About Nova 100

Nova 100

Nova 100 (3MEL, 100.3 MHz FM) is the Melbourne flagship of the Nova network — one of Australia's leading commercial contemporary hit radio stations — owned by Nova Entertainment. Broadcasting from Melbourne to the Victorian capital and surrounds, Nova 100 plays Top 40/CHR pop with a strong lean to new releases, anchored by its local breakfast show. Launched at 07:00 on 3 December 2001, it was Melbourne's first new commercial station in 21 years, and remains a major player in the Melbourne ratings — its current breakfast line anchored by the local Melbourne show in the Nova network's national format.

The station's call sign, 3MEL, marks it as Victoria's Nova: the Melbourne entry in the five-city network that Paul Thompson's DMG Radio built from the 2000–2001 licence auctions — Sydney's Nova 96.9 (1 April 2001), Melbourne's Nova 100 (3 December 2001), Perth's Nova 937 (5 December 2002), Adelaide's Nova 919 (August 2004), Brisbane's Nova 106.9 (4 April 2005). The Melbourne licence — $70 million from the Australian Broadcasting Authority — was the second Nova licence purchased, and the station went to air eight months after Sydney's.

Overview

Nova 100's identity is the disruptor that stayed: the $70 million licence, the "Sounds Different" launch, the never-more-than-two-ads-in-a-row model — the first new commercial FM in Melbourne in two decades. The station sits in Nova Entertainment's five-station Nova network (Sydney 96.9, Melbourne 100.3, Brisbane 106.9, Adelaide 91.9, Perth 93.7) — each with its own local breakfast, the days shared across the network.

Melbourne, the station's city, is Australia's cultural capital — the music city, the sport city, the two-million-plus metro where commercial FM is fiercely contested (Triple M, Fox FM, Gold 104.3, KIIS 101.1, Nova 100, smoothfm 91.5). It is hit-radio country: the CHR formats, the breakfast wars, the survey battles — and Nova 100 is the network's Melbourne voice: the local breakfast, the new music, the 100.3.

History

2001: DMG Radio purchased the FM licence from the ABA for $70 million. 3 December 2001, 07:00: Nova 100 commenced — the first new commercial station in Melbourne in 21 years. The test months: the bird noises, the train sound effects. The launch: Kate Langbroek's first words — "Are we on yet?" — Missy Elliott's "Get Ur Freak On" the first song (The Avalanches' "Frontier Psychiatrist" also noted as the first played).

The inaugural breakfast: Hughesy, Kate & Dave — Dave Hughes, Kate Langbroek, Dave O'Neil. O'Neil resigned July 2006 (to Vega 91.5); Hughes and Langbroek remained to November 2013. The early format: "Sounds Different" — alternative, hip-hop, pop & dance, new releases. 2002: the debut — a ten share, #1 FM Melbourne by Survey 2 (the champagne corks on the programming ceiling).

2010: the policy shift — the "never more than two ads in a row" removed; commercials from 12 to 21 per hour at peak; the Adult Contemporary format (vs ARN's KIIS 101.1). December 2013: Meshel & Tommy (Meshel Laurie, Tommy Little) replaced Hughes and Langbroek. November 2015: Chrissie, Sam & Browny announced (Chrissie Swan, Sam Pang, Jonathan Brown) — commenced January 2016. December 2016: Greg Burns and Dan Cassin networked from Nova 96.9.

The careers forged: Hughesy & Kate to national; Carrie Bickmore (The Project) and Rebecca Maddern (Australian Ninja Warrior) from the Nova 100 newsroom — Nikole "Gunners" Gunn's hires (the 2001 newsroom photo, the Bali bombings documentary's international recognition within 18 months).

Programming

Nova 100's programming — the network's Melbourne:

• The local breakfast — Melbourne's own morning show: the local voices, the city talk.
• The network days — Mel Tracina (9am–1pm), The Joel Creasey Show, The Chrissie Swan Show, Fitzy, Wippa & Kate (drive 4–6pm), Ricki-Lee & Tim: the national Nova format.
• The new music — the Top 40/CHR: the new releases' lean, the pop's pulse.
• The newsroom — the local news: the Melbourne bulletins, the Bickmore-Maddern legacy.

