About Yass FM

Yass FM

Yass FM 100.3 is a community radio station serving the Yass Valley in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. Branded "Your Voice in the Valley," the station has been the Yass Valley's community radio voice for over 25 years — sharing local stories, music, information, events and conversations that connect the community. It is volunteer-run, with a team of more than 20 presenters and supporters from across the Yass Valley.

The Yass Valley that the station serves is one of the Southern Tablelands' great historic districts: Yass — the town on the Yass River, bypassed by the Hume Highway but rich in 19th-century history (the 1921 centenary, the Cooma Street celebrations, the Mechanics' Institute) — and the villages in its orbit: Binalong, Bookham, Bowning, Gundaroo, Murrumbateman, Sutton and Wee Jasper. The Yass Valley Council area — proclaimed in its current form on 11 February 2004 from the amalgamation of Yass Shire and parts of Gunning and Yarrowlumla Shires — covers 3,998 square kilometres and more than 16,870 people: the town, the villages, and the rural country between. It is sheep-and-wheat country becoming tree-change country, within commuting distance of Canberra — and the community station is its voice.

Overview

Yass FM's identity is the Yass Valley itself: the historic town of Yass on the Hume Highway corridor, and the villages of the valley — Binalong, Bookham, Bowning, Gundaroo, Murrumbateman, Sutton and Wee Jasper — in the Yass Valley Council area, about 280 kilometres south-west of Sydney and 60 kilometres north-west of Canberra. For a quarter of a century, the station has been "Your Voice in the Valley": the local stories, the local music, the local information and events — the community's conversations, on 100.3 FM.

The station's recent history has been defined by resilience: the studios in Victoria Park were temporarily closed after tree damage forced a council safety exclusion zone, and the station ran a public "Save Yass FM" campaign to fund a new permanent studio — winning a $50,000 NSW Community Partnership Grant and seeking community donations for the fit-out. The 25th anniversary party — celebrating 25 years since the station first went to air on its temporary licence — was the milestone of a station that has become the valley's institution.

History

Yass FM first went to air on a temporary licence around the turn of the millennium — the community radio pioneers of the Yass Valley putting the district's own voice on 100.3 FM. The 25th anniversary, marked with a community party, dates the first temporary broadcast to approximately 2000–2001: a quarter of a century of "Your Voice in the Valley."

The station's decades on air have seen it become the Yass Valley's community broadcaster: the outdoor broadcasts from the Yass Show and the Junior Magpies football, the presenter training, the community service announcements for the district's clubs, groups and not-for-profits. The station's people are its history: patron Brian Millett (remembered in memoriam), president Geoff Frost — recognised with wife Jean for community service, Geoff for 13 years as a Yass Valley Councillor and leadership of Yass FM and Yass Can Assist, Jean for the Yass Hospital Auxiliary — and the 20-plus volunteer presenters who keep the station on air.

The studio saga — the Victoria Park tree damage, the temporary closure, the exclusion zone covering parts of the pool, the studio and the oval ring-road, the specialist arborist's inspection — and the "new home" campaign (temporary facilities only until September 2023, the $50,000 grant, the $40,000 community target for foundations, fit-out, electrical and plumbing) tell the story of a community station fighting for its future — and the community fighting for it: Wendy Tuckerman and Yass Valley Mayor Allan McGrath visiting the studios to launch the campaign.

Programming

Yass FM's programming is the community radio mix: local stories, music, information, events and conversations. The station's value — as the "Save Yass FM" campaign put it — is in the news, information and entertainment for the Yass Valley; the community service announcements for clubs, groups and not-for-profits; the support for local businesses; the community broadcasting; the podcast interviews; the training.

The outdoor broadcasting is a signature: Chris Mac at the Yass Show, the main street of Yass, the Junior Magpies football match — the station live in the community, "communicating what's live and happening right now." The presenter training — training new volunteers in radio skills — is the station's investment in its own future: the next generation of "Your Voice in the Valley."

Coverage & Audience

Yass FM broadcasts on 100.3 MHz FM to the Yass Valley — the town of Yass and the surrounding villages and rural districts, in the Southern Tablelands between Sydney and Canberra. The audience is the valley's community: the town's residents, the villages' families, the rural listeners — the people for whom the station is "Your Voice in the Valley."

The station's 25 years — the anniversary party, the community's response to the studio campaign — are the measure of its audience: the valley's loyalty to its own station.

Ownership

Yass FM is a community radio station, operated by its community organisation and governed by its committee — president Geoff Frost among the leaders. As a community broadcaster, it operates within the community broadcasting codes of practice, funded by sponsorship, membership, grants and donations. The team of over 20 volunteers — the YassFM presenters — are the station's workforce: the valley's residents, on the valley's station.

The community radio sector — more than 450 stations across Australia — gives Yass FM its national context, but the station's story is the valley's: the temporary licence at the turn of the millennium, the 25 years of "Your Voice in the Valley," the OBs at the Show and the Magpies, the presenter training, the studio campaign. In a media landscape of networked commercials and national broadcasters, the community station is the local voice that can't be networked: the valley's stories, the valley's music, the valley's conversations — on 100.3 FM.

The $50,000 Small NSW Community Partnership Grant — won for the new studio — and the community fundraising are the funding model: government support plus community backing, for the community's station.

Digital Presence

Yass FM streams online — listed on streaming aggregators including radio.net — reaching the Yass Valley diaspora and listeners beyond the FM footprint. The station's online presence carries the anniversary celebrations, the studio campaign updates, and the community's connection to its station. The digital footprint — the GoFundMe campaign, the aggregator listings — is the station's 21st-century voice: "Your Voice in the Valley," wherever the valley's people are.

As Yass FM, the Yass Valley's community radio station keeps the district connected: the local stories, the music, the OBs, the training — 100.3 FM, Your Voice in the Valley, for 25 years and counting. From the temporary licence to the anniversary party, from the Victoria Park studios to the new-home campaign, from the Yass Show OB to the Junior Magpies — the station is the valley's institution: the volunteers' voices, the community's conversations, the district's own 100.3 — Your Voice in the Valley, today and for the decades to come: the 20-plus volunteers, the community's backing, the valley's voice on 100.3 FM — the local stories, the local music, the local conversations, on Your Voice in the Valley — Yass FM 100.3, the Yass Valley's own station, for 25 years strong and counting, on 100.3 FM.