View source for Sea FM

{{short description|Former Australian radio network}}
{{about|the Australian radio network|the New Zealand radio station|Sea 92FM}}
{{Infobox radio station
| logo      = Hit_Network_(Sea_FM).png
| name      = Hit Network (Sea FM)
| frequency = Various
| area      = [[Queensland]] and [[New South Wales]]
| format    = [[Contemporary hit radio|Top 40 (CHR)]]
| owner     = [[Southern Cross Austereo]]
}}

'''Sea FM''' was an [[Australia|Australian]] radio network, consisting of stations in [[Queensland]] and [[NSW]] owned by [[Southern Cross Austereo]]. Some Sea FM stations were later sold to meet media ownership requirements. [[Prime Media Group Limited|Prime Television Limited]] purchased [[Zinc Rocks (Townsville)|Sea FM Townsville]] in Queensland and [[Grant Broadcasters]] purchased Sea FM stations in [[Devonport, Tasmania|Devonport]] and [[Burnie]] in Tasmania. All Sea FM stations currently owned by [[Southern Cross Austereo]] except [[Cairns]], [[Mackay, Queensland|Mackay]] and [[Rockhampton]] / [[Gladstone, Queensland|Gladstone]], are part of the [[Hit Network]] after Southern Cross Media merged with [[Austereo]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Capel|first=Claudine|title=Sea FM gets Austereo branding |url=http://www.bandt.com.au/news/sea-fm-gets-austereo-branding|work=B&T Marketing & Media|publisher=Reed Business Information|accessdate=15 July 2011|date=15 July 2011}}</ref>

==History==
The Sea FM brand name and logo was created by Gold Coast Broadcasters for one station [[90.9 Sea FM]] after the Gold Coast was granted a new commercial FM licence.

90.9 Sea FM began broadcasting in 1989 with programming consulted by [[Austereo]].<ref>[http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/122259694 Austereo heads towards national network], Tony Wright, ''[[The Canberra Times]]'', 5 May 1989. Retrieved (via [[National Library of Australia|NLA]]) 9 April 2017.</ref>

The original Sea FM on-air line-up was a strong team of experienced Announcers, many having made their name previously in capital city radio including - Craig Bruce (FOX FM) & Sammy Power, Ian 'Lofty' Fulton (4IP), Grahame "Durry" Rodgers (2SM & 2NX), Sue Moses (2MMM & Channel 10), [[Gregg Easton]] (2UW & 4BK), Joe Miller (3XY & EON FM), Dean Miller and [[Simon Franks]]. In the same year the Gold Coast's existing AM station 4GG was granted permission to convert to FM as 92.5 4GGG (later KROQ).

In the early 1990s Gold Coast Broadcasters purchased KROQ and also Sunshine Coast Broadcasters' 92.7 Mix FM on the Sunshine Coast in 1995.<ref>[http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/132456824 FM buy out], ''[[The Canberra Times]]'', 5 January 1995. Retrieved (via [[National Library of Australia|NLA]]) 9 April 2017.</ref><ref>[http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/128286752 Grundy's Capital plans for Sunshine], ''[[The Canberra Times]]'', 11 July 1995. Retrieved (via [[National Library of Australia|NLA]]) 9 April 2017.</ref> The Sunshine Coast's [[4SEE|91.9 Sea FM]] was subsequently launched as a supplementary licence.

Gold Coast Broadcasters later became known as [[RG Capital]] with financial backing provided by Australian Media Tycoon [[Reg Grundy]].

With the further purchase of existing radio stations and the launch of newly granted supplementary FM licences, RG Capital expanded the Sea FM brand name and logo throughout Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. In 2004, RG Capital sold their regional stations to [[Macquarie Regional RadioWorks]] (now Southern Cross Austereo). Following RG Capital's purchase by Macquarie Regional Radioworks, RG Capital's FM stations in Victoria were rebranded to [[Star FM (Australian radio network)|Star FM]].

In 2013, the [[Grant Broadcasters]] owned and operated 99.7 Sea FM in [[Scottsdale, Tasmania]] dropped the Sea FM branding and relaunched as '''Chilli FM''', bringing it in line with sister station [[90.1 Chilli FM]] [[Launceston, Tasmania|Launceston]].

Also in 2013, Southern Cross Austereo offloaded both Sea FM and Mix FM on the Sunshine Coast to EON Broadcasters who paid $17.7million for the stations in a forced sale following a technical breach which occurred in 2011, when the Austereo and Southern Cross networks merged.  The merger resulted in the same company owning too many radio assets in a region where two markets (Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast) overlapped, prompting the Australian Communications and Media Authority to force the company to sell two of its assets.<ref name=sold>[http://radiotoday.com.au/breaking-news-glenn-wheatley-buys-sea-fm-a-mix-fm Glenn Wheatley buys Sea FM & Mix FM], radioinfo, 7 March 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2017.</ref>

In February 2016, [[Southern Cross Austereo]] owned and operated [[HIT 100.9|100.9 Sea FM]] in [[Hobart|Hobart, Tasmania]] dropped the Sea FM branding and relaunched as '''Hit 100.9''', bringing it inline with other stations to the [[Hit Network]].

