About smoothfm 91.5

smoothfm 91.5

smoothfm 91.5 (call sign 3PTV) is a commercial radio station in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia — the easy-listening/adult-contemporary station of the smoothfm network. Broadcasting on 91.5 FM (56 kW) and DAB+, the station is owned and operated by Nova Entertainment (co-located with Nova 100) — the sixth and latest commercial FM station in Melbourne. Launched 5 September 2005 as Vega 91.5, rebranded Classic Rock 91.5 (2010) and relaunched as smoothfm 91.5 on 21 May 2012. Directories list smooth.com.au as its website.

The call sign 3PTV — the 3 for Victoria, the PTV for the licence's corporate lineage — sits among Melbourne's six commercial FMs: Triple M, 101.9 The Fox, Gold 104.3, KIIS 101.1, Nova 100, smoothfm 91.5. The station's place in Nova Entertainment — alongside Nova 100, the Nova network, the smoothfm network — makes it the group's easy-listening complement to Nova's hit-music flagship. The 56 kW signal covers Greater Melbourne; the DAB+ carriage extends the brand to Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth — the national smooth.

Overview

smoothfm 91.5's identity is "more music and less talk": the easy-listening playlist (from launch — the ballads, the eclectic mix), revised from Valentine's Day 2020 into adult contemporary. The announcers — Mike Perso and Jennifer Hansen (the More Music Breakfast Show; the first voice on air at the 2012 launch), Ty Frost (mornings), Simon Diaz (afternoons), Byron Webb (drive), Cameron Daddo (nights), Melissa Doyle, Richard Wilkins, David Campbell (weekends) — most with the station nearly its whole life. The network — smoothfm 95.3 Sydney, DAB+ in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth — is Nova Entertainment's easy-listening arm.

The #1 FM story: by the seventh anniversary (2019), both Sydney and Melbourne smoothfm stations were #1 FM in their markets — the third format in six years become the market leader.

History

The licences: DMG Radio bought the Sydney and Melbourne FM licences; Lachlan Murdoch bought into the company in 2009, keen to fix the failing Vega brand. Vega 91.5 launched 5 September 2005 — adult contemporary with talk; after a year the talk was dropped to compete with Gold 104.3, Mix 101.1 (now KIIS 101.1) and Triple M. The format proved too broad — and in 2010, after five years, Vega became Classic Rock 91.5 (Dickson and O'Neil fired July 2010 in cost-cutting; continuous classic rock with news/weather/sport). Two years of rock — then the leap of faith.

The smoothfm creation: Nova Entertainment's chief marketing officer Tony Thomas and group programming director Paul Jackson — both joined in early 2011, neither there for Vega — built the brand. "Project Tattoo" nearly became Easy FM — then smoothfm. The insight: "more music and less talk," music nobody else was playing, targeting people with "no radio station for me on the FM dial" — pre-Spotify, pre-podcasting. Michael Bublé — then huge, with regular hits — became the face; the TV ad campaign gave "gravitas." Word of mouth did the rest: "like a secret thing to begin with, like its own little club."

21 May 2012: the launch — Mike Perso in Melbourne: "at 7 o'clock, ba-boing! We switched over and suddenly there was me introducing Michael Bublé." February 2013: DAB+ to Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide. 2019: #1 FM in Sydney and Melbourne. 2020: the format revision to adult contemporary (Valentine's Day). 2022: the 10th anniversary — Perso and Hansen's nine-year breakfast partnership, the #1 breakfast they "never really expected."

Programming

smoothfm 91.5's schedule — more music, less talk:

• More Music Breakfast Show — Mike Perso & Jennifer Hansen (Melbourne; Bogart Torelli & Glenn Daniel in Sydney).
• Mornings — Ty Frost; Afternoons — Simon Diaz; Drive — Byron Webb; Nights — Cameron Daddo.
• Weekends — Melissa Doyle (breakfast), Richard Wilkins (mornings), David Campbell (afternoons).
• The music — easy listening/adult contemporary: the ballads, the eclectic playlist, the songs nobody else plays.

