At 11:52pm on Thursday night, the announcer said goodnight. He wished the city well and thanked Brisbane for listening. He pressed play on the Don McLean song American Pie – the extended 8 minute and 42 second version which is almost never played on radio.
That was the final song to ever be played on classic hits station 4KQ.
For those listening, it was a moment that hit hard. 4KQ (which first started broadcasting in 1947) had, for decades, played the classic hits from the 1960s and beyond, serving up favourites like The Monkees, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Elvis Presley, Boney M, Cher, The Hollies, Supertramp, and hundreds more. It was a great mix of beloved songs and guilty pleasures.
The longevity of the station means that 4KQ was playing on the radio while listeners were being dropped off at school and, until last week, those same listeners were still playing 4KQ while dropping off their own grandkids to school – likely playing many of the same songs.
4KQ was quite literally the soundtrack of its listeners’ lives.
As we all know, change is a part of life and radio stations aren’t immune. 4KQ has since been replaced by sports talk station SEN, expanding into Brisbane from Sydney and Melbourne. 4KQ isn’t alone as a classic hits station being wound down. It follows the June closure of Sydney’s classic hits station 2CH, which was also replaced by SEN.
The closure of 4KQ was confusing for a lot of listeners – it was popular. 4KQ was one of the most listened to radio stations, with the station regularly among the top four stations in the ratings. Once in 2020, it was the only AM music station in the world to be number one in the ratings. The decision to close the station ultimately came down to a mix of legal issues relating to its broadcast licence and money.
4KQ owner ARN acquired Grant Broadcasting, which owned several stations within listening distance of Brisbane, like River FM in Ipswich. It would have to sell off a station to be compliant with laws that prevent ownership of too many stations in one market. ARN decided that, when looking at its portfolio of radio stations, it made the most sense to sell 4KQ.
ARN’s Ciaran Davis advised radio news industry site RadioInfo that despite high ratings, advertising agencies were not placing ads on AM music format stations. It turns out that it wasn’t video, after all, that killed the radio star.
James Cridland is an Australian-based radio industry consultant who travels the world advising industry professionals on trends in radio and podcasting. In a conversation with National Seniors, Mr. Cridland suggested that classic radio format stations like 4KQ and 2CH didn’t have a long-term future: “Any radio station needs to look at the long-term: not just who their listeners are today, but who they will be tomorrow.”
“Both stations were failing to reach new, younger, listeners – with 75% of the audience of 4KQ being over 55. That’s not a problem for today: but for ten years’ time, poses real issues for the sustainability of those businesses. Change was inevitable, however hard it sometimes seems for the listener.”
Music is everywhere. We have our own record and CD libraries and there are endless options, as far as the internet is concerned. As listeners, we don’t need a radio station to hear our favourite songs. It makes sense that radio stations concerned with long-term profitability would move away from music to something more unique that you can only get from radio.
“SEN believes that sport is an important part of radio’s future. In the US, sports radio is a very successful part of the market, and given Aussies love sport, there’s every indication that it’ll happen here,” James Cridland said.
As listeners, there are options. Brisbane listeners can just turn the dial to competing station 4BH which cannily just changed its format to embrace classic hits, recognizing the upcoming departure of 4KQ. If it is the presenters you liked on 4KQ, longtime announcer Barbecue Bob (yes, that’s his name) can now be heard hosting 4BH breakfast. Former 4KQ breakfast hosts Laurel, Gary, and Mark are returning to radio very soon as well, taking over the breakfast slot on talk station 4BC from July 11, 2022.
There are also music radio stations on digital radio which will offer the same mix of local news and information heard on stations like the late 4KQ.
“For most people in the capital cities, a DAB+ radio can be found for less than $100 and offers around four times the stations, all in good sound quality. They’re easier to use and you’ll find all kinds of stations on one including all your favourites – and they work as simply as your old radio did: no subscription or Wi-Fi needed. I would recommend buying one from Pure or Sony – which are a little more expensive than some, but you’ll find they work better and are easier to use,” Mr. Cridland recommended.
Increasingly, music fans are going online for their music. Many of us have a generous data plan on our mobile phones or connect our home devices to our stereos at home. There are plenty of alternatives available to deliver us the music we enjoy. Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, and Amazon Music are among the many paid services people are subscribing to. Most of these cost between $8-12 a month, but there are also free ad-supported versions available too. Most of these services will learn the songs you like and play you more of them.
The regular ad-supported free YouTube service also has a lot of music playlists available. Something you can find on YouTube that isn’t generally available anywhere else is music recordings from yesteryear. For example, there’s one great account on YouTube that has uploaded 1960s/70s radio shows from Los Angeles pop music station KHJ. It’s a lot of fun listening to these old recordings of the songs we love, along with the original ads that were broadcast.
The radio stations we listened to may have come to an end, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t keep enjoying the music we love and keeping a dance in our step.
Image courtesy of Harry Grout on Unsplash
