About Southern FM

Southern FM

88.3 Southern FM is the local community radio station for the south, south-eastern and bayside suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia — "The Sounds of the Bayside." Broadcasting on 88.3 FM to a population of over 470,000, the station has broadcast continuously since full-time transmission began in November 1990 — celebrating 35 years of continuous broadcasting in 2025. Based in Brighton, it is supported by the Community Broadcasting Foundation and licensed within the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia's guidelines.

The Bayside that Southern FM serves is Melbourne's southern shoreline: Brighton (the bathing boxes, the Esplanade), Sandringham, Black Rock, Beaumaris, Mentone, Mordialloc, Aspendale, Chelsea — the bayside suburbs — and the inland south: Caulfield, Bentleigh, Moorabbin, Cheltenham. The 470,000 people — the beachside families, the commuters, the retirees, the local businesses — are the station's community: the Bayside identity that the founders defended in the licence-area debates, the "Bayside / Inner South identity" that rejected the inner-east expansion. The Sounds of the Bayside is the station's promise: the shoreline's voices, the suburbs' sounds.

Overview

Southern FM's identity is the Bayside: the south, south-eastern and bayside suburbs — Chelsea, Mordialloc, Sandringham, Caulfield, Brighton, Mentone and the bayside strip — the 470,000 people of Melbourne's southern shoreline. The station's programming is the community mosaic: the Community Block (with the Sandybeach Centre news), "The Spirit Within" (with the Melbourne International Jazz Festival's artistic director), "The Vibe" (Lana's chats — 90s music, TV themes, station history), "Built for Speed" (Dr Nick, CJ and Jimbo's music-and-movies institution, 20 years in 2014), the Live Sunday Sessions (local bands like The Romeo Knights), "Songs of Hope," the Midnight Mass alternative music, the SECA cricket panel — the Bayside's voices, the Bayside's sounds.

The station's 35th anniversary (2025) — the archive dives (the 1995 "Ning Nang Nong Show" children's programme, the 1995 Stan Rofe interview with John Allan) — is the measure of the community's loyalty: the Bayside's station, for 35 years.

History

Southern FM was established in 1981 by former Australian Broadcasting Control Board member Dom Iacono and former ABC engineer Jack Burgesson — with a dedicated band of volunteers, first broadcasting for two days from the Caulfield Town Hall. The second test broadcast came from the storeroom of the (now demolished) East Bentleigh Community Hall. The station was founded to cover Chelsea, Mordialloc, Sandringham, Caulfield and Brighton — the Bayside municipalities.

The licence-area politics were complex: the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal offered Southern Community Broadcasters (SCB) an extension covering Prahran, St Kilda and Waverley — and the inner-eastern municipalities (Box Hill, Camberwell, Hawthorn, Kew), then without local radio. After AGMs and resolutions, SCB rejected the inner-east addition — "the Inner East was not an area that shared the Bayside / Inner South identity" — the Bayside identity defended (the inner east later gained 3WBC).

The final test transmission — "Sunday Spectrum" on two consecutive weekends in June 1990 — ended the month with the station off air, preparing for full-time broadcasting: November 1990, the continuous service began. The 35 years since — the volunteers, the programmes, the Bayside's loyalty — are the station's history: the 1981 founding, the 1990 full-time launch, the 2025 anniversary.

Programming

Southern FM's programming is the Bayside's community mix:

• The Community Block — with the Sandybeach Centre news (Elana Pedersen, CEO Chris Hill), Colin Tyrus's news: the community's information.
• The Spirit Within — Glenford Noble's conversations (Michael Tortoni of the JazzLab, Melbourne International Jazz Festival).
• The Vibe — Lana's chats: 90s music, TV themes, station history (Ken Francis's early days).
• Built for Speed — Dr Nick, CJ and Jimbo: music and movies (20th anniversary 2014).
• Live Sunday Sessions — the local bands live.
• Songs of Hope, Midnight Mass — the specialist music.
• SECA Panel — the South East Cricket Association wrap.
• The Ning Nang Nong Show — the Saturday children's archive (1995).

