About SEN 1116

SEN 1116

SEN 1116 (ACMA call sign 3AK) is a commercial sports radio station broadcasting on 1116 kHz AM in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The acronym stands for Sports Entertainment Network, and the station's slogan is "Melbourne's Home of Sport." Broadcasting from studios in South Melbourne, it carries sports news, sports talk, live AFL, racing and other sports leagues across Greater Melbourne on AM and DAB+ digital (9A). It is owned and operated by the Sports Entertainment Network (Pacific Star Network). (Directories list www.sen.com.au as the station's website.)

Overview

SEN 1116's identity is sport, all day: the breakfast shows with the footy legends, Gerard Whateley's mornings, Dwayne Russell's afternoons, the drive-time "Run Home," the weekend "Off The Bench" — the sports-talk format that has made the station Melbourne's sports conversation. The 1116 AM frequency — the former 3AK, first broadcast in 1931 — is one of Melbourne radio's oldest: the 1931 station reborn in 2004 as the 24-hour sports station.

The station launched on 19 January 2004 (some sources date the launch to 18 January), in a deal engineered by former 5AA general manager Danny Staffieri, leasing the 3AK frequency: "entertaining radio with a sports focus," to rival the racing station Sport 927. The launch line-up — Garry Lyon, Tim Watson and Billy Brownless on the "Morning Glory" breakfast, Kevin Bartlett in mornings, Francis Leach in afternoons, Dermott Brereton and Anthony Hudson in drive — was the footy establishment on the radio: the station jumped from 1.2% (as 3AK) to 2.1% in the first survey, growing to 2.8% by year's end.

History

The frequency's history begins on 29 November 1931, when 3AK first broadcast — with one of Australian radio's strangest licences: a "B" class licence granted in lieu of "C" class, with limiting conditions including a dial position most contemporary sets couldn't receive, broadcasting only when other Melbourne commercials were off air (mostly at night), and limited power. The founder was George Palmer — the father of Clive Palmer. The station shared its wavelength with 2BS Bathurst, causing interference; from 1954 it could broadcast in daylight when not interfering with 2BS.

In 1961, 3AK was purchased by Australian Consolidated Press — becoming the sister station of GTV-9, with the TV personalities doubling on radio. When FM licences were auctioned to AM stations in 1989, 3AK won one of Melbourne's two — but didn't take it up, due to ownership changes. In 1990, Peter Corso bought the station and made it Italian-language for some years. By 1996, Southern Cross owned four Melbourne stations (3AW, 3AK, 3EE, 3MP) — over the two-station legal limit — and sold 3AK to the Christian organisation Fusion Media (talkback, magazine programmes, easy listening). Then to Data & Commerce Limited: in 2001, DCL moved 3AK from 1503 kHz to 1116 kHz and relaunched it as talkback against 3AW and 774 ABC — with Derryn Hinch in mornings and former premier Jeff Kennett presenting.

In October 2003, amid debt and struggling ratings, DCL put 3AK up for sale; in November, DCL leased the station to the newly formed Sports Entertainment Network. On 19 January 2004, SEN 1116 launched — the 24-hour sports station, "Melbourne's Home of Sport." The early years were turbulent: the 2004 Olympics rights (with 2GB and others), the NRL Grand Final and Premier League coverage, the 2005 Adelaide expansion (SEN 1323, short-lived), the 2005 financial crisis (unpaid staff, Brereton's walkout). But the station survived and grew: the 2006 AFL rights (five matches per weekend), the Whateley era, the network expansion — SEN's stations across Australia (693 QLD, 657 WA, 1170 NSW, 1629 SA) and the Track networks.

Programming

SEN 1116's schedule is sports talk and live sport:

• Breakfast (6–9 am) — Kane Cornes & David "Kingy" King (Mon, Fri); Garry Lyon & Tim Watson (Tue–Thu): the footy legends' breakfast.
• Mornings — Gerard Whateley (Mon–Thu): the sports broadcaster's mornings.
• Afternoons — Dwayne Russell's workday afternoons.
• Drive: The Run Home — Andy Maher and Andrew Gaze (Mon–Fri, 3–6 pm).
• Sportsday — Gerard Healy & Kane Cornes: sports news, interviews, opinions.
• Weekends — Off The Bench with Craig Hutchison & Liam Pickering (Saturday); The Sporting Capital: live sport, analysis, discussion.
• Live sport — AFL matches, racing, and other leagues; the 2026 FIFA World Cup (SEN as official radio broadcaster).

The format — "entertaining radio with a sports focus" — is the all-sport conversation: the news, the talk, the live calls, Melbourne's sporting life on 1116 AM. In the world's great sporting city — the MCG, the Australian Open, the Melbourne Cup, the Grand Prix — the sports station is the city's soundtrack: the breakfast debates, the drive-time arguments, the weekend's live calls. SEN 1116 is where Melbourne talks sport: the legends' opinions, the fans' passions, the game's heartbeat on 1116 — "Melbourne's Home of Sport," the Sports Entertainment Network's flagship, on 1116 AM and DAB+ — the 2004 rebirth, the footy legends, the city's game, every day — SEN 1116, where Melbourne's sporting conversation lives, on 1116 AM — the breakfast legends, the Whateley mornings, the Run Home drive, the weekend bench — SEN 1116, Melbourne's sports talk, all day every day — the 3AK frequency, the SEN brand, the city's game on 1116 AM — from the 1931 first broadcast to the 2004 sports launch, the frequency endures, the sport never stops — SEN 1116, "Melbourne's Home of Sport," on 1116 AM, DAB+, and streaming — the 1931 station, the 2004 rebirth, the sports home, today and every day — SEN 1116, Melbourne's game on the radio — 1116 AM, the sports talk, the live sport, always — SEN, Melbourne's Home of Sport.

Coverage & Audience

SEN 1116 broadcasts on 1116 kHz AM and DAB+ 9A, covering Melbourne RA1 — Greater Melbourne, from Lower Plenty to the metropolitan fringe. The audience is Melbourne's sports public — the footy fans, the racing followers, the sports-talk listeners: the city's sporting conversation, on the city's sports station. The SEN network extends the brand across Australia — but 1116 is the Melbourne home: "Melbourne's Home of Sport."

Ownership

SEN 1116 is owned and operated by the Sports Entertainment Network (Pacific Star Network Limited; Victorian Radio Network Pty Ltd) — the sports media group built from the 2004 3AK lease. The official ACMA call sign remains 3AK — "a fact probably not appreciated by the majority of listeners" — while the on-air brand is SEN. Sister stations include 3MP 1377 and the SEN network stations interstate.

Digital Presence

SEN's digital home is sen.com.au (per directories) — the live stream, the show pages, the podcasts, the sports news. The station streams on AM, DAB+ and online — "Melbourne's Home of Sport," everywhere. Contact: Level 5, 111 Coventry Street, Southbank VIC 3006; 1300 736 736; SMS 0433 98 1116. On social media and via the SEN app, the station carries the sports conversation beyond the AM signal.

As SEN 1116, Melbourne's sports radio station carries 90 years of frequency history: the 1931 3AK, the Italian years, the talkback years — and the 2004 sports rebirth: the footy legends, the live AFL, the city's sporting voice on 1116 AM. From George Palmer's night-time-only licence to Danny Staffieri's sports network, from the 1503 kHz music station to the 1116 kHz sports talk, from Derryn Hinch's mornings to Gerard Whateley's — the frequency has been Melbourne's companion for nine decades: the adaptable AM, the sports home, the 3AK that became SEN.