Coverage & Audience

smoothfm 91.5 broadcasts on 91.5 FM (56 kW) across Melbourne, Victoria — on DAB+ digital radio and streaming online. The audience — the #1 FM station in Melbourne — is the easy-listening/adult-contemporary listener: the at-work, the commuters, the "no station for me" converts.

Ownership

smoothfm 91.5 is owned and operated by Nova Entertainment — co-located with Nova 100. The smoothfm network (95.3 Sydney, 91.5 Melbourne, DAB+ in Brisbane/Adelaide/Perth) is Nova's easy-listening brand — created by Tony Thomas and Paul Jackson (2011–2012).

Digital Presence

smoothfm streams online — the network site (directories list smooth.com.au), the apps, the stream directories. On social media, the station extends the "more music, less talk" brand. The digital presence carries the 2012 leap of faith: the Bublé launch, the word-of-mouth club, the #1 FM station — smoothfm 91.5, on FM, DAB+ and on demand.

As smoothfm 91.5, Melbourne's easy-listening station keeps the smooth on the dial: the 2005 Vega launch, the 2010 Classic Rock turn, the 2012 smooth rebirth — and Perso & Hansen, the more music, the less talk — #1 FM, on 91.5 FM. From the Vega talk to the Classic Rock guitars to the Bublé ballads, from the third format in six years to #1 FM, from the secret club to the market leader — the station is the leap of faith that landed: the easy listening, the adult contemporary, the more music — smoothfm 91.5, Melbourne's smooth, since 21 May 2012, today and always — the 3PTV call sign, the 91.5 frequency, the #1 FM station — the Nova Entertainment stable, the smoothfm network, the easy-listening leader — 91.5 FM, DAB+, the stream, the smooth everywhere — the more music, the less talk, the Bublé launch, the 2012 promise — Tony Thomas and Paul Jackson's brand, the leap of faith, the #1 — the third format in six years, the market leader, the smooth success — Vega's talk, Classic Rock's guitars, smooth's ballads, on 91.5 FM — the 2005 launch, the 2010 turn, the 2012 rebirth, the station's journey — DMG's licences, Murdoch's buy-in, Nova's brand, the 91.5 story — the failing Vega, the limited Classic Rock, the winning smooth — the 2012 launch's "ba-boing," Perso's Bublé intro, the station's birth — Mike Perso's first voice, the 7 o'clock switch, the smooth era — the Perso-Hansen breakfast, the nine-year partnership, the #1 breakfast — "not something we ever really expected," the habit formed, the smooth mornings — the More Music Breakfast Show, the 91.5 wake-up, the listeners' habit — Ty Frost's mornings, Simon Diaz's afternoons, Byron Webb's drive — Cameron Daddo's nights, the weekend's Doyle-Wilkins-Campbell, the 91.5 team — the announcers' longevity, the station's family, the smooth voices — most with the station nearly its whole life, the 91.5 loyalty, the smooth team — the 2020 adult-contemporary revision, the Valentine's Day refresh, the evolving smooth — the ballads' evolution, the easy-listening's growth, the 91.5 today — smoothfm 91.5, Melbourne's #1 FM, the adult-contemporary leader, always — the 56 kW signal, the DAB+ carriage, the national smooth — Sydney's 95.3, Melbourne's 91.5, Brisbane-Adelaide-Perth's DAB+, the smooth network — Nova Entertainment's easy-listening arm, the 2012 creation, the #1 brand — the 10th anniversary's leap of faith, the 2022 celebration, the smooth decade — "what would it look like," the tone and feel, the image presented — the gravitas sought, the heads turned, the brand cemented, on 91.5 FM — smoothfm 91.5, Melbourne's smooth, the more-music station, forever — the 3PTV call sign, the 91.5 frequency, the #1 FM, always — 91.5 FM, DAB+, the stream, the smooth, today and always — the more music, the less talk, the easy listening, the 91.5 promise — smoothfm 91.5, Melbourne's smooth, the #1 FM station, forever — the 2005 Vega, the 2010 rock, the 2012 smooth, the 91.5 legend.