The station's podcasts — the Sandybeach Centre, the Spirit Within — extend the Bayside's voices on demand.

Coverage & Audience

Southern FM broadcasts on 88.3 FM to the south, south-eastern and bayside suburbs — the 470,000 people of the licence area: Chelsea to Brighton, Caulfield to Mentone, the Bayside's suburbs. The audience is the Bayside's community — the families, the beachgoers, the local businesses (Cyan Bar and Lounge Mentone among the sponsors) — the 35-year loyalists.

Ownership

Southern FM is operated by Southern Community Broadcasters — the community association founded by Iacono and Burgesson's volunteers. Supported by the Community Broadcasting Foundation, licensed by the ACMA within CBAA guidelines — the community's station, community-governed, community-funded (sponsorship, membership, donations).

The community radio sector — more than 450 stations across Australia — gives Southern FM its national context, but the station's story is the Bayside's: the 1981 Caulfield Town Hall test, the East Bentleigh storeroom, the 1990 Sunday Spectrum, the November 1990 launch, the 35 years. In a city of commercial networks and national broadcasters, the Bayside station is the shoreline's own frequency: the volunteers' voices, the community's sounds — 88.3 FM, the Sounds of the Bayside, since November 1990.

Digital Presence

Southern FM's digital home is southernfm.com.au — "The Sounds of the Bayside": the programme pages, the podcasts, the archive dives, the 35th anniversary celebrations. The station streams online — the Bayside's sounds, worldwide. The digital presence carries the community's 35 years: the 1995 archives, the present programmes, the Bayside's voice — 88.3 Southern FM, on FM and on demand.

As Southern FM, Melbourne's Bayside community station keeps the south on the dial: the 1981 founding, the 1990 full-time launch, the 35 years — and the Community Block, the Vibe, the Built for Speed — the Sounds of the Bayside, on 88.3 FM. From the Caulfield Town Hall test to the Brighton studios, from Dom Iacono and Jack Burgesson's volunteers to the presenters of today, from the Sunday Spectrum to the 35th anniversary — the station is the Bayside's own: the shoreline's voices, the suburbs' sounds, the community's frequency — 88.3 Southern FM, the Sounds of the Bayside, since November 1990, today and always — the 470,000 listeners, the volunteers, the Bayside's own — Southern FM 88.3, the community's station, the shoreline's voice, on 88.3 FM — the Community Block, the Spirit Within, the Vibe, the Built for Speed, the Bayside's programmes — the Sandybeach news, the jazz conversations, the 90s nostalgia, the movies and music, on Southern FM — 88.3, the Sounds of the Bayside, the 35-year station, the community's companion — from November 1990 to the 2025 anniversary, Southern FM plays on, on 88.3 FM — the Bayside's community radio, the volunteers' station, the Sounds of the Bayside, always — 88.3 FM, the 1981 founding, the 1990 launch, the Bayside's own frequency, today and every day — Southern FM 88.3, the community's voice, the shoreline's companion, on 88.3 FM — the Brighton studios, the Bayside suburbs, the 470,000 listeners, the community's station — 88.3 Southern FM, the Bayside's voice, the volunteers' frequency, always on — the 1981 test broadcasts, the 1990 full-time launch, the 2025 anniversary, the Bayside's decades — 35 years of continuous broadcasting, the community's loyalty, the station's legacy, on 88.3 FM — Southern FM, the Sounds of the Bayside, the south's community radio, today and forever — 88.3 FM, the Bayside's sounds, the community's voices, Southern FM always — the Bayside's station, the 88.3 frequency, the Sounds of the Bayside, forever — 88.3 Southern FM, the south's voice, the community's radio, on 88.3 FM, today and always — Southern FM, the Bayside's own, the community's 88.3, the Sounds of the Bayside.