About Triple U FM

Triple U FM

Triple U FM (call sign 2UUU) is a community radio station based in Nowra, New South Wales, Australia. Broadcasting 24 hours a day from the Nowra central business district, it is licensed as a public (community) broadcaster for the Shoalhaven local government area — stretching from Gerroa in the north to Burrill Lake in the south — and covers the district via three transmitters on 104.5 FM, 92.3 FM and 99.7 FM. It is owned by Shoalhaven Community Radio Inc.

Overview

Triple U FM — "Shoalhaven Community Radio" — is the Shoalhaven's community radio station: volunteer-presented, locally programmed, and the district's civic broadcaster. Its coverage area of approximately 4,000 square kilometres is one of the largest community radio footprints in New South Wales, requiring three transmitters to cover the Shoalhaven from the northern villages to the southern coast. The station's programming is comprehensive: local information and interviews, a wide range of music (country, blues, rock, jazz), CBAA satellite network programmes, BBC World Service, the Indigenous Radio Service (NIRS), and delayed broadcasts of Shoalhaven City Council meetings — the district's civic life, on the dial.

The station's fundamental programme policy is the encouragement of production and presentation of programmes produced in the Shoalhaven, with content relevant to the wider Shoalhaven community and the many thousands of short- and long-term visitors to the district's tourist destinations — Jervis Bay, Hyams Beach, the south coast holiday towns. Triple U FM is the Shoalhaven's voice: Nowra's studios, the district's volunteers, the coast's music.

The Shoalhaven that Triple U FM serves is one of New South Wales' great coastal districts: the City of Shoalhaven local government area, centred on Nowra — the administrative and commercial heart on the Shoalhaven River — and stretching from the northern villages of Gerroa and Gerringong, through Berry and Shoalhaven Heads, to the Jervis Bay villages (Huskisson, Vincentia, Sanctuary Point, St Georges Basin), and south to Milton, Ulladulla, Mollymook, Lake Tabourie and Burrill Lake. Inland, the district reaches beyond the escarpment to Kangaroo Valley. It is a district of dairy country and coastal tourism, of the naval base at HMAS Albatross and the holiday crowds at Hyams Beach — and the community station is its common voice.

History

Triple U FM began trial broadcasts in the late 1980s — part of the community radio movement that was bringing local voices to regional Australia. One of its early organisers was Phil Dye, a primary school teacher and former member of the Moonshiners bush band — the bush musician turned community radio pioneer. After several successful trial broadcasts, the station was granted a permanent licence and began full-time broadcasting in 1990 (some sources date the station's operation to 1985) — and has operated continuously to the present day.

The station's early decades were the building years: establishing the Nowra CBD studios at 12 Berry Street, building the volunteer base, and developing the three-transmitter network that gives the Shoalhaven its coverage. The licence — as a public broadcaster for the Shoalhaven local government area — made the station the district's designated community voice, alongside the commercial Power FM 94.9 and the ABC's South Coast service.

Over the decades, Triple U FM has grown into one of the south coast's most established community stations — the volunteer presenters, the council meeting broadcasts, the tourist-season programming for the holiday crowds. The station's website, tripleu.org.au, carries the live stream — the Shoalhaven's community radio, worldwide.

Programming

Triple U FM's programming is very comprehensive, reflecting the community radio mandate to serve all tastes:

• Local information and interviews — the Shoalhaven's news, the district's people, the community's stories.
• Music — a wide range: country, blues, rock, jazz, pop — the volunteer presenters' passions, from the Moonshiners' bush band tradition to the contemporary.
• CBAA satellite programmes — networked community radio content including "Living in the 60's," "Real World Gardener" and "Jazz from New York."
• BBC World Service — the world, via the satellite.
• Indigenous Radio Service (NIRS) — First Nations programming.
• Shoalhaven City Council meetings — delayed broadcasts of the district's civic proceedings — the council on the community's station.

The station's news and weather content is sourced locally and from the CBAA Satellite National News. Programmes are, for the most part, produced locally by the Triple U FM community or broadcast live from the Nowra studios. The station also carries syndicated programming from the Community Radio Satellite Network (COMRADSAT) and other services.

The fundamental programme policy — encouraging programmes produced in the Shoalhaven, relevant to the wider Shoalhaven community and the tourist visitors — gives the station its editorial identity: the district's voice, for the district and its guests.

Coverage & Audience

Triple U FM's licensed area — the Shoalhaven local government area, from Gerroa in the north to Burrill Lake (and Termeil) in the south, and west beyond the coastal escarpment including Kangaroo Valley and areas east of Robertson — covers approximately 4,000–4,400 square kilometres. The three transmitters:

• 104.5 FM — from Cambewarra Mountain; covers the central listening area: Nowra, Sanctuary Point, Huskisson, St Georges Basin (subject to interference in the northern and southern Shoalhaven).
• 92.3 FM — from Moynean (Moyean) Hill, south-east of Berry; covers the northern area: Berry, Gerroa, Gerringong, Shoalhaven Heads, and parts of the Crookhaven River estuary (Greenwell Point, Culburra).
• 99.7 FM — from Deering Street, Ulladulla; covers the southern area: Milton/Ulladulla/Mollymook, Lake Tabourie, Burrill Lake.

The station broadcasts 24 hours a day from the Nowra CBD studios — the community's station, around the clock. The audience is the Shoalhaven's residents and the tourist visitors — the holiday towns' summer crowds, the Jervis Bay visitors — served by the local information, the music and the community programming.

Ownership

Triple U FM is owned by Shoalhaven Community Radio Inc — the community association that holds the licence and operates the station. As a community broadcaster, it operates within the community broadcasting codes of practice, funded by sponsorship, membership and community support. The station's live broadcasts are presented by volunteers who are members of the association — the Shoalhaven's residents, on the Shoalhaven's station.

The community radio sector — more than 450 stations across Australia — gives Triple U FM its national context, but the station's story is local: the late-1980s trial broadcasts, Phil Dye and the Moonshiners' bush band tradition, the 1990 licence, the three-transmitter network built to cover 4,000 square kilometres. In a media landscape of networked commercials and national broadcasters, the community station is the local voice that can't be networked: the Shoalhaven's volunteers, the Shoalhaven's music, the Shoalhaven's council meetings — on 104.5, 92.3 and 99.7 FM.

The station is affiliated with the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) — the peak body for the 450+ community radio stations — and carries the CBAA satellite news and network programmes.

Digital Presence

Triple U FM's digital home is tripleu.org.au (also listed as shoalhavenfm.org.au) — the station's website, carrying the live stream, programme guide and station information. The station streams online, reaching the Shoalhaven diaspora and the tourist visitors planning their trips. Contact: 12 Berry Street, Nowra NSW 2541; phone (02) 4422 1045; email feedback@tripleu.org.au; PO Box 884, Nowra NSW 2541.

On social media, the station is @tripleufm / @triple_u_fm (Instagram) and Triple U FM / UUUFM (Facebook) — promoting the programmes, the volunteers and the community events. The station has iOS and Android apps (Google Play listing). The digital presence extends the community station's reach: the Shoalhaven's voice, wherever the Shoalhaven's people are.

As Triple U FM, the Shoalhaven's community radio station keeps the south coast connected: the three transmitters, the volunteer presenters, the council meetings, the music — Nowra's 2UUU, on 104.5, 92.3 and 99.7 FM, 24 hours a day.