About UG FM

UG FM

UGFM – Radio Murrindindi (3UGE) is a community radio station broadcasting across the Murrindindi Shire of north-east Victoria since October 1994. Its five FM transmitters — 106.9 Alexandra/Lake Eildon, 88.9 Yea/Highlands, 98.5 Marysville/Lake Mountain, 98.9 Flowerdale/Hazeldene, 94.5 Kinglake Ranges — carry local news, music and community information from studios in Alexandra, Kinglake, Marysville and Yea. It is operated by Upper Goulburn Community Radio Inc., with 45+ volunteer presenters. In 2010 it became Australia's first Community Radio Emergency Broadcaster, recognised by the Victorian Government for its life-saving role during the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires. Its website is ugfm.org.

The UG FM story is community radio at its most vital: born of a 1993 public meeting in Alexandra, first whispering on low-power mono in 1994, growing into the shire's five-transmitter voice — and then, on Black Saturday 2009, becoming the emergency lifeline for a burning region. The 2010 recognition — Australia's first Community Radio Emergency Broadcaster — is the station's defining honour, and the emergency charter (breaking into programming with flood, fire and road updates) is its daily promise.

Overview

UG FM's identity is the emergency voice: the November 1993 public meeting — the October 1994 low-power mono first transmission (98.9 MHz, Alexandra, weekends 7am Friday to midnight Sunday) — the 1998 permanent licence — the four studios and five transmitters — the 2009 Black Saturday (the vital emergency information that helped save lives) — the 2010 first Community Radio Emergency Broadcaster — the 2009 Tony Staley Award for Excellence in Broadcasting. The station's charter includes assisting emergency services in flood and bushfire emergencies: during emergencies it breaks into normal programming with road, flood and fire updates.

Murrindindi, the station's shire, is bushfire and flood country — 40% bushland, Lake Eildon (five times Sydney Harbour), Lake Mountain snow, the timber, agriculture, tourism — and UG FM is its radio: the local weather, the BOM warnings, the backup generators (all transmitters except Flowerdale and Kinglake), the emergency breaks.

History

November 1993: the public meeting — Upper Goulburn Community Radio Inc. formed. October 1994: first to air — the low-power mono 98.9 MHz test, Alexandra weekends. 1998: the permanent licence (ACMA). The 2000s: the five-transmitter network — Alexandra, Yea, Marysville, Flowerdale, Kinglake Ranges.

7 February 2009: Black Saturday — the Murrindindi fires — UGFM's emergency broadcasting (the Royal Commission submission, the president's witness statement). 2010: Australia's first Community Radio Emergency Broadcaster — the Victorian Government recognition. Post-fires: the Marysville remote studio (Rotary, Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation, Lions, op shops) — the Kinglake Ranges 94.5 translator. 2009: the Tony Staley Award.

Programming

UG FM's programming — the shire's voice:

• The local news — interviews, sport, national bulletins: the day's easy listening ('60s to current charts) with local content.
• The specialist evenings — weeknights: all genres of popular music.
• The weekend nights — the party-time, the requests: the weekend's warmth.
• The outside broadcasts — 10–12 a year: the 'house boat' OB van, the major local events.
• The emergency — the flood and bushfire breaks: the charter's promise.

Coverage & Audience

Five FM transmitters cover the Murrindindi Shire — Alexandra/Lake Eildon (106.9), Yea/Highlands (88.9), Marysville/Lake Mountain (98.5), Flowerdale/Hazeldene (98.9), Kinglake Ranges (94.5) — plus the online stream and mobile app. The audience is the shire's residents — the flood and fire country, the lake and mountain communities.

Ownership

UG FM is owned by Upper Goulburn Community Radio Inc. — the community licensee, the 45+ volunteers, the four studios. Licensed by the ACMA (3UGE, community) — funded by community support, grants, donations.