It was announced in September 2016, that all Sea FM stations would be rebranded in December 2016 to [[Hit Network|hit]] branding.<ref name=media>[http://www.southerncrossaustereo.com.au/media/2016/09/26/scas-hit-and-triple-m-to-become-the-two-largest-commercial-radio-networks-in-australia-2 Media Release: SCA'S Hit and Triple M to become the two largest commercial radio networks in Australia], [[Southern Cross Austereo]], 26 September 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2017.</ref>

However, the company decided that the flagship Sea FM station on the [[Gold Coast, Queensland|Gold Coast]] & Sea FM Central Coast in [[Gosford]] would retain the Sea FM name but adopted the brand and feel of the Hit Network, including the elements of the Hit logo (like Fox FM & 2Day FM).<ref name=media/>

While Sea FM in [[Maryborough, Queensland|Maryborough]] dropped the name in favour of hit101.9 Fraser Coast,<ref>[https://www.hit.com.au/frasercoast hit101.9 Fraser Coast website], [[Hit Network]].  Accessed 9 April 2017.</ref> the station in Bundaberg retained the name of Sea FM<ref>[https://www.hit.com.au/seafmbundaberg Sea FM Bundaberg website], [[Hit Network]], Accessed 9 April 2017.</ref> as changing to [[Hit Network]] branding, such as hit93.1, would have been too similar to [[Hitz939]], the existing [[Grant Broadcasters]] station in Bundaberg which has been broadcasting to the Wide Bay region since 1993.<ref>[http://www.hitz939.com.au Hitz939 website], [[Grant Broadcasters]].  Accessed 9 April 2017.</ref>

The Sea FM station on the Sunshine Coast also retained the Sea FM branding, as it is no longer part of the Southern Cross Austereo network<ref name=sold/> and therefore didn't partake in the [[Hit Network]] re-branding.

On 12 July 2019, SCA announced the Gold Coast’s Sea FM would rebrand becoming Hit90.9 from 29 July 2019, bringing all their remaining Sea-branded stations under the 'Hit' brand.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.radiotoday.com.au/sea-fm-gold-coast-rebrands/ |title = Sea FM Gold Coast rebrands to Hit90.9 with new Breakfast team}}</ref>

In August 2021, Hit90.9 was rebranded back to Sea FM.

==Programming==
The network's stations are aimed at the under 40's section of the market, playing Top 40 and popular music. Most stations provide local breakfast and daytime programming, and also include a variety of networked programmes.

==Current Sea FM branded stations==
===Queensland===
*[[91.9 Sea FM|4SEE]] 91.9&nbsp;MHz [[Maroochydore]]/[[Sunshine Coast, Queensland|Sunshine Coast]] (now owned and operated by EON Broadcasting)

===Tasmania===
* 7DDD 107.7 FM – [[Devonport, Tasmania|Devonport]], Tasmania (owned by [[Australian Radio Network|ARN]])
* 7SEA 101.7 FM – [[Burnie]], Tasmania (owned by [[Australian Radio Network|ARN]])

==Former Sea FM-branded stations==
===New South Wales===
*[[Hit101.3 Central Coast|2CFM]] 101.3&nbsp;MHz [[Gosford]]/[[Central Coast, New South Wales|Central Coast]] (owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo)

===Queensland===
*4SEA 90.9&nbsp;MHz [[Gold Coast, Queensland|Gold Coast]] (now [[90.9 Sea FM]])
*4RGC 99.5&nbsp;MHz [[Cairns]] (now [[Triple M|Triple M Cairns]])
*4CEE 101.9&nbsp;MHz [[Maryborough, Queensland|Maryborough]] (now [[Hit Network|hit101.9 Fraser Coast]])
*4RGK 101.5&nbsp;MHz [[Rockhampton]]/95.1&nbsp;MHz [[Gladstone, Queensland|Gladstone]] (now [[Triple M Central Queensland]])
*4RGM 98.7&nbsp;MHz [[Mackay, Queensland|Mackay]] (now [[Triple M Mackay & The Whitsundays]])
*4RGD 100.7&nbsp;MHz [[Toowoomba]] Originally part of the Sea FM network, the station changed to Hot FM in 2013<ref>[https://www.radioinfo.com.au/news/was-cfm-now-hot-fm Was C FM, now Hot FM], radioinfo, 13 November 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2017</ref> before becoming [[Hit South Queensland]] in 2016.<ref name=media/>
*4RGR 100.7&nbsp;MHz [[Townsville]] (now owned by [[Australian Radio Network|ARN]])  The station changed to Zinc upon [[Prime Media Group|Prime]] buying the station in 2009<ref>[https://www.radioinfo.com.au/news/prime-cuts-macquarie-umbilical-cord-and-makes-its-own-programs Prime cuts Macquarie umbilical cord and makes its own program], radioinfo, 25 March 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2017.</ref> before becoming [[Power100]] in 2016.<ref>[https://www.radioinfo.com.au/news/power-100-ready-rock-townsville Power 100 ready to rock Townsville], radioinfo, 6 September 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2017.</ref>
*4RGB 93.1&nbsp;MHz [[Bundaberg]] (Now Triple M Bundaberg)

===Tasmania===
*[[7TTT]] 100.9&nbsp;MHz [[Hobart, Tasmania]] (now [[Hit Network|hit100.9 Hobart]])

===Victoria===
*[[3SEA]] 94.3&nbsp;MHz and 97.9&nbsp;MHz Gippsland (later Star FM, now [[Hit Network|hit94.3 MHz and 97.9 Gippsland]])

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==

{{Southern Cross Media (Radio)}}
{{Grant Broadcasters}}
{{National radio networks in Australia}}

[[Category:Defunct Australian radio networks]]
[[Category:Southern Cross Media Group]]