Triple M Darling Downs

4GR is an Australian commercial radio station located in Toowoomba, Queensland, currently broadcasting as Triple M on 864 AM.[1]

The station was the first commercial radio station to broadcast in Queensland.

4GR was the brainchild of Edward Gold[2] who had conducted test radio broadcasts in a shed from his experimental radio station 4EG prior to obtaining Queensland's first commercial radio licence to establish 4GR, which began broadcasting on 17 August 1925.[3]

In 2015, 4GR celebrated its 90th birthday.[4]

Despite the station identifying itself as its original callsign 4GR for more than 90 years, the on-air branding was changed to Triple M in December 2016 as part of Southern Cross Austereo's branding overhaul of its regional radio networks.[5]

4GR's name change came under fire from some quarters. An online reader's poll run by The Chronicle newspaper in Toowoomba found that 74% of respondents were unhappy with 4GR taking on the Triple M brand.[6]

References
  1. Triple M Darling Downs website
  2. The Way We Were: Radio Pioneer, Bruce Elvery, The Chronicle, 12 January 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  3. Wireless Station Opened At Toowoomba, The Brisbane Courier, 17 August 1925. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  4. 4GR: 90 Years - Queensland's first commercial station, Radio Today, 16 August 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2016
  5. SCA's Hit and Triple M to become the two largest commercial radio networks in Australia, Southern Cross Austereo website, 26 September 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  6. Historic radio station re-brand 'a very poor move', Charlotte Lam, The Chronicle, 29 September 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2016.

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