About 6TCR 89.7 FM

6TCR 89.7 FM

Overview

6TCR 89.7 FM, known on air as 89 7FM and earlier as Twin Cities FM, is a community radio station serving the northern coastal suburbs of Perth in Western Australia. It broadcasts on 89.7 MHz to the cities of Wanneroo and Joondalup, the two population centres reflected in its original Twin Cities name, and its own service description also includes the City of Stirling within its broadcast footprint. The station describes itself, simply and repeatedly, as proud to be local, and that local identity shapes everything about the service: the music it plays, the events it promotes, the people it trains and the community groups it gives airtime to without charge.

The format is listed as community interest and music. In practice that means a volunteer-presented mix in which general music programs sit alongside specialist shows devoted to particular genres, communities and interests, local sport, arts coverage and community conversation. The station broadcasts around the clock, and its signal is supplemented by live online streaming and on-demand playback, so the northern suburbs service can be heard well beyond the transmitter's reach.

89 7FM's studios are located at Edith Cowan University in Joondalup. That campus base, held since 2008, places a volunteer community broadcaster inside a university environment in the heart of its licence area, and it underlines the station's second role alongside broadcasting itself: providing a place where local people can learn radio skills and gain experience behind the microphone and in production.

History

89 7FM commenced broadcasting on 16 November 2001. The following year, 2002, it was granted a permanent community broadcasting licence, converting its early operation into a long-term place on the Perth radio dial. Its call sign, 6TCR, follows the Australian convention under which the numeral 6 identifies Western Australia, and the station was for many years known on air formally as Twin Cities FM, a reference to Wanneroo and Joondalup, before the simpler 89 7FM branding took over.

In May 2008 the station moved its operation to Edith Cowan University's Joondalup campus, where its studios remain. The move gave the young station a stable home beside the university and anchored it geographically between the two cities it was founded to serve.

Longevity is visible in the station's presenting ranks. Some programs and presenters documented by the station have been on air for many years: the blues program Play the Blues has been presented by Derek Cromb since 2001, the year the station launched, and Cromb is a station Life Member; the Wednesday Morning Show has been hosted by Sue Myc, also a Life Member, with producer Nina Henderson since 2003; and the Morning Show presenter Bill Crowe is likewise a Life Member whose program is described as having been on air for decades. Life memberships of that kind are a marker of how community stations are built on the accumulated commitment of individual volunteers.

The station's work has been recognised within the community broadcasting sector. Its published history records multiple nominations in the CBAA's national community broadcasting awards, including three nominations for Live and Local, and nominations for Beats, Rhymes & Life, Lac Viet Radio, The Aurora Underground and Western.Oz, the last of which won a commendation for its contribution to local music in 2007. In 2019, the station records, Live and Local was a finalist for Excellence in Music Presenting, Latin Studio was a finalist for Excellence in Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasting, Beats, Rhymes and Life was a finalist for Contribution to Australian Music, and School of Thought won in the category of Excellence in Community Engagement. Station news in 2022 also recorded further national finalists, including a technical services finalist and a community engagement finalist for its morning program. This profile reports those outcomes as the station and its published history record them, rather than as independently audited results.

Programming and Content

Programming at 89 7FM is presenter-led and deliberately varied, reflecting the tastes and knowledge of the volunteers who make it. Music is the backbone, with a documented emphasis on Australian artists and a particular focus on Western Australian talent. Specialist programs documented in the station's podcast and on-demand listings illustrate the range. Play the Blues builds each edition around a feature artist and new or recent releases. The Best of Oz, presented by Kim Harrison, is devoted entirely to Australian music. G.O.A.T.S, with Tony D'Souza, plays tracks its presenter regards as the greatest of all time by each artist featured. Genre programs include a heavy metal show with live interviews and guests, One Step Beyond's mix of two-tone, ska and British indie, 90's Spin's celebration of 1990s hits, and Half the World Away, in which Dave and Connor Elliott play British favourites old and new.

