About SAFM

SAFM

SAFM (official callsign 5SSA — "Stereo South Australia") is a commercial FM radio station in Adelaide, South Australia, broadcasting a hot adult contemporary format on 107.1 MHz FM (with a 90.3 MHz repeater for the Adelaide Hills) across metropolitan Adelaide. Owned by Southern Cross Austereo and part of its Hit Network, it broadcasts from studios on Franklin Street, Adelaide. First on air 12 September 1980 (as 5SSA on 107.5 MHz), it became Hit 107 in January 2015 and returned to the heritage SAFM name in July 2020. Wikipedia lists an official website for the station.

Overview

SAFM is Adelaide's heritage hit station: the 107.1 that's been on the dial since 1980, the "Stereo South Australia" callsign, the Hit Network's Adelaide flagship. It has worn three names in a decade — SAFM, Hit 107, SAFM again — the 2020 backflip a tribute to listener nostalgia: "our audiences have great, passionate memories of these stations." The format is hot adult contemporary with a "feel great" pop positioning aimed at 30-to-54s with a female skew, fronted by the Bec, Cosi & Lehmo breakfast show.

History

The Dave Cameron rationale — the 'chaotic and crazy times,' the 'nostalgia and comfort' — was the 2020 thinking: the pandemic era, the trusted brands, the homecoming. The B105 parallel — Brisbane's heritage return, the same week — was the national pattern: the two cities, the two comebacks, the Hit Network's rethink. The Mount Gambier unification — Hit 96.1 to SAFM, the South Australian radios — was the state's: the one SAFM, the two frequencies, the 107.1 and the 96.1.
The October 2014 announcement — the Hit 107 relaunch, the staggered network plan — was the strategy revealed: the Today's Hit Network, the national consolidation, Adelaide first. The Ant and Dani breakfast — the new team, the Beveridge/Pearson exit — was the on-air change: the new mornings, the new target, the women under 40. The Craig Bruce build — 'a new station from the ground up,' the music features, the contests, the tone — was the craft: the production, the information, the feel.
The 1980 launch — 12 September, 107.5 MHz, 5SSA — was the FM pioneer's arrival: 'Stereo South Australia,' the new band, the new sound. The 1989 frequency move — 107.5 to 107.1 — was the dial's shuffle: the permanent home, the 107.1, the brand's number. The 1990s and 2000s — the SAFM years, the ratings battles — were the heritage: the breakfast shows, the pop hits, the Adelaide institution.

SAFM signed on 12 September 1980 on 107.5 MHz — 5SSA, "Stereo South Australia," one of Adelaide's FM pioneers — moving to 107.1 MHz in 1989. In October 2014, SCA announced the station would relaunch as Hit 107; the new name, breakfast team (Ant Richards and Dani Pola replacing Michael Beveridge and Hayley Pearson) and women-under-40 targeting arrived with the Today's Hit Network launch on 14 January 2015. In July 2020, SCA reversed course: the heritage SAFM (and Brisbane's B105) returned, with Mount Gambier's Hit 96.1 also rebranding to SAFM to unify South Australia. Adelaide-born comedian Anthony "Lehmo" Lehmann returned to join Rebecca Morse and Cosi on the Bec, Cosi & Lehmo breakfast show, under the Hit Network's new "Get that feeling" positioning.

The Hit 107 years — January 2015 to July 2020 — were the network experiment: the Today's Hit Network, the women-under-40 target, the new breakfast, the national brand. The ratings slide — the post-Kyle-and-Jackie-O years, the 'falling consistently' — was the context: the heritage lost, the network gained, the listeners restless. The 2020 backflip — the SAFM return, the 'nostalgia and comfort' — was the correction: the much-loved brand, the passionate memories, the homecoming.
The local content — the Adelaide breakfast, the Franklin Street — is the local: the city's mornings, the station's own, the 107.1's voice. The network content — the Hit Network's shows, the national — is the scale: the celebrities, the production, the shared. The balance — the local and the network, the Adelaide and the Australia — is the Hit Network's formula: the heritage brand, the national muscle.

