3MP
 |
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| Broadcast area | Melbourne RA1 |
|---|---|
| Branding | Classic Rock Radio |
| Format | Classic rock |
| Power | 5 kW |
| Callsign meaning |
3 - Victoria Mornington Peninsula |
| Former frequencies | 1380 kHz AM (1976–1978) |
| Owner |
Pacific Star Network (Malbend Pty Ltd) |
| Sister stations |
1116 SEN Aussie Digital KOOOL Digital |
| Website | www |
Classic Rock Radio is a commercial radio station, broadcast from Rowville, Victoria and licensed to Greater Melbourne. Owned and operated by Pacific Star Network from studios in Richmond, it broadcasts a classic rock format on 1377 AM and DAB+ digital radio.
3MP began transmission 21 July 1976, as Melbourne's seventh commercial radio station and the city's first new commercial station in over 40 years. The original licencees included a consortium of businessmen and media identities.
Unlike other Melbourne radio stations that were based in the inner city areas, 3MP - as the callsign "MP", which stands for Mornington Peninsula, implies - was based in the south eastern suburb of Frankston, originally from studios in Bayside Shopping Centre. The station first broadcast from a transmitter located at Rowville on 1380 kHz AM, changing to 1377 kHz AM in 1978, with its initial music format being a one-for-one mix of solid gold and current Top 40 music. Developed by the station's first General Manager, Ray Bean, and Operations Manager, Geoff Brown, it was strongly targeted at the 25-39 demographic as a less edgy version of the popular "More Music" 10-17 and 18-24 demographic format employed at the time by #1 rated 3XY.
When the station first opened, the transmitter at Rowville was connected to the Frankston studios via a microwave link which had been purchased second-hand from the MMBW (Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works). It was surplus equipment recovered from the construction site of the Upper Yarra Dam. The microwave link was licenced to be operated as a 'backup link' should the mandatory PMG (now Telstra) landline fail, but the quality of the microwave link was far superior to the landline and was used as the primary link between the two sites. The two transmitters were (at the time) state-of-the-art RCA AM solid-state stereo transmitters and were connected to a directional antenna array which focused the signal in a south easterly direction roughly covering the Mornington Peninsula.
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