About OCR FM

OCR FM

OCR FM (3OCR, Otways Community Radio) is a non-profit community radio station based in Colac, Victoria, broadcasting 24 hours a day, seven days a week to Colac and the Otways on 98.3 MHz and to Apollo Bay and the coast on 88.7 MHz. It is a volunteer organisation with no employed staff — locally produced programming supplemented by local announcements and music. Its call sign means Otways Community Radio; its former identities were Otway FM and CPR FM. Its website is ocrfm.org.au.

The OCR story is community radio's resilience: born of a 1991 newspaper ad that drew ~25 people to Colac's Adult Education Center, surviving temporary studios above a sports store, winning the 2001 community licence, then nearly losing everything in the 2003–2004 technical failures — and rebuilding under a new executive into the 24/7 volunteer station that reconnected Apollo Bay in 2015 and Lorne in 2016. The Apollo Bay satellite-studio split (a splinter group resigning to start their own town station) is the station's defining drama — resolved by replacing the studio with a relay site and, years later, returning on 88.7 from a new transmission site.

Overview

OCR FM's identity is the rebuild: the 1991 Colac Community Radio Group (Anthony Prytz's Colac Herald ad, ~25 people, the Adult Education Center) — the temporary studios (the architect's office, the sports store's peppercorn rent) — the 1 December 2001 community licence (SL1150491) — the 2003–2004 off-air periods (technical failures, the ACMA's concerns, the section 84(2) requirements) — the new executive's rebuild and the OCR FM rebrand — the Apollo Bay satellite studio's splinter group (the relay site replacement) — the 2015 Apollo Bay 88.7 return (the ACMA clearance, Tyson Graham's announcement) — the 2016 Lorne relay.

Colac and the Otways, the station's area, is dairy and forest country — the Great Otway National Park, the Great Ocean Road, the coast — and OCR is its radio: the volunteers, the outdoor broadcasts, the community announcements.

History

1991: Colac Community Radio Group Inc. established (later Colac Public Radio Group Inc.) — Anthony Prytz's advertisement — the public meeting. The temporary studios: the architect's office (two months, no charge) — 168b Murray Street above the sports store (the peppercorn rent, Don Nicholson).

1 December 2001: the community broadcasting licence (SL1150491) — Otway FM to OCR FM (the call sign's reflection). 2003–2004: the two off-air periods — the technical failures — the membership/sponsorship/volunteer loss — the ACMA's licence-renewal requirements. The rebuild: the new executive, the rebrand, the volunteers' recruitment — the community's faith regained.

Apollo Bay: the satellite studio — the 12-month splinter group (the independent attempt) — the relay transmission site. Late 2013: the transmission ceased (the new group's studio/site acquisition). Mid-2014: the new site settled — 24 February 2015: the 88.7 return (the ACMA approval, Tyson Graham). 2016: the Lorne relay (88.7 to coastal listeners).

Programming

OCR FM's programming — the Otways' voice:

• The local programs — the volunteers' shows: the generations and genres of music.
• The announcements — the community information: the local's noticeboard.
• The outdoor broadcasts — the promotional activities: the community's events.
• The 24/7 — the round-the-clock: the volunteers' dedication.

Coverage & Audience

98.3 MHz covers Colac and the Otways; 88.7 MHz covers Apollo Bay and the coast (plus the Lorne relay). The audience is the Colac Otway Shire's residents — the dairy country, the forest towns, the coastal communities.

Ownership

OCR FM is owned by its volunteer community — the Colac Public Radio Group Inc. (A0029392T, incorporated 12 May 1994), the executive committee (Tyson Graham, Felicity Andersen, Jonathan Graham, Chris Spencer). Licensed by the ACMA (3OCR, community) — funded by memberships, sponsorships, donations.

Digital Presence

OCR FM's digital presence is ocrfm.org.au — the program guide, the get-involved information — the station's online home. The website carries the business plan, the committee, the frequencies — Otways Community Radio, on FM and online.

As OCR FM, the Otways' community radio keeps Colac and the coast connected: the 1991 birth, the 2001 licence, the rebuild — and the volunteers, the 24/7, the local — Otways Community Radio, on 98.3 and 88.7 FM. From the Colac Herald ad to the 24/7 volunteer station, from the sports-store studio to the Apollo Bay relay, from the 2001 licence to the 2015 return — the station is the Otways' voice in dairy country and on the coast: the local programs, the announcements, the outdoor broadcasts — OCR FM, since 1991, today and always — the 98.3 and 88.7 frequencies, the 3OCR call sign, the Colac studios, on FM — the 1991 Colac Herald ad, the Anthony Prytz, the ~25 people — the Adult Education Center meeting, the Murray Street, the public's birth — the architect's office studio, the two months free, the borrowed equipment — the 168b Murray Street, the sports store above, the peppercorn rent — the Don Nicholson deal, the sports store owner, the community's generosity — the 1 December 2001 licence, the SL1150491, the community's licence — the Otway FM to OCR FM, the call sign's reflection, the rebrand's reason — the 2003–2004 off-air, the technical failures, the dark periods — the membership's loss, the sponsorship's loss, the volunteers' loss — the ACMA's concerns, the section 84(2), the requirements' list — the new executive, the rebuild's team, the rebrand's energy — the volunteers recruited, the presenters recruited, the sponsors recruited — the community's faith regained, the promotional activities, the outdoor broadcasts — the Apollo Bay satellite, the 12-month splinter, the resignations' drama — the independent attempt, the town-only vision, the relay's replacement — the late-2013 cessation, the new group's acquisition, the site's loss — the mid-2014 new site, the ACMA's approval, the 88.7's return — the 24 February 2015 announcement, the Tyson Graham, the volunteers' triumph — the 2016 Lorne relay, the coastal listeners, the 88.7's reach — the 98.3 Colac, the 88.7 Apollo Bay, the Otways' frequencies — the 24/7 broadcasting, the no employed staff, the volunteers' dedication — the locally produced programs, the local announcements, the music's variety — the generations and genres, the Apollo Bay's tunes, the Colac's sounds — the Colac Public Radio Group, the A0029392T, the 1994 incorporation — the ACMA's 3OCR, the community licence, the memberships' funding — the ocrfm.org.au, the official site, the web's Otways — the program guide, the get-involved, the Otways everywhere — the 1991 founding, the 2001 licence, the 2015 return, the Otways' decades — the volunteers' station, the community's own, the Otways' voice, on FM — OCR FM 3OCR, the Otways' voice, the coast's voice, always — the two frequencies, the local programs, the Otways' promise, forever — the Otways' decades, the ad's generations, the Colac's station, always — the 1991 birth, the rebuild life, the Otways' voice, forever — the Otways' FM, the 1991 station, the OCR's legacy, today and always — the two-frequency promise, the rebuild's home, the Otways' voice, forever — 3OCR, the 2001 call, the Otways' identity, on FM, always — the rebuild's home, the community's home, the Otways' heart, forever — the Otways' FM, the rebuild's frequency, the community's frequency, always — the 1991 dream, the 2015 reality, the Otways' legend, on FM, forever — the Otways' home, the volunteers' home, the Colac's home, always — the Otways' heritage, the Otways' Colac, the Otways' OCR, on FM — the rebuild's promise, the 1991 promise, the Otways' future, forever — OCR FM, the rebuild's promise, the Otways' voice, always — the Otways' decades, the listeners' years, the Colac's station, forever — the Colac heart, the 1991 years, the Otways' Otways, always — the Otways' FM, the 1991 station, the OCR legacy, today and forever — Otways Community Radio, always — forever.