Coverage & Audience

100.3 MHz FM covers metropolitan Melbourne — 56 kW ERP (per the network's technical data) — the metro signal, the DAB+ digital, the online stream. The audience is Melbourne's hit-radio listeners — the under-40s, the new-music seekers, the breakfast-show loyalists.

Ownership

Nova 100 is owned by Nova Entertainment (formerly DMG Radio) — the Paul Thompson-founded disruptor, now part of the Australian media landscape. Licensed by the ACMA (3MEL) — funded by commercial advertising. Studios: Melbourne.

Digital Presence

Nova 100's digital presence is the network's digital: nova100.com.au — the stream, the podcasts, the socials — the station's online home. The website carries the shows, the music news, the competitions — Nova 100, on FM, DAB+ and online.

As Nova 100, Melbourne's Nova keeps the 100.3 on the dial: the 2001 launch, the Sounds Different years, the breakfast lineages — and the new music, the local mornings, the network nights — the disruptor grown into the establishment, on 100.3 FM. From the $70 million licence to the "Are we on yet?", from the two-ad breaks to the 21-an-hour, from Hughesy & Kate to Chrissie, Sam & Browny — the station is Melbourne's hit-radio constant: the 100.3, the Nova network's Victorian voice, the new music's home — Nova 100, since 2001, today and always — the 100.3 frequency, the 3MEL call sign, the Melbourne studios, on 100.3 FM — the $70 million licence, the ABA's auction, the 2001 purchase — the 3 December 2001, the 07:00 launch, the 21-year first — the bird noises' tests, the train effects, the months' tease — the Kate Langbroek first, the "Are we on yet?", the Missy Elliott — the Hughesy, Kate & Dave, the inaugural breakfast, the Studio 1 — the Dave O'Neil's July 2006, the Vega move, the Hughes and Langbroek — the November 2013 end, the 12-year run, the breakfast's first era — the December 2013 Meshel & Tommy, the Laurie and Little, the new show — the November 2015 announcement, the Chrissie, Sam & Browny, the January 2016 — the Swan, Pang and Brown, the breakfast's third era, the 2016 launch — the December 2016 networking, the Burns and Cassin, the Sydney voices — the Sounds Different format, the alternative and hip-hop, the new releases' lean — the 2002 ten share, the #1 FM, the Survey 2 triumph — the champagne corks' ceiling, the programming area, the debut's marks — the 2010 policy's end, the two-ad rule, the 12-to-21 — the Adult Contemporary shift, the KIIS rivalry, the ARN's competition — the newsroom's forge, the Bickmore and Maddern, the Gunners' hires — the 2001 photo, the Bali documentary, the 18-month recognition — the five-station network, the Sydney to Perth, the Nova's reach — the local breakfasts, the shared days, the network's model — the 56 kW ERP, the metro signal, the 100.3's power — the DAB+ digital, the online stream, the nova100.com.au — the under-40s audience, the new-music seekers, the breakfast loyalists — the Nova Entertainment owner, the DMG's legacy, the Thompson disruptor — the ACMA's 3MEL, the commercial licence, the advertising's funding — the network's shows, the Tracina to Rowe, the days' lineup — the drive's Fitzy, Wippa & Kate, the 4-to-6, the national nights — the 100.3 decades, the disruptor's growth, the establishment's station, on 100.3 FM — the 2001 birth, the 2010 shift, the 2020s' Nova, always — 100.3 FM, the Melbourne flagship, the Nova network's voice, forever — the 100.3 promise, the new music's home, the Melbourne mornings, always — 3MEL, the 2001 call, the 100.3 identity, on 100.3 FM, forever — the hit radio's home, the CHR's pulse, the Melbourne's 100.3, always — Nova 100, the 2001 disruptor, the 100.3 constant, today and forever.