About KIIS 97.3

KIIS 97.3

KIIS 97.3 is a commercial contemporary hit radio station broadcasting to Brisbane on 97.3 MHz FM and DAB+ digital radio. Owned as a 50/50 joint venture between ARN and Nova Entertainment through Brisbane FM Radio Pty Ltd, it is Brisbane's member of the KIIS Network, alongside KIIS 106.5 Sydney, KIIS 101.1 Melbourne, KIIS 102.3 Adelaide and KIIS Perth. The station's callsign is 4BFM. Launched in 2001 as 97.3fm, it rebranded to KIIS 97.3 on 24 January 2022, bringing ARN's national KIIS brand to Queensland while retaining its hot adult contemporary music format.

Overview

KIIS 97.3 transmits on 97.3 MHz FM with an effective radiated power of 12,000 watts from a high site (299 metres HAAT), and is simulcast on DAB+ digital radio. Its broadcast area covers Brisbane, Logan, the Gold Coast and Ipswich — the core of south-east Queensland. The format is Top 40 contemporary hit radio, playing current chart hits with a strong component of 2010s and some 2000s music, targeted primarily at the 25-to-54 age group most valued by advertisers.

The ownership is unusual in Australian radio: a 50/50 joint venture between two major competitors, ARN and Nova Entertainment. That structure dates to the licence's origins, when the two companies jointly won the Brisbane FM licence. The station's headquarters are in the inner-western Brisbane suburb of Milton, after ARN relocated the 97.3 and 4KQ stations from Stones Corner in May 2019.

Because the inventory flags the station's domain as unverified, this profile leaves the website field empty. Wikipedia lists kiis973.com.au as the station's website, an attributed directory claim rather than an independently verified official domain.

History

Brisbane's 97.3 FM licence was one of the most contested in Australian radio. The Australian Radio Network and DMG Radio Australia (now Nova Entertainment) won the licence as a joint venture, and the station launched as 97.3fm on 26 September 2001. It arrived 21 years after Brisbane's first commercial FM station, FM104, and three years before Nova 106.9, filling the gap for a second commercial FM service in the market. The callsign 4BFM combines Queensland's "4" with Brisbane FM.

The station quickly established itself with a hot adult contemporary format, and in January 2015 it refreshed its logo alongside ARN's sister stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. The arrival of DAB+ digital radio in Brisbane put 97.3 and its co-owned classic-hits sister 4KQ on the digital platform, with 97.3 also providing an additional digital channel, "The Edge Digital," a revamp of ARN's Edge 96.1 format from western Sydney.

The KIIS rebrand came in January 2022. As ARN integrated the Grant Broadcasters stations it was acquiring — including River 94.9, which had a similar format to 97.3 — the company moved 97.3fm under its national KIIS superbrand. ARN's chief strategy and connections officer said the station was transitioning as part of ARN's Superbrand Strategy, describing 97.3 as Brisbane's number-one station whose listeners would keep hearing what they loved, now with KIIS energy. Former Nova breakfast personality Kip Wightman joined Robin and Terry on the breakfast show from Monday 24 January, the rebrand date. Interim branding paired the KIIS mouth logo with Brisbane's Story Bridge before the full KIIS identity rolled out; by December 2022 the logo matched the KIIS design used in Sydney and Melbourne. The station retained its hot adult contemporary music format through the rebrand.

The rebrand had a bumpy ratings start. Mediaweek's report on Brisbane Survey 1 of 2022 noted KIIS 97.3 falling 2.7 points to an 8.5% share, slipping from first to fourth overall, with the new Robin, Terry & Kip breakfast show also softening. Such volatility is common after major rebrands, and the station's long-term position rests on its music format and breakfast show rather than any single survey.

Breakfast has seen further changes. In late November 2024, former Brisbane Broncos player Corey Oates was announced as the third co-host, and the show became "Robin and Kip, now with Corey Oates in the Morning." In October 2025 ARN announced that trio would end in December, with Craig Low ("Lowie") to take over breakfast in 2026 as "Breakfast with Lowie." Following listener backlash and further audience research, ARN reversed course in December 2025, confirming Robin, Kip and Corey Oates would continue; Craig Low was moved to a national night show from 9pm to midnight. Daytime programming also shifted in March 2024, when ARN networked Gordie Waters from Sydney into Brisbane and Melbourne daytime slots, with previous workday announcer Jess Miller leaving the station in April 2024.

Programming

KIIS 97.3 programs contemporary hit radio: current chart hits plus 2010s recurrents and some 2000s music, aimed at 25-to-54-year-olds. The breakfast show is the day's anchor, built around Robin, Kip and Corey Oates with Brisbane-focused talk, celebrity interviews and listener interaction. Daytime hours carry music-intensive shows, some networked from Sydney, while drive and evening slots connect to the KIIS Network's national offerings.

As part of the KIIS Network, the station shares networked programming with its interstate sisters while maintaining local Brisbane breakfast and daytime shows. The network's digital extensions — KIIS 90s, an '80s pop station, KIIS Dance and KIIS Australia — are available on DAB+ and via iHeartRadio, giving the brand depth beyond the FM signal. The KIIS Network simulcasts each station on DAB+ in its local market and streams online through iHeartRadio.

Coverage & Audience

The 12,000-watt FM signal from a 299-metre site gives KIIS 97.3 strong coverage across Brisbane, Logan, the Gold Coast and Ipswich. DAB+ simulcast adds digital reception across the metropolitan multiplexes, and iHeartRadio streaming extends the station to phones, smart speakers and listeners outside the broadcast area.

The target demographic is 25-to-54, the advertiser-prized group for contemporary hit radio. The station has historically been a ratings leader in Brisbane — ARN described it as the city's number-one station at the time of the KIIS rebrand — though the 2022 rebrand survey showed how quickly fortunes can shift. Its competitive set includes Nova 106.9 and B105 for younger hit-music listeners, and Triple M and River 94.9 for the older end of its demographic. No current ratings rank is asserted here beyond the reported survey history.

Ownership

KIIS 97.3 is a 50/50 joint venture between ARN (formerly Here, There & Everywhere) and Nova Entertainment, held through Brisbane FM Radio Pty Ltd. The joint venture dates to the original licence win and has survived both companies' subsequent transformations — ARN's acquisition of Grant Broadcasters and Nova's national expansion. It is one of the few Australian metropolitan stations jointly owned by two major radio groups, requiring ongoing cooperation between competitors.

Within ARN, the station sits in the KIIS Network alongside KIIS 106.5 Sydney, KIIS 101.1 Melbourne, KIIS 102.3 Adelaide (rebranded from Mix 102.3 in January 2026) and the DAB+-only KIIS Perth (launched 2026). The network's 2026 realignment — Adelaide's Mix becoming KIIS 102.3 while Perth's 96FM left for the Gold Network — shows ARN continuing to refine its brand architecture around KIIS for hit music and Gold for adult contemporary.

Digital Presence

The station is simulcast on DAB+ digital radio in Brisbane and streams through ARN's iHeartRadio platform, alongside the network's digital-only music channels. iHeartRadio is ARN's central digital audio platform, carrying live streams of all its stations plus podcasts and curated music channels.

As noted, the inventory does not verify an official domain, so no website is asserted in this profile. Wikipedia lists kiis973.com.au as the station's website, an attributed claim. The station's verifiable digital presence rests on its DAB+ carriage, iHeartRadio distribution and broadcast-directory listings. From 97.3fm's 2001 launch to the KIIS rebrand of 2022, the station has remained Brisbane's hit-music station — now wearing a national brand.