About 2MWM 88.7 FM Radio Northern Beaches

2MWM 88.7 FM Radio Northern Beaches

Overview

Radio Northern Beaches is a volunteer-run community radio station serving the Northern Beaches area of Sydney, New South Wales. It broadcasts under the callsign 2MWM on two FM frequencies: 88.7 MHz, which covers the northern part of the peninsula, and 90.3 MHz, which covers the south. The station is operated by the Manly-Warringah Media Co-operative Ltd, a not-for-profit co-operative, and its studios are located in Terrey Hills, next to the local community centre. Every program that goes to air is made by people from the local area, and everyone involved in the station is a volunteer.

The station's reason for existing is access. The co-operative was set up in the belief that individuals and groups within the community ought to have the opportunity to speak to their community as effectively as possible, through radio and other media. Its stated objects include bringing about a more effective and creative community life, breaking down prejudice and removing isolation where that isolation has negative effects. In practice, that philosophy produces a schedule built by many local voices rather than a small professional team: the co-operative describes its aim as encouraging many people broadcasting to many, rather than the few broadcasting to the many of conventional radio.

History

The Manly-Warringah Media Co-operative Ltd was formed in 1975, almost a decade before the station it created began broadcasting. Radio Manly-Warringah, as the station was first known, went to air full-time in March 1984. Its first studios were in Narrabeen, and in its early years it moved several times as it grew. By the mid-1980s it was based at Manly Village Public School, placing it in the centre of the Manly community, and in the late 1980s it relocated to the North Curl Curl Community Centre and then to Mona Vale. The move north was deliberate: it broadened the station's reach toward Pittwater, the large northern section of the old Manly-Warringah Shire.

Local government change then gave the station its present name. When Pittwater separated to form its own municipal council in the early 1990s, Radio Manly-Warringah became Radio Northern Beaches, reflecting the fact that it served Pittwater as effectively as it served Manly-Warringah. The co-operative itself retained its original Manly-Warringah name, which it still carries as the station's licensee. Later homes included Cromer High School, where the station remained until the end of the millennium and worked closely with school students, and the Belrose Bowling Club, where its studios were located in 2003 after redevelopment forced it out of its Narrabeen premises. The station subsequently settled at Terrey Hills, reported as its home from 2012, in what has become its longest stay at any address: 8/12 Yulong Avenue, Terrey Hills.

In 2024 the station marked forty years on air. A local news profile published for the anniversary reported that Radio Northern Beaches then had fifty regular weekly programs, all produced locally by local people, and that its monthly five-hour Saturday workshops had introduced many of its presenters to radio. One long-running thread runs through the whole period: the station has never employed its on-air talent. From its first broadcasts to the present day, presenters, producers and support staff have all given their time voluntarily.

Programming and Content

The schedule is a broad community mix in which music programs dominate, surrounded by interview, faith, sport, finance and specialist shows. Australian music is a recurring priority. Aussie Beats, presented by Brad Griffith, plays Australian music from established artists and new talent, with new releases, local performers and interviews. OzMusic, with Michael Lester, takes an in-depth approach to Australian music through interviews exploring a guest's creative journey and the stories behind their songs. Miscellanea, presented by Maria Mai, ranges across decades and genres of Australian music and deliberately supports emerging and independent artists who may not receive airplay on commercial radio. Two chart programs presented by Chrissy Mack, AMRAP Chart Toppers in metropolitan and regional editions, showcase popular new Australian songs trending across community radio stations.

Era and genre specialists fill much of the remaining music schedule. Pump Up The 80s, with Jo Wakeman, revisits the music of the 1980s through features such as "3 From 1", which plays three songs by a featured artist. Rockin' 50's & Swingin' 60's and The Sound of the Sixties look back at earlier decades, the latter organising classic 1960s pop around themes with commentary on the artists and cultural moments involved. Saturday Night Jazz offers a two-hour journey through classic and contemporary jazz from Australian and international artists, while JMC Jazz Meets Classical explores where jazz and classical traditions meet. The Classical Hour presents popular classical works built around a theme, with short commentary on each piece, and Theatre Organ Magic showcases light music performed on theatre pipe organs. Country music appears in Bazza's Country Music and the Country Music Showdown, the latter with a strong focus on Australian artists, and Electronique highlights electronic music from emerging Northern Beaches producers alongside established international artists. Strangers in Paradise ranges further afield, blending spiritual jazz, Afrobeat, dub and Latin rhythms, while The Hoarders Vinyl Emporium is built around its presenters' extensive vinyl collections in long, themed live shows. Crescent Swells takes a coastal turn, mixing surf-inspired sounds designed to capture the atmosphere of life by the ocean.

