Joy 94.9
JOY 94.9, stylised as JOY or JOY 94.9, is a community radio station broadcasting at 94.9 FM in Melbourne. It is Australia's first and only LGBTQI+ community radio station.
History
Under its original licence name JOY Melbourne Independent Community Broadcasters Association, JOY 94.9 began its first test transmission on 1 December 1993 in Melbourne on 90.7 MHz. JOY continued to broadcast via temporary test transmissions, mostly on a part-time basis sharing the 90.7 frequency with other community broadcasters.Out of the approximately 20 aspirant community radio licensees in Melbourne, JOY Melbourne was one of only four to be granted a full-time broadcasting licence in 2001. In its application to the Australian broadcasting regulator JOY had applied for a community licence in both the Melbourne-Wide and lesser coverage Melbourne City coverage areas. However JOY Melbourne was successful in the Melbourne City licence area where it succeeded against one competing applicant then known as City-FM .
JOY Melbourne commenced full-time broadcasting on its permanent licence in January 2002 on its current frequency of 94.9 MHz.
In July 2008, after 14 years above a hardware store at 268 Coventry Street, South Melbourne, JOY 94.9 relocated to Level 9, 225 Bourke Street, Melbourne as part of the City of Melbourne's "City Village" initiative.
Timeline
- 1993 - JOY is incorporated on 28 June 1993 and named 'JOY Melbourne Independent Community Broadcasters Association Incorporated'. JOY began broadcasting on World AIDS Day on 90.7FM from the original studio location of 268A Coventry St South Melbourne, a total space 80sqm consisting of 1 broadcasting studio. The first words spoken on-air were by founder John Oliver, "Can I have a cup of coffee and then we’ll get going?" These words were broadcast by accident. The first track to be played on-air was scheduled to be Kylie Minogue's Celebration, but due to technical issues Jimmy Barnes' Working Class Man was played first.
- 1995 - JOY released an annual Electronic and remix compilation album which was a representation of the music broadcast on-air for listeners to purchase and listen to from home. The first compilation album released was called "The Strip – Pride and JOY". JOY's first outside live-cross occurred at the 1995 Midsumma Festival.
- 1996 - JOY's first full outside broadcast took place from the window of "The Outlook" on Commercial Road, Prahran. This resulted in a continuous broadcast for a period of three weeks, 24 hours a day.
- 1998 - Paul Terdich was appointed as JOY Station Manager and oversaw the stations initial growth and later the stations successful application for a full-time licence. JOY initially shared the 90.7FM frequency with Muslim radio so listeners could wake up one morning with disco divas and the next be called to Islamic prayer.
- 2001 - JOY is granted its full-time licence by the ABA in December
- 2002 - JOY begins full-time broadcasting on new frequency 94.9fm. JOY receives a grant from the Foundation for Young Australians to train same-sex attracted youth in radio. Six years later, more than 70 young people have passed through the FYA program.
- 2003 - JOY celebrates its 10th birthday.
- 2004 - JOY becomes the largest gay and lesbian community member-based organisation in Australia.
- 2006 - JOY's full-time licence is renewed.
- 2007 - Stephen Hahn is appointed as JOY CEO Station Manager and overseas the planning to move JOY from South Melbourne to the City Village in Bourke Street, Melbourne.
- 2008 - JOY co-broadcasters from inside the barricades at the 30th Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras in conjunction with Sydney station 2SER.
- In March JOY commenced construction of new broadcast studio at its new home on the top floor of City Village at 225 Bourke St Melbourne and commenced broadcasting from the new location on 13 June.
- In June JOY launched its member magazine Hear Here.
- 2009 - In July Stephen Hahn resigns as General Manager. In November, Danae Gibson commences as General Manager. On 1 December, JOY 94.9 celebrates 16 years of broadcasting.
- 2010 - Long-time presenter of , CBAA and JOY Board Member and JOY Melbourne Inc. Life Member Addam Stobbs dies on 16 June 2010.
- 2011 - In June, the JOY 94.9 App is released via the iTunes Store allowing people all around the world to take JOY with them, anywhere. Also, in June, Danae Gibson resigns as General Manager to commence as General Manager of Melbourne Queer Film Festival.
- 1 December – celebrates 18th birthday.
- 2012 - anniversary – 10 years ago today JOY officially launched full-time broadcasting on its newly allocated frequency – 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. And of course with the usual can-do attitude of our team, JOY was ready to go in under 3 weeks, whereas many of the broadcasters at the time took 6 to 12 months to cut-over to full-time on their new frequency.
- 2013 - JOY 94.9 celebrates 20th birthday.
- 2014 -JOY 94.9 celebrates 21st birthday.
- 2016 - The JOY studios were evacuated on Tuesday 20 September due to an alleged bomb threat, with the station's programming put on auto-play to allow a thorough investigation.
- 2018 - JOY 94.9 celebrates 25 years on-air.
Programming
Programs on JOY incorporate a mix of talkback, music and specialist culture and lifestyle programs, including announcements promoting community events, counselling and support services and key networks supporting the gay and lesbian community. JOY 94.9 also operates a news service covering mainstream news events and issues as well those mainly concerning the gay and lesbian community and its long-running current affairs flagship, Saturday Magazine, continues to broadcast on Saturdays. The station is staffed by over 250 volunteers.
JOY 94.9 utilises online streaming audio to reach the gay and lesbian audience in the rest of Melbourne and the world.
All JOY 94.9 presenters perform their roles in voluntary capacities.
Music
JOY plays a wide array of music, with variations including techno, women's music, electronica, euro-house, disco, Easy Listening, Soft Rock, and Pop, alternative, jazz, classical, trance, independent music, gospel, folk, blues, hardcore metal, industrial, retro, brit pop, R&B, Hip Hop, Soul, Remixes and more.Specialist Programming
Supplementing this day-time content is predominantly chat-based specialist programming broadcast from 7 pm to midnight each week day. Weekend specialist programming includes current affairs and lifestyle programming and many more varied examples in the . The JOY schedule is updated every 4 months by the JOY program director and programming committee. Many shows remain on the schedule, but new shows are only added when the schedule is updated.News
JOY runs a news roster covering weekdays and weekends in the morning, noon, and drive. Many newsreaders have found employment in the commercial industry, such as Nathan Gardiner who is now a newsreader at Gold 104.3, and Anthony Laughton who was employed by Nova 100/Classic Rock 91.5 and MTR 1377.JOY Newsreaders are volunteers.
Q-mmunity Network News
is a news feed produced on a weekly basis and is syndicated to several community radio stations across Australia.Awards & Honours
Since JOY 94.9's inception varying shows, personalities and events have gained interest, honours and awards for their excellence in broadcasting and representation of the LGBTQI Community.Community Broadcasting Association Australia">Community Broadcasting Association of Australia">Community Broadcasting Association Australia Awards
ALSO Foundation Awards
2008- Most Outstanding Media award
Other Awards
- 1997 – Melbourne Rainbow Media Award
- 1996 – Melbourne Rainbow Media Award
- 1992 – Pride Young Achievers Award