ABC Capricornia
 G. Gardiner, radio announcer in the studio at the Rockhampton post office in 1931 |
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| Broadcast area | Rockhampton and The Capricorn Coast |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 837 kHz AM |
| First air date | 29 July 1931 |
| Format | Talk |
| Transmitter coordinates | 23°22′48.22″S 150°30′56.63″E / 23.3800611°S 150.5157306°E |
| Owner | Australian Broadcasting Corporation |
| Website | http://abc.net.au/capricornia/ |
4RK, better known as ABC Capricornia is one of the ABC's original regional radio stations, predating the Corporation's inception on 1 July 1932. 4RK, as it was known at the time, began broadcasting on 29 July 1931 and was owned by the Australian Broadcasting Company. The power was initially 2 kilowatts. The transmitting equipment was established by Keith Thow of STC.
The station became part of the ABC in 1932, but retained its original callsign. The station was the second regional ABC radio station in Australia and celebrated its 75th birthday in 2006.
The station broadcasts to the region on two powerful AM transmitters - the 4RK transmitter at Gracemere (broadcasting on 837 AM) and the 4QD transmitter at Emerald (broadcasting on 1548 AM). However, ABC Capricornia also uses a number of FM translators which are strategically located throughout the region, enabling the station to be heard clearly in other towns, such as Gladstone and Biloela.
Staff based at ABC Capricornia cover the ABC's television, radio and online operations for the areas including journalists, presenters and producers, as well as an online producer, television reporter, and camera producer/editor.
Currently, local news bulletins are broadcast on ABC Capricornia at 6:30 am, 7:30 am, and 12:00 pm on weekdays.
Previously ABC Capricornia also aired local news bulletins at 8:30 am and 5:30 pm but under controversial programming changes that were implemented nationwide by the ABC in early 2016, the five local bulletins on ABC Capricornia were reduced to three. The 8:30am bulletin was replaced with a brief 90 second update of local and national headlines read by a locally-based newsreader. The 5:30 pm local news bulletin was also axed and was also replaced with a brief national update, read by the producer of the 4pm-6pm regional drive program which is broadcast from Brisbane, as are the 4:30 pm headlines.
Until 2014, the station maintained a radio news bureau in the city of Gladstone, 100 kilometres south of Rockhampton, where a radio journalist was based to cover news originating from the Gladstone region. The Gladstone-based reporter also presented ABC Capricornia's local afternoon news bulletins which were broadcast live from Gladstone. However, the ABC controversially announced the permanent closure of the Gladstone bureau and the removal of a Gladstone-based reporter on November 24, 2014 following the Australian Government implementing funding cuts of $254 million to the ABC.
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