About Zinc 96.1

Zinc 96.1

Zinc 96.1 — callsign 4NNN — is a commercial radio station broadcasting to the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia on 96.1 MHz FM. Based in Maroochydore on Queensland's Sunshine Coast and owned by the Australian Radio Network, it plays a classic hits format — "Songs You Can Sing Along To" — aimed at the over-35 audience. It was first launched in 1997 as The Heat 96.1 and relaunched as Zinc in February 2006. Its published studios are at 17 Carnaby Street, Maroochydore QLD 4558 — the NAB Building, home to both Zinc and Hot 91.1. No website URL is asserted in this profile's frontmatter; directories list zinc96.com.au and sunshine.radiozinc.com.au as its web homes.

The 4NNN callsign is one of the more distinctive in Queensland radio — four letters, no meaning, all brand. It has been the station's legal identity through every ownership change since 1997.

Overview

Zinc 96.1 is the Sunshine Coast's classic hits station: the 70s, 80s and 90s sing-alongs for the coast's grown-ups, broadcast from the NAB Building on Carnaby Street in Maroochydore. Its published contact is 07 5475 1911, and its line-up includes Bilko and Jade for breakfast (Monday to Friday, 5:30–10am), Marnie on weekdays (10am–2pm) and Hinksy on drive (Monday to Friday, 2–6pm). A repeater on 100.5 FM serves Noosa and Tewantin — the coast's glamorous northern end, where the Noosa vote matters as much as the Maroochydore one.

History

Zinc was first launched in 1997 as The Heat 96.1 by the Broadcast Operations Group — the second commercial FM voice on a Sunshine Coast that was still growing into itself. In July 2005 the station was sold to AMI Radio — the owners of its former rival Hot 91.1 — ending the Sunshine Coast's commercial radio war and creating the duopoly that endures today. The logic was classic regional radio: two stations competing for the same advertisers in a mid-size market was unsustainable; two stations under one roof, one chasing the young and one the 40-plus, was a business. In February 2006 the station relaunched as Zinc 96.1, targeting the 40-plus demographic with a morning zoo-formatted breakfast show hosted by Jamie Dunn, Jo Beth Taylor, Ian Calder and Johjo Switzer. The Zinc name — bright, metallic, modern — was a deliberate break from The Heat, and the 40-plus targeting was a deliberate counterpoint to Hot 91.1's youth format. Between them, the two stations covered the coast's commercial audience from teenagers to grandparents. Both Zinc and Hot were sold in 2007 to Prime Media Group, and in 2013 to Grant Broadcasters.

In November 2021, Zinc 96.1 — along with the other Grant Broadcasters stations — was acquired by the Australian Radio Network, with the deal finalised on 4 January 2022. The acquisition gave Grant's regional stations access to ARN's iHeartRadio platform, and Zinc was expected to integrate with ARN's Pure Gold Network while retaining its name. For a heritage regional brand, the ARN deal was the best of both worlds: the resources and digital reach of one of Australia's two great radio networks, with the local name the coast knew and trusted left intact.

The station's promotions are part of coast folklore. In August 2017 it ran "August 80s" — a month immersed in the decade that shaped music culture, with 80s tracks every day from 9am to 6pm, an 80s Mania party at Eatons Hill featuring Wang Chung, Paul Young, Cutting Crew and Taylor Dayne, a "skaties" date-night party and a listener-voted countdown of the top 80s songs. Content director Ross Turner said it plainly: "August 80s is our way of remembering and revelling in the best the decade had to offer." For a station whose audience came of age in the 80s, it was programming as nostalgia — and the coast lapped it up.

Programming

Zinc 96.1 plays classic hits — the sing-along 70s, 80s and 90s — with a strong local breakfast show. Steve "Bilko" Bilokin, a 12-year Zinc veteran, anchors breakfast alongside Jade; the station once ran a public search for his co-host, inviting listeners to apply and ultimately decide who joined him — reality radio as a programming stunt, and a genuine one. Marnie holds the workday from 10am to 2pm, Hinksy drives the coast home from 2 to 6pm, and classic hits run overnight — the sing-along never stops. The playlist is the canon: Spandau Ballet and Springsteen, Kate Bush and the Beatles, Roxette and 1927 — the songs the coast knows by heart — and sings along to, exactly as the slogan promises. The Hot 91/Zinc 96 group has increased its commitment to localism: Hot 91 runs 100% Sunshine Coast-made shows from 5am to 10pm weekdays, while Zinc's local breakfast and drive keep the classic-hits audience connected to the coast.

Coverage & Audience

Zinc 96.1 broadcasts on 96.1 FM to the Sunshine Coast, with a 100.5 FM repeater for Noosa and Tewantin. Its audience is the over-35s — the coast's established residents, the sea-changers and the long-term locals who want the songs they know, presented by people who know the coast. The Sunshine Coast is one of Australia's great demographic stories: 350,000 people and growing fast, a mix of young families, retirees and everyone in between. Zinc owns the older half of that audience — the listeners with the houses, the businesses and the spending power that advertisers covet.

Ownership

Zinc 96.1 is owned by the Australian Radio Network (Ami Radio Pty Ltd) and paired with Hot 91.1 as ARN's Sunshine Coast duopoly — the two former rivals, now stablemates, dividing the coast's commercial audience between hit music and classic hits. The duopoly is one of the tidiest in Australian radio: Hot 91.1 (4MCY) for the young, Zinc 96.1 (4NNN) for the 40-plus, both from Maroochydore, both local in the dayparts that matter. Between them, ARN owns the Sunshine Coast's commercial listening — a position built not by launching stations but by buying the rival and keeping both.

The Hot 91/Zinc 96 localism push of the early 2020s was a statement of intent. As networked programming swallowed more of regional radio, the Sunshine Coast duopoly went the other way: Hot 91 with 100% Sunshine Coast-made shows from 5am to 10pm weekdays, Zinc with its local breakfast and drive. The popular breakfast team of Nugget and Al moved from Zinc to Hot 91's drive slot after 12 years — a reminder that in a duopoly, talent circulates but never leaves the building. For the coast's listeners, the commitment meant what it said: voices they knew, talking about the place they lived.

Digital Presence

The station streams via the iHeartRadio platform — the ARN acquisition's great dividend, putting a Maroochydore station on the same app as the capital-city giants — and maintains an active social presence; directories list zinc96.com.au and sunshine.radiozinc.com.au as its web homes. From The Heat of 1997 to the Zinc brand of today, 96.1 has been the Sunshine Coast's classic hits station for nearly three decades — the songs you can sing along to, on the coast you love. Through Broadcast Operations Group and AMI Radio, Prime Media and Grant Broadcasters, and now ARN, the frequency has endured: the callsign 4NNN, the Maroochydore studios, the 40-plus audience that grows a little older every year and loves the station a little more. Zinc 96.1: the Sunshine Coast's home of the great sing-along.