Frequency 89.1 MHz FM Format Community radio | First air date January 8, 1993 | |
Broadcast area The Upper and Mid Blue Mountains Slogan Your Voice, Your Community Owner The Blue Mountains Public Broadcasting Society Inc. | ||
Radio Blue Mountains 89.1 is a not-for-profit, volunteer community radio station serving the Blue Mountains since 1993. The station broadcasts 24 hours a day from its studio in Block A, 25A-27 Parke Street, Katoomba, to a potential audience of some 75,000 people across the Blue Mountains and to a much wider national and international audience through internet streaming. Radio Blue Mountains is linked to the CBAA Community Radio Network, a national community radio network which provides a wide range of programming when local presenters are not available. The station is funded through listener support, grants and limited commercial sponsorship.
Contents
History
The Blue Mountains Public Broadcasting Society Inc was set up in Katoomba on 25 August 1985. Initial test broadcasts were conducted in and around Leura and Katoomba over the next six and a half years. In June 1992, the then-Australian Broadcasting Tribunal granted a full-time community broadcasting license to the Society. The studio's were built in 1992 and on 8 January 1993 the society began its first official public broadcast to the community.
In 1994 the station purchased a satellite dish to enable it to receive the CBAA Community Radio Network programme feed, allowing Radio Blue Mountains 89.1 to broadcast 24 hours a day. The Society celebrated its 21st anniversary in 2007. In August 2008 the station obtained a licence to broadcast on the Internet and began implementing Internet streaming systems. In late 2016 the CBAA formerly began invoicing and issuing Internet Streaming licenses separate to broadcast license and Radio Blue Mountains took out a streaming license.
Community Involvement
Radio Blue Mountains 89.1 works closely with the all sections of the Blue Mountains community. Its close relationship with the Blue Mountains City Council has led to efforts to establish the station as an emergency communicator in times of bushfires and other catastrophes. The station encourages local musicians and runs the annual Battle of the Bands and highlights social and cultural activity in the Upper Blue Mountains through on-air interviews along with its daily promotion of community events through its Community Notice Board segments.