Radio killed the radio stars
Farewell to 4KQ, and another slice of my Brisbane childhood.
It’s an end of the financial year (EOFY) thing. We buy up items tangentially connected to our job in the hope that they are almost-instant tax deductions. Or, if we are media companies negotiating a change in ownership of a major asset, we draw a line in the ledger at the end of the month.
That’s what’s happened with the transition in ownership of the Brisbane radio station soon to be formerly known as 4KQ from HTE, formerly ARN, and SEN. The callsign and the classic hits format will continue until June 30, and the following day those who tune in to 693AM will hear more sport than I could possibly handle.
I’ve already written a lot about this change, so I won’t say too much more directly about the demise of 4KQ other than I shed a tear at the on-air farewells from the breakfast team, Laurel Edwards, Mark Hine and Gary Clare. Not just for them, because I know they’ll be OK — there are offers on the table, I understand — but for the end of something that has always been there for me. KQ was a constant of my childhood, and of the radio brands that I knew so well when I was in my early teens, only 4BH and 4BC remain, both of them doing something different to what they were doing back then.
Of course, it’s easy to live in the past, but there are realities to be dealt with. And there are experts such as Brisbane-based global radio futurologist James Cridland to explain what they are. For insights into how and why things are changing in broadcast and podcasts, I suggest you check out his website and follow him on social media, (And, yes, James, the “lazy” headline to this piece was written with you in mind.)
I wish the SEN people all the best with what they are doing, and I hope the lovers of classic hits — and I’m increasingly one of them, because the definition of a “classic” shifts over time — find 4BH, which swiftly changed format on news of KQ’s imminent demise, or whatever else emerges, to be to their satisfaction. If not, from the music perspective at least, there’s always Spotify and its ilk. And, failing that, my CDs, LPs and cassettes are in storage somewhere (I literally don’t know where, but that’s a story for another time) …
Incidentally, when I Googled “owners of ARN”, it told me the answer, but also presented me with another blast from the past — the logo of APN. I used to work for APN when it was Australian Provincial Newspapers and it owned the likes of the Queensland Times and the Rockhampton Morning Bulletin (both now mere online shells of themselves under the ownership of NewsCorp). Times change.
MEANWHILE …
When I was young, museums were dark, dank places that smelt funny and had lots of bones and bits of famous things. Now, not so much. In fact, the Queensland Museum is currently home to the Disney: The Magic of Animation exhibition. It’s bound to be popular.
On the subject of museums, it looks like the Old Queensland Museum is getting the love it so desperately needs. A mystery donor has given $20 million to its long-term tenant, the Queensland Youth Orchestra. Details here.
Does Brisbane need rubbish bins that say “Oh, right there, yes!”, “Come back soon and do that again!” and “Mmm, a bit more to the left next time” when you feed them? A city in Sweden is doing the heavy lifting to discover whether this is just a gimmick, or it’s a gimmick that actually encourages people not to litter.
Also, Laurel did a gorgeous video of her last day which I think is on Twitter, or Insta or one of the god-damn new-fangled socials. Brought a tear to my eye.
Ah, remembering when..about 1975 when I waited outside 4IP for Sherbet to roll up for an interview. Got my hand fair inside the open window of their car, I did. As you say, times change. :)