revamp of the station in conjunction with new shows and music demographic and among those changes was the new slogan Sydney. Feel Good. In 2010, Mix 106.5 went with a revamp of the station in conjunction with new shows and music demographic. Among those changes was the new slogan Sydney's Fresh Mix. On 20 December 2010, the station revived its slogan and genre to Sydney's Best Mix of the '80s, '90s and Now, with the return of Love Songs during the day.

On 30 January 2013, MIX 106.5 had a major revamp with the slogan, preamble and format, changing its name to Sydney's Widest Variety Of Music From The '90s to Now, playing music from the 1990s onwards. Adding to the major changes came a new breakfast show fronted by Sami Lukis & Yumi Stynes along with Rosso on Drive.

KIIS 106.5

In November 2013, the Kyle & Jackie O breakfast show departed rival 2DayFM. ARN announced that The Kyle & Jackie O Show would be moving to a rebranded KIIS 106.5.^[4] With the announcement came speculation that the station would be rebranded as KIIS FM. On 8 December 2013, ARN announced that it would be rebranded Mix 106.5 to KIIS 1065, with Kyle & Jackie O taking over the morning slot and syndicating their evening version of their programme to ARN's sister Mix stations.^[5]

Shortly after the name change was announced, Melbourne narrowcaster Kiss FM launched the "Kiss Off ARN" campaign, stating that ARN's new branding was a breach of their trademark, and that the station would be pursuing legal action.^[6] However, in February 2014, the two parties reached a "confidential agreement", and the issue never made it to court.^[7]

In November 2014, a 30-second ad on KIIS in breakfast cost $1225 and in drive cost $895 (with KIIS holding a 9.8% and 8.4% share respectively in these slots at the time).^[8] Also in November, parent company Australian Radio Network announced that former Nova 100 breakfast team Hughesy & Kate will replace Rosso on Drive in 2015.^[9][10] The show commenced on 27 January 2015, anchored by former 90.9 Sea FM and 2DayFM announcer Matty Acton.^[11][12]

Studios

• Sydney CBD (1925–1981)
• Neutral Bay (1981–2002)
• North Ryde (2002 to present)

2UW was previously located at 365 Kent Street, Sydney, before relocating to 11 Rangers Road, Neutral Bay in 1981, followed by 3 Byfield Street, North Ryde in 2002.

On-air programs

• The Kyle and Jackie O Show
• Gordie Waters
• 3PM Pick-Up with Meshel Laurie and Katie 'Monty' Dimond
• Hughesy and Kate
• The Thinkergirls with Stacey June and Kristie Mercer
• On Air with Ryan Seacrest
• Rodney O's Block Party
• iHeartRadio Countdown with Matty Acton
• The A-List with Kyle and Jackie O
• UK Top 10

News

• Brooklyn Ross - (Kyle and Jackie O Show)
• Deborah Clay - (News Director & Hughesy and Kate)
• Carla Bignasca

Regular News fill-in readers:

• Jennifer Menchin
• Keegan Buzza
• Kate O'Bree
• Sacha Barbour

Traffic

• Vic Lorusso (Kyle and Jackie O Show - Breakfast)
• Paul Latter (Workday)
• Alf Parahini (Hughesy and Kate - Drive)

Former Announcers

External links

• KIIS 1065
• Australian Radio Network

References