About Triple M Adelaide

Triple M Adelaide

Triple M Adelaide (callsign 5MMM) is a commercial FM radio station in Adelaide, South Australia, broadcasting an active rock format on 104.7 MHz FM (with a 98.3 MHz repeater for the Adelaide Hills) across metropolitan Adelaide. Owned by Southern Cross Austereo and part of its Triple M network, it targets the 30–54 demographic. The station's lineage reaches back to 25 March 1927, when it signed on as 5KA on 1200 kHz AM; it converted to FM on 1 January 1990 as KAFM (5KKA), and took the Triple M name in 1993 after the 5MMM callsign was purchased from the community station now known as Three D Radio. Wikipedia lists www.triplem.com.au/adelaide as its website.

Overview

Triple M Adelaide is the rock station with the century-old licence: 5MMM on 104.7, the active rock voice of Adelaide's 30-to-54s. Where the CHR stations chase the teens, Triple M plays the rock — the classic and the current, the footy and the funny — with local content at its core since 2011. Its callsign carries one of Australian radio's great stories: bought in 1993 from a community station (now Three D Radio), the deal that renamed both.

History

The 5KKA interlude — 1990 to 1993, the KAFM years — was the FM adolescence: the new frequency, the new name, the pre-Triple M. The 1993 transformation — the callsign purchase, the Triple M launch — was the arrival: the network brand, the rock format, the Adelaide member. The decades since — the 1990s to today, 30-plus years as Triple M — are the maturity: the ratings, the rock, the 30–54s.
The Triple M network story — Sydney's 2MMM in 1980, Melbourne's EON FM, Brisbane's FM104 — is the brand's arc: the commercial FM pioneers, the rock format, the national network. Adelaide's 1993 entry — the KAFM-to-Triple M, the fourth capital — completed the east-coast set (Perth's 96FM joined, left, and the network settled). The local-content turn — 2011, the 'more on local content' — was the maturation: the networked past, the Adelaide present.
The 5KA years — 1927 to 1990, the AM decades — were the foundation: the 1200 kHz signal (1927–1978), the 1197 kHz (1978–1990), the commercial voice of pre-FM Adelaide. The 1 January 1990 conversion — the FM move, the KAFM rebirth, the 5KKA callsign — was the modernisation: the 104.7 frequency, the stereo, the new era. The Village Roadshow takeover — the Triple M owner, the 1993 callsign purchase — was the rebrand: the community station's letters, the commercial's brand, the Three D Radio birth.

The station signed on 25 March 1927 as 5KA on 1200 kHz — one of Adelaide's foundation commercial voices. It moved to 1197 kHz in 1978, then converted to FM on 1 January 1990, becoming KAFM (5KKA) on 104.7 MHz. Village Roadshow — then owner of Triple M — took over the station and in 1993 negotiated the purchase of the 5MMM callsign from the community station of the same name; that station became Three D Radio (5DDD), and Adelaide's 104.7 became Triple M. In 1994 Austereo bought Triple M; in 2011 Southern Cross Media merged with Austereo to form Southern Cross Austereo. Since 2011 the station has focused more on local content, after years of networking most shows from Sydney and Melbourne.

The 1993 callsign deal — the 5MMM purchase, the undisclosed sum, the Three D Radio renaming — is the legend: the commercials' money, the community's equipment, the irony. The 5MMM letters — the Triple M, the MMM — are the brand in callsign: the rock network, the Adelaide member. The 1994 Austereo buy — the network's consolidation — and the 2011 SCA merger — the Southern Cross Media combination — are the corporate chapters: the Today's and Triple M's, the regional stations, the merged giant.
The comedy and talk — the networked shows, the Triple M humour — are the personality: the rock station's laugh, the blokes' banter, the drive home. The local music sections — the Adelaide-originated hours — are the local: the city's rock, the station's own, the 104.7's voice.

Programming

Triple M Adelaide broadcasts active rock: the rock music mix for the 30–54 demographic, with local breakfast and drive, networked Triple M comedy and talk, and the network's sport coverage. Large sections of music programming originate locally, with the network's national shows (comedy, talk, AFL) rounding out the schedule. The station transmits at 20 kW ERP from Mount Lofty, with a 98.3 MHz repeater serving the Adelaide Hills.

The 30–54 demographic — the target, the rock generation — is the audience: the 1980s teens grown up, the classic-rock lovers, the tradies and the professionals. The active rock format — the current rock, the heritage rock — is the music: the guitars, the anthems, the Triple M sound. The sport coverage — the AFL, the network's footy — is the appointment: the fans, the call, the Triple M footy.
The metro signal — the 104.7, the 20 kW, the Mount Lofty — covers the city: the suburbs, the rock fans, the 30–54s. The streaming — the app, the online, the DAB+ — covers the rest: the ex-Adelaidians, the rock diaspora, the Triple M everywhere.

Coverage & Audience

Triple M Adelaide broadcasts on 104.7 MHz FM across metropolitan Adelaide, with a 98.3 MHz repeater for the Adelaide Hills, plus digital radio and streaming. Its target demographic is 30–54: the rock fans, the tradies and professionals, the footy crowd — Adelaide's mainstream rock audience.

The SCA ownership — Southern Cross Austereo, the merged 2011 entity — is the corporate: the Triple M network, the Hit network, the regional stations, the listed company. The Adelaide duopoly — Triple M and SAFM, the rock and the CHR — is the market's SCA pair: the 30–54s and the younger, the 104.7 and the 107.1. The Triple M network — Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth — is the national rock: the shared brand, the local stations, the footy.
The ACMA licence — the 1153756-5, the commercial radio, the 5MMM callsign — is the legal: the 1 December 2021 authorisation, the current status, the Triple M Adelaide Pty Ltd. The South Melbourne address — the SCA headquarters, the Level 2, 101 Moray Street — is the corporate home: the network's centre, the Adelaide station's owner.

Ownership

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

The Mount Lofty transmitter — the 20 kW ERP, the 73-metre antenna, the hills site — is the signal's source: the metro coverage, the 104.7, the Adelaide. The 98.3 repeater — the Adelaide Hills, the foothills — fills the gaps: the hills listeners, the 104.7's helper. The digital radio — the DAB+, the streaming, the app — is the modern: the 104.7, everywhere.
The century of broadcasting — 1927 to today, near-100 years — is the tenure: the AM pioneers, the FM moderns, the rock present. The 104.7 position — the dial's home since 1990 — is the brand: Triple M 104.7, Adelaide's 104.7, the rock. The Three D connection — the sold callsign, the renamed community station — is the footnote that became legend: the 5MMM, the 5DDD, the deal.

Digital Presence

The station streams via the Triple M app and website — the 104.7 signal, the 98.3 repeater, the DAB+, the app; Wikipedia lists www.triplem.com.au/adelaide as its website. From 5KA on 25 March 1927 to KAFM on 1 January 1990 to Triple M since 1993: 5MMM 104.7 — Adelaide's rock station, the century-old licence, the callsign with a story.