About Star 102.7

Star 102.7

Star 102.7 is a commercial radio station broadcasting to Cairns, Far North Queensland on 102.7 MHz FM. Operating under the callsign 4CCA, it plays an adult contemporary format — "80s, 90s and now" — and has been the most-listened-to station in Cairns for six consecutive years. Owned by the Australian Radio Network, it launched in its current form in April 2016, but its lineage stretches back to 1998, when it went to air as 4CA-FM, the second FM station in the Cairns market. Its studios are at Virginia House, Level 2, 68 Abbott Street, Cairns.

Overview

Star 102.7 broadcasts an adult contemporary music format to Cairns and the Far North Queensland region on 102.7 FM, mixing contemporary hit radio with popular tracks from the 1990s and 2000s alongside local news, weather and traffic. Its published contacts are +61 7 4042 8000 and Virginia House, Level 2, 68 Abbott Street, Cairns QLD 4870. The station's lineup is built around local shows: breakfast with Johnny and Inkie, Nikki in the mornings and Dylan in the afternoons, with networked ARN programming — Fitzy and Wippa, then Ash, Kip and Luttsy — in the evenings.

History

The station launched on 26 October 1998 as 4CA-FM, the FM offshoot of Cairns' heritage AM station 4CA and the second FM station in the market after 103.5 Hot FM. In 2005 it was purchased by Prime Media Group from Macquarie Regional Radioworks, and on 23 March 2009 it was rebranded as 102.7 Zinc FM — at which point the 4CA branding returned to the AM sister station 4EL. In August 2013, Grant Broadcasters acquired the station along with Prime Media's other nine Queensland radio stations.

On 25 April 2016, Grant Broadcasters relaunched the station as Star 102.7, replacing the Zinc rock brand with an 80s, 90s and now adult contemporary format. Chief operating officer Alison Cameron explained that the music library had been gradually softened for months and the brand change was the final piece of the puzzle; the on-air lineup — breakfast with Dave and Inkie, local drive with Beth Rep — carried across. The relaunch was backed by new studios and offices in Grafton Street, then under construction and fit-out, and by launch promotions including the search for Cairns' Best Teacher in the Galaxy, a "Star on the Car" giveaway and the $1000 Minute breakfast cash giveaway.

In November 2021, Star 102.7 — along with the other Grant Broadcasters stations — was acquired by the Australian Radio Network, with the deal finalised on 4 January 2022. The acquisition brought access to ARN's iHeartRadio platform, and the station was expected to integrate with ARN's KIIS Network while retaining its name. For a family-owned company like Grant Broadcasters, the sale ended decades of independent regional ownership; for ARN, it added one of regional Queensland's strongest-performing stations to a portfolio anchored by the KIIS and Pure Gold networks. The "Star" brand itself was a Grant creation, rolled out across several of its Queensland markets — and in Cairns it has become the company's flagship success story.

Programming

Star 102.7's schedule is live and local through the day. Breakfast with Johnny and Inkie — described as Cairns' longest-serving radio team, "hardwired into the heartbeat of Cairns and the far north" — airs weekdays from 5:30am. The duo are the direct heirs of the Dave and Inkie breakfast show that carried the station through the Zinc-to-Star transition in 2016; their longevity on the Cairns airwaves is itself a competitive advantage in a market where audiences reward familiarity. In the December 2025 survey they were down a point but still commanded a 27.4% breakfast share — nearly eight points clear of Hit's networked Bronte and Lakey on 19.8%. Nikki takes the workday mornings with the best music from the 80s, 90s and now, and Dylan holds afternoons. Evenings carry ARN network programming. The station also runs the classic regional-radio promotional arsenal: cash giveaways, car giveaways and community campaigns.

Coverage & Audience

Star 102.7's broadcast area is Cairns and the Far North Queensland region. Its ratings dominance is the defining fact of the Cairns market. In the 2024 Xtra Insights survey it achieved its highest-ever audience: 77,100 weekly listeners and a 26.1% market share, leading across all dayparts and weekends, with Johnny and Inkie's breakfast show on 28.4% — well ahead of Hit 103.5's 16.7% and Triple M's 16.3%. The 2025 survey extended the run: market share up to 26.6%, number one among all people aged 10-plus, with Johnny and Inkie retaining breakfast on 27.4%.

The station's rise is all the more striking for where it started. In the 2015 Cairns survey — the market's first since 2003 — the then-Zinc-era station was not yet the force it would become: HOT FM led the 10-plus race with 27.1% of most-listened-to, Star pulled 16.6% for second, and SEA FM took 14.8%. The relaunch as Star 102.7 in April 2016, with its softened 80s-90s-and-now format and its investment in new Grafton Street studios, was the turning point. Within a few years the station had climbed to the top of the Cairns market — and it has not left. The December 2025 survey made it six consecutive years at number one — top in every daypart except evenings, the station's only networked programming. General manager Karen Lyon credited localism: "Localism is at the heart of everything we do, and that has shone through in the feedback from the Cairns community. This team absolutely love what they do, they are proud locals." Content director Mark Hine pointed to the live-and-local daytime team touching listeners across Cairns and surrounding areas. The December 2025 book also showed the market shifting beneath the leaders: SCA's Hit 103.5 and Triple M both made significant gains while the ABC stations lost ground, Triple M's Tammy and JB breakfast added more than 10,000 listeners, and Star itself saw a notable uptick among listeners aged 65 and over — a demographic ARN might once have expected to find on heritage 4CA. Even in victory, the Cairns market never stands still.

Ownership

Star 102.7 is owned by the Australian Radio Network, acquired from Grant Broadcasters in the deal finalised on 4 January 2022. Its sister station is 4CA on 846 AM — the heritage Cairns station that marked 90 years on air in May 2026 — and the two operate as a pair under general manager Karen Lyon.

Digital Presence

Through ARN ownership, Star 102.7's content is available on the iHeartRadio platform alongside its FM broadcast, with dedicated iOS and Android apps under the "Star 1027" name. The iHeartRadio presence matters in a tourist city like Cairns: visitors from interstate can take the station home with them, and former locals can stream it from anywhere — extending the reach of a regional station far beyond its FM footprint. The station maintains an active social media presence including @star1027cairns. From 4CA-FM in 1998 through Zinc to Star, the station on 102.7 has spent more than 25 years on the Cairns dial — and the last six of them at the very top of it. In a regional market where two national networks, a heritage AM station and the ABC all fight for the same ears, Star 102.7's formula — local voices, familiar music, and a breakfast team the city considers its own — has proven the most durable of them all.