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Triple J
Australian national radio station / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station that began broadcasting in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays more Australian content than commercial networks.
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Broadcast area | Australia: FM, DAB, DVB-T Ch-28 & Online Worldwide: Internet radio |
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Frequency | Various |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English |
Format |
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Ownership | |
Owner | Australian Broadcasting Corporation |
History | |
First air date | 19 January 1975; 49 years ago (1975-01-19), as 2JJ/Double Jay |
Links | |
Webcast | |
Website | www![]() |
The station was set up under the Gough Whitlam government, wanting to extend the appeal of the ABC to young Australians. Initially broadcasting as 2JJ or Double Jay[upper-alpha 1] from 19 January 1975, it stood apart from commercial stations with its lack of private advertising and its programming of mainly local music often censored or banned elsewhere. Following a transition to FM in 1981, the station rebranded as 2JJJ or Triple J as it expanded regionally through the 1990s. From 2014, the spin-off digital radio station Double J was launched to appeal to more contemporary audiences. Triple J used to dominate national ratings in the 25–39 demographic, but since 2015 has been losing its audience due to the rise of streaming media.
Triple J has had a significant impact on the national music landscape, being a major supporter of Australian music festivals and tours of domestic and international artists. Every year, they broadcast the Hottest 100, a public music poll known as the "world's greatest music democracy", as well as the J Awards, a listener-voted music awards series. They annually champion Ausmusic Month and founded the nationwide Ausmusic T-Shirt Day initiative in 2013. The network's music discovery platform, Triple J Unearthed, provides pathways for independent artists to be broadcast on the network. However, the station has been criticised for promoting a homogenous Australian music scene.