Talk and interview programs connect the music to the community. Community Voices, presented by Michael Lester, speaks with local residents, organisations and experts about issues affecting the community. In Tune combines local and international music with interviews with bands, musicians and community representatives. Beer with Duncan takes a different format, in which a guest tells the story of their life through the songs that matter most to them, and Golden Years with Craig similarly interviews guests while exploring the music that shaped their lives. RNB Live broadcasts live recordings of local artists performing at venues across the Northern Beaches, including The Manly Fig and The Shack, as well as outside broadcasts. The Beaches Footy Show covers weekly NRL results and predictions with a focus on the Manly Sea Eagles, and Dollars & Making Sense examines money, finance and investing in accessible terms.

Cultural and faith programming reflects the area's diversity. The Greek Show, presented in Greek and English, shares modern and traditional Greek music, Italia Mia presents classic and contemporary Italian music in Italian with interviews and in-studio performances, and Back in Brazil is presented in Portuguese. Praise and Worship, described by the station as its longest-running weekly program, has been broadcast since 1985 and carries a recording of the Sunday service from St Matthews Anglican Church, alongside other Christian music and faith programs such as Soul Food, Kids' Praise and Highway to Heaven.

Audience and Reach

The station's two transmitters divide the Northern Beaches peninsula between them. The 88.7 MHz service broadcasts to the north of the peninsula, covering from Palm Beach on the coast inland to Terrey Hills in the west. The 90.3 MHz service covers the south of the peninsula, including the suburbs of Manly, Balgowlah, Fairlight and Seaforth. In its own descriptions to regulators, the station has characterised its service area as running from Manly to Barrenjoey, at the tip of the peninsula, and west toward the Pacific Highway.

The audience the station is built for is the local community itself: residents of the Manly-Warringah-Pittwater area, in the station's older phrasing, now the Northern Beaches. Because presenters are drawn from that community and programs are made locally, the distinction between audience and broadcaster is deliberately thin. Listeners are recruited as members, members are trained as presenters, and presenters make programs for their neighbours. Online streaming, discussed below, extends listening beyond the FM coverage area, but the station's editorial focus remains the peninsula it is licensed to serve.

Digital Presence

Radio Northern Beaches maintains its website at rnb.org.au, which publishes its program guide with a page for each show, presenter names and program descriptions, along with membership, sponsorship and workshop information. The station streams online, with a webcast linked from its site, so its programs can be heard well beyond the reach of its two FM transmitters. Individual programs maintain a wider digital footprint of their own: several shows archive episodes or selections on platforms such as Mixcloud, SoundCloud and hearthis.at, linked from their program pages, and Dollars & Making Sense is also distributed as a podcast and, according to its podcast listing, is broadcast nationally through the Community Radio Network. RNB Live, the station's live-music program, maintains its own site for its recordings of local performances, and a number of programs keep their own social media pages, which the station's program guide links to for updates and listener interaction.

Ownership and Organisation

Radio Northern Beaches is run by the Manly-Warringah Media Co-operative Ltd, which is the licensee of the 2MWM community broadcasting service. The co-operative is a not-for-profit body, and no one connected with the station is paid: all of its members are volunteers. Its funding comes from the sources typical of Australian community radio, namely membership contributions, sponsorship from local businesses and grants, as the station set out in a submission to a federal parliamentary inquiry into community broadcasting.

Participation is structured rather than informal. The station holds regular introductory Radio Skills Workshops, described as monthly five-hour Saturday sessions, which give prospective presenters a taste of radio before further training and ongoing mentoring prepare them to take a program to air. A local news profile of the station reported that it had trained around a thousand people over its history, including media students and retirees. Membership also opens routes into outside broadcasts, fundraising, community events and the technical and professional work of running the station, and the station tells prospective members that involvement can range from presenting to contributing professional skills behind the scenes.

Contact and Availability

The station broadcasts on 88.7 FM in the north of the Northern Beaches and 90.3 FM in the south, and streams through its website at rnb.org.au. Its studios are at 8/12 Yulong Avenue, Terrey Hills NSW 2084. The station's published studio telephone number is (02) 9451 4887, and sponsorship enquiries are directed to (02) 9453 4903 or through the sponsorship pages of its website, where the station also invites donations, memberships and workshop enrolments. Prospective presenters can enrol in the Radio Skills Workshop through the station's website, and program times, presenters and listening links are published in the online program guide.