Programming

SAFM broadcasts hot adult contemporary: the "feel great" pop music format, national Hit Network breakfast and drive entertainment, and local Adelaide content from the Franklin Street studios. The Bec, Cosi & Lehmo breakfast show leads the lineup. The station transmits at 20,000 watts, with a 90.3 MHz repeater serving the Adelaide Hills.

The 30–54 female-skew target — the 2020 repositioning, the 'feel great' music — is the audience: the women, the families, the pop lovers. The Bec, Cosi & Lehmo show — Rebecca Morse, Cosi, the Lehmo homecoming — is the breakfast: the Adelaide-born comedian, the local team, the mornings' entertainment. The Hit Network's national — the 50 rebranded stations, the 'stronger national presence' — is the context: the brand assets, the enhanced value, the network.

Coverage & Audience

SAFM broadcasts on 107.1 MHz FM across metropolitan Adelaide, with a 90.3 MHz repeater for the Adelaide Hills, plus digital radio and streaming. Its target is 30-to-54s with a female skew: the "feel great" pop audience, the heritage SAFM listeners, the Hit Network's Adelaide crowd.

The SCA ownership — Southern Cross Austereo, SCA Digital Pty Ltd — is the corporate: the Hit Network, the Triple M network, the listed media group. The Adelaide pair — SAFM and Triple M Adelaide, the hits and the rock — is the market's SCA duopoly: the 107.1 and the 104.7, the Franklin Street studios, the shared roof. The South Australian SAFM — the Adelaide 107.1 and Mount Gambier's 96.1 — is the unified brand: the two SAFMs, the one name, the state covered.
The callsign 5SSA — 'Stereo South Australia' — is the name in letters: the 5 for South Australia, the SSA for the stereo state. The ACMA licence — the commercial radio, the 107.1, the 10093101-3 — is the legal: the Summit Road Crafers transmitter, the 32,800-watt EIRP, the current status. The South Melbourne headquarters — the SCA centre, the Level 2, 101 Moray Street — is the corporate: the network's home, the Adelaide station's owner.

Ownership

SAFM is owned by Southern Cross Austereo (SCA Digital Pty Ltd), part of the national Hit Network. Its Adelaide sister station is Triple M Adelaide. The broadcaster's postal address is listed care of Southern Cross Austereo, Level 2, 101 Moray Street, South Melbourne VIC 3205.

The Franklin Street studios — the city base, the broadcast home — are the station's address: the Adelaide CBD, the Hit Network's local hub. The 20,000 watts — the ERP, the Mount Lofty-area transmitter — is the power: the metro signal, the 107.1, the 90.3 Hills repeater. The 'Get that feeling' positioning — the 2020 relaunch's slogan, the 'feel great' pop — is the promise: the mood-focused music, the entertaining breakfast and drive, the listeners' love.
The hot adult contemporary format — the pop hits, the 'feel great' — is the music: the current, the recurrent, the mood. The drive shows — the national entertainment, the Hit Network's — are the afternoons: the laughs, the celebrities, the 107.1's drive home. The 45-plus years — 1980 to today — are the tenure: the FM pioneer, the heritage brand, the Adelaide institution.
The streaming — the app, the online, the DAB+ — is the everywhere: the 107.1, the phone, the smart speaker. The heritage — the 1980 sign-on, the 2020 homecoming — is the story: SAFM, the much-loved brand, back where it belongs.

Digital Presence

The station streams via the Hit Network's digital platforms — the 107.1 signal, the 90.3 Hills repeater, the app; Wikipedia lists an official website. From 5SSA on 12 September 1980 to Hit 107 (2015–2020) to SAFM again: the heritage name, the 'Get that feeling' format, Adelaide's 107.1 — the much-loved brand, back home.