About Twin Cities FM

Twin Cities FM

Twin Cities FM — on air today as 89.7 FM — is the community radio station of Perth's northern suburbs, broadcasting to the cities of Joondalup and Wanneroo on 89.7 MHz. On air since 16 November 2001 under the callsign 6TCR, it is a volunteer-run community broadcaster with a strong focus on Western Australian music, local news and community information, and a record of national recognition: its programs have been nominated for multiple Community Broadcasting Association of Australia awards, including a 2019 win for Excellence in Community Engagement. Its slogan is "The People The Music" — and "Sounds of the North" for its northern-suburbs identity.

Overview

89.7 FM programs a broad community-interest and music format: a wide range of music with a big focus on WA talent and unsigned Australian artists, alongside local news, current affairs and hyper-local information for the Joondalup and Wanneroo communities. The station regularly broadcasts from local events in the region, and offers free promotion for volunteer community groups' services, events and notices — the classic community-radio access function. The station is run by volunteers and offers locals opportunities to gain experience in radio broadcasting; it has served as a training ground for careers including Ross Edwards (now with Mix 94.5's lunchtime program), Ciaran Lyons (Triple J overnights) and Terry Siva (RadioWest Albany). The station is a member of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia, Volunteering WA, and the Joondalup and Wanneroo Business Associations, and it broadcasts from studios at Edith Cowan University in Joondalup — 270 Joondalup Drive.

History

89.7 FM commenced broadcasting on 16 November 2001 as Twin Cities FM, and was granted a permanent community broadcasting licence in 2002. The station's founders — including Brad Cecins, Phil Jamieson and Paul Gadenne, who got the ball rolling back in the 1990s — saw the need for a local voice in Perth's rapidly growing northern corridor, where the cities of Joondalup and Wanneroo were becoming major population centres with little dedicated local media. The early years were spent at the Wanneroo Works Depot studio, a humble beginning for a station with big ambitions.

In May 2008 the station moved its operations to Edith Cowan University in Joondalup, returning to regular broadcasting in July 2008 — a move that gave it a professional home at the heart of the region's education precinct and strengthened its ties to the university community. The 15th birthday in November 2016 was an occasion for the station to honour its history: the "Class of 2001" — original members still on air including Gavin Crossley, Bill Crowe, Duncan Smith, Joe Marchello, Chris Webb, Simon Malloy and Derek Cromb — alongside the volunteers of the intervening years, from Sandra Woodings to Michael Henderson, Ben Connors, Irene and Colin Radalj and Michael Stokes. The station's on-air identity evolved too: formally Twin Cities FM, it is now known on air as 89 7FM, with the "Sounds of the North — Northern Suburbs Radio" positioning.

The station's resilience was tested when its transmitter failed in early May one year, taking it off air. The equipment had been running continuously since 2008 and was not covered by insurance; the exact cause was unknown, though lightning or static charge build-up was suspected. The Community Broadcasting Foundation approved a Quick Response Grant of $11,941 to cover the replacement transmitter and associated costs — a reminder of the financial fragility of volunteer-run stations and of the sector's mutual-support mechanisms. The transmitter site at High Road, Wanneroo — shared with 6IX's FM signal and telecommunications infrastructure — operates at 2 kW to the north and 200 W to the south, covering the Wanneroo RA1 licence area from Warwick to Two Rocks and reaching the coastal communities of Wanneroo, Joondalup and Stirling, home to around 600,000 people.

Programming

The 89.7 FM schedule follows the community-radio pattern with a strong local emphasis. Weekday programming includes a breakfast show, a morning show with local current affairs, an afternoon show covering local issues and current events, and a drive program with music, news and traffic reports — all presented by various volunteer announcers. The music policy champions WA artists and unsigned Australian music alongside the broader mix, giving local musicians airplay they would struggle to find on commercial stations. Specialist programs have earned the station national recognition: Live and Local (a three-time CBAA nominee and 2019 finalist for Excellence in Music Presenting), Beats, Rhymes & Life (finalist for Contribution to Australian Music), Latin Studio (finalist for Excellence in Ethnic & Multicultural Broadcasting), The Aurora Underground and Western.Oz — the last winning a commendation for contributing to local music in 2007. In 2019 the station won the CBAA award for Excellence in Community Engagement for School of Thought, recognising its work connecting with the community beyond the broadcast. Outside broadcasts from local events keep the station visible and audible in the region it serves. The award record matters because it measures the station against the national community-radio sector — hundreds of stations across Australia — and shows a suburban volunteer operation holding its own against the best of them. For the volunteers who produce these programs in their spare time, the nominations and wins are recognition that their work meets professional standards while serving a mission no commercial station attempts.

Coverage and Audience

89.7 FM broadcasts on 89.7 MHz to the Joondalup and Wanneroo licence area — Perth's northern coastal suburbs, from Warwick to Two Rocks — reaching a population of around 600,000 people in one of Australia's fastest-growing urban corridors. Its audience is the northern-suburbs community: families, young people, migrants and multicultural communities served by specialist programs like Latin Studio and Lac Viet Radio, and music fans following the WA artists the station champions. The station's hyper-local information — news, current affairs and community notices for the two cities — gives it a relevance the metropolitan commercial stations cannot match. For the northern suburbs, 89.7 FM is what its slogan claims: the people, the music — a station that sounds like the community it serves.

Ownership

Twin Cities FM is a not-for-profit community broadcaster, member-managed with a subscription program that encourages locals to offer financial support and participate in decision-making through elected committees and boards. Like around 95 per cent of Australia's community radio stations, it is a member of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia. Funding comes from memberships, sponsorships, donations and grants — including the Community Broadcasting Foundation's Quick Response Grants that keep stations on air through emergencies. The station operates under a community broadcasting licence from the Australian Communications and Media Authority for the Wanneroo RA1 area. The member-managed model is central to its identity: the station belongs to its listeners in a formal as well as a cultural sense.

Digital Presence

89.7 FM streams online through its website at 897fm.com.au and through radio aggregator apps, extending the northern-suburbs service to listeners beyond the FM footprint. The station maintains an active social media presence — including its Facebook community — promoting programs, local music, outside broadcasts and community events. The website carries the station's history, program information and news archive, preserving the record of a community institution now in its third decade. For a station founded to give Perth's northern corridor its own voice, the digital platforms extend that voice: the WA artists it champions, the community groups it promotes and the local conversations it hosts are now accessible to anyone, while remaining rooted in the streets of Joondalup and Wanneroo.