Conversation and community coverage run through the schedule alongside the music. In Good Company, hosted by Lisa Evans, is built around live on-air interviews — typically two or three guests per program — on topics from the environment to sustainability and wider community life. The Wednesday and Monday morning shows provide a platform for the arts, new music, community discussion and interviews. Drive-time and morning programs presented by long-serving volunteers provide the familiar daily spine, while Sports Mix, presented by Gordon Allen and a team, covers rugby league in depth, from local men's and women's competitions to the NRL and the English Super League.

The station also broadcasts regularly from local events in the Wanneroo and Joondalup region, taking the studio out into the community it serves, and it offers free promotion to volunteer community groups for their services, events and notices — a practical form of community access that costs groups nothing and keeps local information flowing to local listeners.

Audience and Reach

On air, 89 7FM's audience is the population of Perth's northern coastal corridor. The station states that it broadcasts 24 hours a day to Wanneroo, Joondalup and Stirling, and that its licence area takes in approximately 340,000 people; that figure is the station's own description of its licence area population, not an audience measurement, and this profile makes no claim about how many of those residents listen at any given time. Technical listings for the service record an effective radiated power of 2 kW to the north and 200 W to the south, a directional pattern consistent with a service aimed primarily at the northern suburbs rather than across the whole Perth metropolitan area.

In a large metropolitan market such as Perth, a community station's reach is defined less by raw numbers than by relevance: it is the station on the dial that talks about Wanneroo and Joondalup specifically, plays Western Australian musicians, promotes neighbourhood events and gives local groups a voice. Online streaming and on-demand program playback extend that reach to expatriates, shift workers and anyone else who wants the northern suburbs service at a different time or from a different place.

Digital Presence

The station's website at 897fm.com.au carries station news, community event listings and sponsor information, and it was publishing fresh station and community content through 2026, including station updates in August 2026 — clear evidence of a currently operating service. Through its streaming player, listeners can hear the live broadcast around the clock, send in requests and feedback, become members, and use on-demand playback to catch up on favourite programs.

Selected programs are also distributed as podcasts through podcast platforms, with episode descriptions preserving the character of shows ranging from blues and Australian music to sport and community interviews. The station maintains a social media presence, inviting listeners to find and follow it on Facebook, and its news pages document the everyday life of the organisation, from board updates and award finalists to fundraising through Western Australia's Containers for Change container deposit scheme, under which supporters can direct refunds to the station.

Ownership and Organisation

89 7FM is a community broadcaster run by volunteers from its local community. Volunteers present the programs, and the station offers local people opportunities to gain experience in radio broadcasting, making training and participation part of its purpose rather than a by-product. Its governing structure is that of a membership-based community organisation, with a board whose work is reported to members through the station's news pages; a 2022 station post recorded members placing their trust in the board to continue the work of the station.

The station sits within the wider Australian community broadcasting sector. As its published history notes, it is a member of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia, the sector's national peak body, and it is also a member of Volunteering WA, the Joondalup Business Association and the Wanneroo Business Association — memberships that tie a volunteer radio station into both its sector and its local civic and business community. Like other Australian community stations, it operates under a community broadcasting licence granted in 2002 and regulated within the national broadcasting framework. Support comes from the community it serves, including memberships, sponsors acknowledged on its website and fundraising initiatives such as container deposit donations.

Contact and Availability

Listeners in Wanneroo, Joondalup and Stirling can hear 6TCR on 89.7 FM, broadcasting 24 hours a day from its studios at Edith Cowan University in Joondalup. The station's website, 897fm.com.au, is the main point of contact for program information, community event listings, membership, streaming and on-demand playback, and its streaming player provides channels for requests and feedback. Community groups in the licence area can approach the station about free promotion of their services, events and notices, and local residents interested in presenting or volunteering can use the station's published channels to explore gaining experience in community radio. For anyone outside the FM footprint, the live stream makes the northern suburbs of Perth available anywhere in the world.