Austereo Radio Network
 |
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| Public (ASX: AEO) | |
| Industry | Radio |
| Successor | Southern Cross Austereo |
| Founded | 1980 |
| Defunct | July 2011 |
| Headquarters | Melbourne, Australia |
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Key people
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Peter Harvie, Chairman Guy Dobson, Chief Executive Officer Craig Bruce, Head of Content Adam Lang, Director of Operations Kathy Gramp, Chief Financial Officer Jeremy McVean, Head of Digital Strategy Ross Forgione, Chief Information Officer |
| Products |
Today Network (rebranded to Hit Network) Triple M Network Mix 94.5 (Perth) KOFM (Newcastle) Mix 106.3 (Canberra) Triple M Classic Rock (Digital Radio) |
| Website | www.austereo.com.au |
Austereo Radio Network formerly operated commercial radio networks in metropolitan and regional areas of Australia. On 6 April 2011, Southern Cross Media purchased a majority of the company and is in the process of unifying the Austereo networks with Southern Cross's regional brands. In July 2011, Southern Cross Media and Austereo were merged to form Southern Cross Austereo.
The company was founded by Paul Thompson, and when commercial FM broadcasting was introduced into Australia it acquired the licence for the metropolitan Adelaide area; SAFM commenced transmission in late 1980. The next station to join the network was FOX FM in Melbourne in 1986, eventually to be followed by Sydney's 2Day FM and 4BK Brisbane for which the company was successful in converting to the FM band in 1990. Austereo also purchased Perth AM radio station 6IX with the intention of converting the station to FM. 6IX, which had been re-launched by Austereo as The Eagle 1080 AM, was consequently sold off after being outbid for either of the two new FM licences by rivals 6KY and 6PM, which Austereo now own.
1992 saw a monopolistic arrangement take place whereby Austereo purchased the Hoyts owned Triple M network, and Village Roadshow in turn purchased Austereo to form a single umbrella company. The purchases were part of a single deal that was unpopular due to the fierce rivalry between the two radio networks, and the fact that Village Roadshow and Hoyts were also direct competitors in the film industry.
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