ABC Capricornia
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (September 2020) |
 | |
| Broadcast area | Rockhampton and The Capricorn Coast |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 837 kHz AM |
| Programming | |
| Format | Talk |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Australian Broadcasting Corporation |
| History | |
First air date | 29 July 1931 |
| Technical information | |
Transmitter coordinates | 23°22′48.22″S 150°30′56.63″E / 23.3800611°S 150.5157306°E |
| Links | |
| Website | http://abc.net.au/capricornia/ |
4RK, better known as ABC Capricornia is one of the ABC's original regional radio stations, predating the Corporation's inception on 1 July 1932. 4RK, as it was known at the time, began broadcasting on 29 July 1931 and was owned by the Australian Broadcasting Company. The power was initially 2 kilowatts. The transmitting equipment was established by Keith Thow of STC.[1]
==History The station originally began as a commercial station in 1931, before being handed to the ABC a year later, and was the second regional ABC radio station in Australia.[2]
The first broadcast was held at the School of Arts in Rockhampton on 29 July 1931. The Union Choir along with the City Band sung a rendition the national anthem and Advance Australia Fair to open the broadcast.
The studios were originally located in the Rockhampton Post Office in its first few decades of broadcasting, and in 1963 moved to its current studios in the former Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company building on 236 Quay Street.
4RK Rockhampton was changed in name to ABC Capricornia to better reflect its region and celebrated its 75th birthday in 2006.
Previously ABC Capricornia also aired local news bulletins at 8:30 am and 5:30 pm but under controversial programming changes [3] that were implemented nationwide by the ABC in early 2016,[4] the five local bulletins on ABC Capricornia were reduced to three. The 8:30am bulletin was replaced with a brief 90 second update of local and national headlines read by a locally-based newsreader. The 5:30 pm local news bulletin was also axed and was also replaced with a brief national update, read by the producer of the regional drive program.
Until 2014, the station maintained a radio news bureau in the city of Gladstone, 100 kilometres south of Rockhampton, where a radio journalist was based to cover news originating from the Gladstone region. The Gladstone-based reporter also presented ABC Capricornia's local afternoon news bulletin which were broadcast live from Gladstone. However, the ABC controversially announced the permanent closure of the Gladstone bureau and the removal of a Gladstone-based reporter on 24 November 2014 following the Australian Government implementing funding cuts of $254 million to the ABC.[5][6][7]
Broadcast area
The station broadcasts to the region on two powerful AM transmitters - the 4RK transmitter at Gracemere (broadcasting on 837 AM) and the 4QD transmitter at Emerald (broadcasting on 1548 AM). However, ABC Capricornia also uses a number of FM translators dotted throughout the region, enabling the station to be heard clearly in other towns, such as Gladstone and Biloela.
Local programming
ABC Capricornia carries five local programs, with news bulletins at 6:30, 7:30 and 12:00.
- Breakfast 6:30 to 10:00 - presented by Paul Culliver
- Capricornia Rural Report 6:15 to 6:30 - presented by Lydia Burton
- Gardening Talkback 10:00 - 11:00 - presented by Tom Wyatt and Inga Stunzer
- Saturday Breakfast 6:00 - 9:00 - presented by Karyn J Wilson
- Saturday Grandstand 9:00 - 9:30 - presented by Michael Busby
When local programs are not broadcast the station is a relay of ABC Brisbane.
ABC Capricornia is also the originating station for Gardening Talkback, a weekly gardening advice program with Tom Wyatt heard on a number of ABC Local Radio stations throughout Queensland between 10 am and 11 am every Friday morning.
The station's Rural Report is a shared program between ABC Capricornia and ABC Southern Queensland in Toowoomba. The program simulcasts on both stations, and features content relevant to both regions with a Rockhampton-based rural reporter and a Toowoomba-based rural reporter alternating presenting duties.
ABC Capricornia was also the originating station for the network's regional statewide mid-afternoon program, which was presented from the Rockhampton studios between 2 pm and 4 pm weekdays. However, that program was another casualty of the Australian Government's funding cuts to the ABC in 2014. Following the program's conclusion at the end of 2014, it was replaced with a relay of 612 ABC Brisbane's Afternoons with Kelly Higgins-Devine.[8][9]
Staff
As of 2021, there are a total of eleven full-time staff and several casuals at ABC Capricornia.
Full-time staff includes:
- Chrissy Arthur - Chief of Staff
- Michael Busby - Presenter of Saturday Grandstand
- Paul Culliver - Presenter of Breakfast
- Tobias Jurss-Lewis - News Reporter
- Tom Wyatt - Co-Presenter of Gardening Talkback
- Lucy Loram - Producer and News Reporter
- Jacob McQuire - News Reporter
- Erin Semmler - Features Reporter
- Inga Stunzer - News Reporter
- Karyn Wilson - Presenter of Saturday Breakfast
- Lydia Burton - Rural Reporter
References
- ^ "4RK Rockhampton". Evening Post. Vol. CXII, no. 26. 30 July 1931. p. 22.
- ^ Martin Powley (15 April 2008). "The history of ABC Capricornia".
- ^ http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/piss-poor-management-abc-blasted-for-axing-regional-radio-programs-20151029-gkloc0.html
- ^ http://about.abc.net.au/statements/statement-from-fiona-reynolds-director-abc-regional
- ^ http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-24/mark-scott-announces-abc-job-cuts/5913082
- ^ http://www.gladstoneobserver.com.au/news/abc-close-gladstone-radio-post/2462533
- ^ http://www.gladstoneobserver.com.au/news/city-leaders-disappointed-abc-closure/2464032
- ^ http://www.crikey.com.au/2014/11/24/cost-of-the-cuts-what-the-abc-and-sbs-are-losing
- ^ http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/less-scrutiny-of-state-politics-after-730-qld-axed-expert-20141124-11syxm.html