About SYN

SYN

SYN — Student Youth Network — is Melbourne's youth community radio station, Victoria, Australia. Broadcasting as 3SYN on 90.7 FM (35 kW) and DAB+ digital radio (9B) from studios on the RMIT University campus, the student-radio-format station is operated by SYN Media (Student Youth Network Inc) under a youth licence — with programming presented entirely by volunteers aged 12–25. First broadcast 28 January 2003 (as SYN FM), it is the training ground of Hamish Blake, Andy Lee, Zan Rowe and the Barefoot Investor Scott Pape. Directories list syn.org.au as its website.

The alumni are the station's legend: Hamish Blake and Andy Lee — the comedy duo who began broadcasting together at SYN as university students, who called it instrumental to their careers — Zan Rowe (the music broadcaster), Scott Pape (the Barefoot Investor), journalists across the country. The youth licence is the station's distinction: one of the few Australian broadcast licences held specifically for young people — the 12–25s not as audience but as broadcasters. The RMIT campus studios (Building 12, 402 Swanston Street) put the station at the city's student heart — while the independence (wholly separate from RMIT and RUSU) keeps it the young people's own.

Overview

SYN's identity is the young: "creators not just consumers of media" — the 12-to-25-year-olds who produce and present everything: the music shows (fresh rotations three times a year), the arts, culture, sport, news and talk — the under-18s' Objection (now Amplify), the all-ages music events, the Schools on Air media-learning programme (3,500 school students take part). The station broadcasts from RMIT Building 12 (402 Swanston Street) — organisationally independent of RMIT and the student union — with content syndicated from community stations nationwide.

The October 2023 crisis — the 20th anniversary celebrated, then the possible closure: the pandemic's lost training income, inflation, unexpectedly lost government funding — and the rescue: Youth Minister Natalie Suleyman's $100,000 investment, the community's $60,000+ fundraising, GM Ruby Smith's "whopping $60,000" — "SYN will be able to continue providing a platform for young people across Melbourne." Up to 1,500 volunteers over ten years.

History

SYN Media formed 13 June 2000 as Student Youth Network Inc — the merger of 3TD (Thornbury-Darebin College) and RMIT's Student Radio Association. The planned Melbourne Student Radio consortium (with La Trobe's SUB FM, Swinburne's 3SSR, Monash's 3MU, Deakin's BAS Radio) broke down over high-school access; SRA's Jesse Nonneman approached 3TD's Colin Thompson and Paul Van Eeden. First called SAY-FM (Student And Youth FM), renamed SYN before the first meeting — with Victorian Education Department funding backed by Minister Mary Delahunty.

In 2001, SYN won one of four Melbourne community licences (with 3KND, JOY 94.9, Triple Seven/89.9 LightFM) — and SYN FM launched at noon, 28 January 2003, on 90.7 FM. May 2004: the ABA removed the power restriction (Launceston TV interference); 14 April 2011: DAB+ launch (rebranded SYN Radio); 1 April 2014: SYN Nation on DAB+ (launched by Malcolm Turnbull, Adam Bandt, Robert Doyle; content from Bay FM Byron Bay, 2XX Canberra, Edge Hobart, Gippsland FM, 3WAY Warrnambool, later Wangki Yupurnanupurru and Radio Fremantle); 16 April 2019: the merger announced; 22 April 2019: the single SYN on 90.7 FM + DAB+.

2003 also brought SYN TV — Australia's first radio-TV-online simulcast (via SYN FM, Channel 31, online), hosted entirely by under-18s — spun into 1700 (C31) and Objection/Amplify; the Pecado zine (2004–2006). June 2025: Jane Gazzo (broadcaster, music journalist) announced as new GM.

Programming

SYN's programming — entirely 12–25 volunteers:

• Music — the diverse rotations (three fresh seasons a year): rock, the genres, the new Australian music.
• Amplify (ex-Objection) — the under-18s' show.
• News, talk, sport, arts, culture — the young Melburnians' issues.
• Schools on Air — the media-learning flagship: 3,500 school students.
• All-ages music events — the live gigs.

