ABC Goulburn Murray

ABC Goulburn Murray (call sign: 3MRR), is an ABC Local Radio station based in Albury-Wodonga. It first went to air - with the callsign 2CO - on 16 December 1931 from a high-powered AM transmission site on the outskirts of the border town of Corowa, NSW.

History

ABC Goulburn Murray studios in Wodonga

A tiny studio was established in the Albury Post Office building to enable its first employee, Arthur Newnham, to provide a modest offering of local programming in an on-air schedule that consisted mainly of a mix of programs relayed from the ABC's Melbourne radio stations, 3LO and 3AR. The 2CO studios later moved to various Albury locations: Temple Court in Dean Street; a large house at the corner of Dean and Thugoona streets; to Townsend Street; and then into a purpose-built studio at the corner of Olive and Wilson streets. In the late 1990s, the station relocated across the border to Wodonga, into another purpose-built premises, which remains the station's current home.

In the early 1990s, 2CO was re-branded as CO-FM as it switched from the AM to the FM band, retaining this name until 2000 when it became ABC Goulburn Murray. The original 2CO AM transmission site was retained and is used to rebroadcast Wagga-based ABC Riverina into the southern Riverina on the 675 AM frequency.

Airing on 106.5 FM from a transmission site on Mount Baranduda near Wodonga, and from low-powered transmission sites in Bright, Corryong, Harrietville and Myrtleford, ABC Goulburn Murray broadcasts its local programs from studios located at 1 High Street Wodonga, covering parts of northern Victoria and southern New South Wales including Albury, Wodonga, Wangaratta and Benalla.

In October 1934, 2CO played a dramatic role in the MacRobertson Air Race from Mildenhall (near London) to Melbourne when the Netherlands KLM airliner the Uiver became lost over Albury, New South Wales after being caught in a thunderstorm. 2CO announcer Arthur Newnham appealed on air for cars to line up on the Albury racecourse to light up a makeshift runway in a bid to save the plane and its occupants. The Uiver landed safely and next morning was pulled out of the mud by locals, allowing it to fly on and win the handicap section of the international air race.

Programming

ABC Goulburn Murray's lineup of local programming includes a weekday Breakfast program from 6 to 10 am hosted by Joseph Thomsen; a weekday Mornings show from 10am to 11am presented by Sandra Moon (Mon - Thurs) and Gaye Pattison (Fri) (also aired on ABC Shepparton 97.7); and a Saturday Breakfast show with Ray Terrill (also aired on ABC Shepparton 97.7).

There are four local news bulletins at 6.30am, 7.30am, 8.30am and midday.

Presenters

References

"The origins of ABC Goulburn Murray". ABC Online. 2003-02-27. Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-06.