About K-Rock

K-Rock

K Rock 95.5 is a commercial FM radio station broadcasting to Geelong and the surrounding regions of Victoria, Australia. Operating under the callsign 3CAT on 95.5 MHz, the station plays a mainstream Top 40 format with comedy and sport, and is the radio home of the Geelong Football Club's AFL matches. Its lineage stretches back to 1930, when it began as 3GL on the AM band, making it one of the oldest radio brands in regional Australia. Owned by Geelong Broadcasters Pty Ltd and paired with sister station Bay 93.9, K-Rock is Geelong's number-one commercial station and a defining voice of the city's sporting culture.

Overview

K Rock broadcasts a contemporary hit radio (CHR) format — Top 40 music, comedy and sport — on 95.5 FM with an effective radiated power of 55 kW from a transmitter atop Murradoc Hill on the Bellarine Peninsula, shared with sister station Bay 93.9 as well as 94.7 The Pulse and 96.3 Rhema FM. The licence area covers Greater Geelong, Werribee and western Melbourne, the Golden Plains and the Surf Coast. The callsign 3CAT carries a local joke: 3 for Victoria, CAT for the Geelong Cats, the AFL club whose games are the station's sporting centrepiece.

K-Rock's market position is formidable. In the latest Xtra Insights regional survey for Geelong (Survey 1, reported mid-2026), K Rock ranked number one among all people aged ten and over, reaching more than 90,000 listeners weekly. Its breakfast team of Tom and Loggy is the city's most-listened-to breakfast show, named by 18.7 per cent of locals, while Tim and Davo lead the market in drive. Together with Bay 93.9 at number two, the Geelong Broadcasters duopoly has pushed local radio's weekly reach past fifty per cent of the local population.

History

The station's history begins on 3 December 1930, when it went to air as 3GL on the AM band — first on 1400 kHz, then 1350 kHz from 1935, and most famously 1341 AM from 1978. Based in Geelong but audible across much of metropolitan Melbourne, 3GL was home to big radio names including Gene Fisk, Don Lunn, Denis Scanlan, Gary Newton, Tim Hind, Rod Poynter, Ric Ditchburn and Don Crawford, and famously gave Happy Hammond his start in television back in the 1940s.

On 27 January 1990 — the eve of the Australia Day weekend — 3GL converted to FM, becoming K-Rock on 95.5 MHz. After simulcasting on both 1341 AM and 95.5 FM for twenty-four hours, K-Rock went to air at midday on the Saturday, with Ian "Strawny" Strachan the first announcer heard on the new FM station. The launch featured an hour of non-stop rock songs, commercial free. The original lineup included Mike O'Loughlin and Bogart Torelli on breakfast, Dave Ferguson, Tim Hind, Craig Vesey, Ian Strachan, Gavin Morris and Craig Meddings. Through the mid-1990s the station's lineup — "Dave & Roxie on the Big Mattress", Steve Woods, Todd Austin, Frank Fursey and Wazza — delivered record ratings across Geelong, Werribee and western Melbourne with a blend of classic rock, modern rock and local personality.

The 3GL story did not end in 1990. In 2023–2024 Geelong Broadcasters revived the heritage callsign: after winning the auctioned narrowcast licence for 1341 AM — a frequency that had been leased to Chinese broadcasters in a venture that ultimately failed — the company rebuilt the transmission site and relaunched 3GL as its own classic-hits station, independent of K-Rock, with narrowcast FM relays from Wyndham to Colac, Queenscliff and Apollo Bay. The revival, driven in part by chief engineer Dean Gray's joke about temporarily resurrecting 3GL, became a genuine station relaunch in April 2024.

Like its sister station, K-Rock was part of Grant Broadcasters until ARN's 2022 acquisition of the group; prevented by ownership rules from taking the Geelong stations, ARN left K-Rock and Bay 93.9 with the Cameron family's Geelong Broadcasters Pty Ltd as an independent, family-owned business.

Programming

K-Rock's weekday schedule is built around its star presenter teams. Breakfast is hosted by Tom and Loggy, the market-leading show; daytime and drive feature Tim and Davo, number one in their timeslot. The station's format blends contemporary hits with comedy elements and a heavy sports presence.

Sport defines K-Rock's identity. The station broadcasts Australian Football League matches involving the Geelong Cats, with a commentary team that has included Anthony Mithen, Andrew Bews and Tom King. In 2024 the station extended its AFL coverage to the Geelong Cats AFLW team, broadcasting every home game at GMHBA Stadium via the online platform krockfootball.live, with Tom King on play-by-play and former Cats player Rocky Cranston providing expert comments — delay-free coverage for fans at home or far away. The station has also replayed its historic calls of the Cats' 2007, 2009 and 2011 premiership victories, with three-time premiership star Cameron Ling joining the broadcasts.

The station's local drive shows have been progressively extended in recent years as part of a deliberate strategy of maximising live local content for commuters travelling between Geelong and Melbourne. Its news team contributes to the local news services shared across the Geelong Broadcasters stations. The combination of hit music, marquee breakfast and drive talent, and unmatched local football coverage has kept K-Rock at the top of the Geelong market through successive surveys — a run of dominance that management credits to the station's Geelong-made identity, its investment in local personalities, and a audience that continues to choose live and local radio over networked alternatives.

Coverage and Audience

K Rock transmits on 95.5 FM with 55 kW ERP from Murradoc Hill, covering Greater Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula, the Surf Coast, the Golden Plains, Werribee and parts of western Melbourne. The station also streams online via its website, extending its reach nationally — particularly for Cats supporters following the football coverage.

The latest Xtra Insights survey figures show K Rock reaching more than 90,000 listeners weekly and ranking first overall, first in breakfast and first in drive among people 10+. The station's audience skews younger than its sister station Bay 93.9, consistent with its Top 40 format, while its football coverage draws a broad cross-demographic audience across the football season. These figures come from industry-standard regional surveys rather than the continuous metropolitan ratings system.

Ownership

K Rock is owned by Geelong Broadcasters Pty Ltd, the Cameron-family company that retained Geelong's K-Rock and Bay 93.9 when ARN acquired Grant Broadcasters in 2022. The stations operate as an independent, family-owned business led by General Manager Rachel Patterson, with a Geelong-based team across both stations. The ownership structure — a standalone regional duopoly outside the major metropolitan networks — is increasingly rare in Australian radio, and management has presented it as the foundation of the stations' local-content strategy.

Digital Presence

Wikipedia lists www.krock.com.au as the station's website, with online streaming; the domain could not be independently load-verified for this profile, so it is recorded here as an attributed claim rather than a confirmed official address. The station's AFLW and football coverage is distributed through the dedicated platform krockfootball.live. K-Rock maintains active social media presences under handles including @KROCKGeelong and @krock955, and its stream is carried on major radio aggregator apps. Published contact details include Level 1, 83 Moorabool Street, Geelong VIC 3220, phone (03) 5223 1955 and email reception@krock.com.au. Between its website, football platform and social channels, K-Rock keeps Geelong's number-one station connected to its audience well beyond the 95.5 FM signal.