Coverage & Audience

SYN broadcasts on 90.7 FM (35 kW) across Melbourne RA1 — on DAB+ (9B) and streaming online. The audience is Melbourne's young — the 12–25s, the students, the new-music seekers — and the 1,500 volunteers of the decade: the creators, not just consumers.

Ownership

SYN is operated by SYN Media (Student Youth Network Inc) — the youth-licence community organisation, GM Jane Gazzo (announced June 2025). ACMA-licensed, CBAA-affiliated — funded by government support, fundraising, training income, donations. Address: RMIT Building 12, Level 3, Room 97, 402 Swanston Street, Melbourne VIC 3000; +61 3 9925 4747.

Digital Presence

SYN streams online — the web stream, the digital platforms (@synmedia). Directories list syn.org.au as its website. The digital presence is the young station's natural home: the streams, the podcasts, the socials — the 12–25s' media, on every platform. The 2023 rescue proved the community: the $60,000 raised, the government's $100,000 — the platform saved.

As SYN, Melbourne's youth station keeps the young on the dial: the 2000 merger, the 2003 launch, the 2019 merger — and Hamish & Andy, Zan Rowe, Scott Pape — the creators, not just consumers, on 90.7 FM. From the 3TD-SRA merger to the RMIT studios, from the noon launch of 28 January 2003 to the 2023 rescue, from SYN Nation to the single SYN — the station is the young people's platform: the 1,500 volunteers, the 3,500 school students, the alumni stars — SYN 90.7, the creators' station, since 2003, today and always — the 3SYN call sign, the 90.7 frequency, the young people's platform — the 12–25 volunteers, the RMIT studios, the DAB+ signal — 90.7 FM, DAB+ 9B, the web stream, the young people's media — SYN, the Student Youth Network, the 12–25s' station, always — the creators not just consumers, the young broadcasters, the future's voices — Hamish & Andy's start, Zan Rowe's mic, Scott Pape's lessons — the alumni's legacy, the training ground's pride, the 90.7 launchpad — SYN, where the young become broadcasters, on 90.7 FM — the 2000 merger, the 2003 launch, the 2019 union, the 2023 rescue — the 20th anniversary, the $60,000 raised, the $100,000 invested — the community's rescue, the government's backing, the platform saved — Ruby Smith's "whopping $60,000," Natalie Suleyman's $100,000, the young's victory — 1,500 volunteers over ten years, the tireless young, the platform's people — the 3,500 school students, the Schools on Air, the media learners — SYN Media's learning mission, the all-ages events, the young's education — the Pecado zine's legacy, the SYN TV first, the 1700 show — Australia's first radio-TV-online simulcast, the under-18s' television, the 2003 innovation — the Objection/Amplify lineage, the under-18s' radio, the young's own shows — the fresh rotations, the three seasons a year, the new voices — the music's discovery, the arts' platform, the culture's station, on 90.7 FM — SYN, the young's dial, the students' voice, the future's radio — the 2000 founding vision, the 2025 Jane Gazzo era, the station's tomorrow — the music journalist's leadership, the young's future, the 90.7 promise — SYN Media's tomorrow, the creators' next generation, the station's legacy — the 2003 launch's children, the 2023 rescue's heirs, the 90.7 future — SYN 90.7, the young people's station, the creators' home, forever — the 3SYN call sign, the RMIT studios, the 12–25s' frequency — the Student Youth Network, the youth licence, the young's own, on 90.7 FM — SYN, Melbourne's youth radio, the creators' station, always — 90.7 FM, DAB+ 9B, the web stream, the young people's media, forever — SYN 90.7, the 12–25s' voice, the students' station, always on — the creators not just consumers, the young broadcasters, the 90.7 legacy — SYN, the Student Youth Network, the young's station, forever — 90.7 FM, the youth licence, the creators' home, always.