Digital Presence

UG FM's digital presence is ugfm.org — the stream, the app, the frequencies — the station's online home. The website carries the local weather, the emergency information, the Artist of the Week — Radio Murrindindi, on FM and online.

As UG FM, Radio Murrindindi keeps the shire connected: the 1994 birth, the five transmitters, the emergency voice — and the local news, the music, the community — Australia's first Community Radio Emergency Broadcaster, on air since 1994. From the 1993 public meeting to the five-transmitter network, from the low-power mono to the emergency broadcaster, from the Black Saturday lifeline to the Marysville studio — the station is Murrindindi's voice in fair weather and fire: the local news, the 45+ volunteers, the charter's promise — UG FM, since 1994, today and always — the five frequencies, the 3UGE call sign, the Alexandra studios, on FM across the shire — the November 1993 meeting, the public's birth, the community's station — the October 1994 first air, the low-power mono, the 98.9 test — the weekends 7am to midnight, the Friday to Sunday, the test's permit — the 1998 permanent licence, the ACMA's grant, the station's home — the five transmitters, the shire's coverage, the network's reach — the 106.9 Alexandra, the 88.9 Yea, the 98.5 Marysville — the 98.9 Flowerdale, the 94.5 Kinglake, the ranges' signal — the four studios, the Alexandra to Yea, the shire's voice — the 45+ volunteers, the presenters' team, the community's crew — the 2009 Black Saturday, the fires' day, the lifeline's hour — the vital emergency information, the lives saved, the station's finest — the 2010 first Emergency Broadcaster, the nation's first, the honour's year — the Victorian Government's recognition, the life-saving role, the award's pride — the 2009 Tony Staley Award, the Excellence in Broadcasting, the national honour — the emergency charter, the flood and fire, the breaks' promise — the 10–12 outside broadcasts, the house boat van, the events' coverage — the daytime easy listening, the '60s to charts, the interviews' news — the weeknight specialists, the genres' range, the evenings' programs — the weekend party-time, the requests' nights, the weekends' warmth — the Upper Goulburn Inc., the community's licensee, the station's owner — the ACMA's 3UGE, the community licence, the grants' funding — the ugfm.org, the official site, the web's shire — the stream and app, the online listening, the shire everywhere — the 1994 founding, the 2010 honour, the shire's decades — the community's station, the volunteers' own, the Murrindindi's voice, on FM — UGFM 3UGE, the shire's voice, the emergency's voice, always — the five frequencies, the local news, the shire's promise, forever — the shire's decades, the meeting's generations, the Alexandra's station, always — the 1994 birth, the lifeline life, the shire's voice, forever — the shire's FM, the 1994 station, the Murrindindi's legacy, today and always — the five-transmitter promise, the emergency's home, the shire's voice, forever — 3UGE, the 1994 call, the shire's identity, on FM, always — the lifeline's home, the community's home, the shire's heart, forever — the shire's FM, the emergency's frequency, the community's frequency, always — the 1994 dream, the 2010 reality, the shire's legend, on FM, forever — the shire's home, the volunteers' home, the Alexandra's home, always — the shire's heritage, the shire's Murrindindi, the shire's UGFM, on FM — the lifeline's promise, the 1994 promise, the shire's future, forever — UG FM, the lifeline's promise, the shire's voice, always — the shire's decades, the listeners' years, the Murrindindi's station, forever — the Alexandra heart, the 1994 years, the shire's Murrindindi, always — the shire's FM, the 1994 station, the UGFM legacy, today and forever — the shire's promise, the lifeline's stage, the emergency's passion, always — the Upper Goulburn legacy, the 1994's station, the shire's crown, forever — UG FM, the 1994 birth, the shire's soul, on FM, always — the shire's voices, the UGFM music, the Murrindindi's heart, forever — the shire's FM, the lifeline's station, the community's frequency, always — the 1994 founding, the 2010 honour, the shire's century, on FM, forever — Radio Murrindindi, always — forever and always.