The Beginnings

Griffith Community FM Association Incorporated also known as “2MIA 95.1FM” was first conceived in 1987. At a General Meeting on January 20th 1988 the station members discussed proposed locations to start the station. As you will read later, the station went through many locations before settling in its current location.

Test Broadcasting

In June that year it was decided that the station would begin test broadcasts at the Pioneer Park Museum on Scenic Hill, Griffith. The stations first test broadcast ran from 6:30 am to 12:00 midnight on the days of Friday 5th, Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th August 1988 on FM frequency 103.3 MHz at Pioneer Park.

The station then conducted a second test broadcast between the 17th and 23rd January 1989 at the Victoria Hotel. A third test broadcast went to air between Thursday 23rd March and Wednesday 29th March 1989 still broadcasting on FM 103.3 MHz At a general station meeting held on the 14th March 1990 it was decided GCR-FM Association (now 2MIA FM) would share a transmitter site with the SBS on Scenic Hill. In July 1990 the station applied for a permanent broadcasting licence. Another test broadcast was conducted for one week from Saturday 22nd September 1990. This was the stations most powerful broadcast so far broadcasting for the first time into the townships and villages of Goolgowi, Darlington Point, Leeton, Coleambally and Narrandera. This was also the first Stereo transmission conducted by Griffith Community FM Assoc.

On 20th December 1990 the station was loaned a temporary 100 watt transmitter by NEC.

As of January 7th 1991 the station was still broadcasting from the Victoria Hotel.

Another test broadcast was conducted starting on 30th June 1991 and being held for one week. August 31st to September 6th saw another test broadcast, which was the first to be conducted on frequency 95.1 MHz.

Full-Time Broadcasting

In September 1992 the station finally received it’s fulltime broadcasting licence. At this stage it was common for stations to go through 10 years of trials before being granted a licence, this station received ours after 5 years.

A Radio Station Is Born

The station officially opened in April 1993 and started broadcasting full-time then. At that time the station was broadcasting on a 500 watt transmitter, however in 2002 2MIA FM moved to a 5000 watt transmitter making it one of the most power community radio stations in New South Wales. In 1994 2MIA FM set up a brand new mixer in the studio which was used until 2012. In 2012 we upgraded to a better, more modern mixer. Check out the gallery for pictures.

First Listener Survey

A listener survey conducted in November 1993 saw some interesting results. Of the 300 respondents, 83% lived in Griffith, 20% in Fringe Areas and 5% were visitors. 57% of surveyed listeners were male whilst 43% were female. 14% of those surveyed were below 18 years of age, 21% were 18-25 years, 27% were 25-35 years, 31% were 35-55 years and 7% were over 55 years of age. Of those surveyed, 60% said they listened to 2MIA FM sometimes, 28% said most of the time and 12% said all the time.

The Station Moves Again

In mid-1994 the station moved to PCYC Griffith.

Training

Over the years the 2MIA Studio has been used for training by TAFE students, the found documented was in 2002.

Our New Home

In 2003 the committee moved into the “Rugby Union Club House” in Groongal Avenue (our current premises).

Modern Technology

In 2011 we began increasing the technology our station uses by starting a temporary radio stream. Due to a number of issues with this stream, we’ve had to change it several times. In 2012, we launched a new stream, which is embedded into this website.

In 2012 we starting building a brand new website, built from scratch, from the ground up by station member Bob Brewer.

In 2012 we also purchased parts, and station technician Josef build two brand new on air computers, which will be used with a new radio mixer and outside broadcasting box purchased in the same year.

In 2014 we built a bigger and more comprehensive website as designed by station member Scott Williams which included Area News Feed, Weather and extensive social media content.

In 2020 we have continued to strengthen the current website with the assistance of local business Straight Lines Design and Marketing.

Community Radio Plus

In 2022, the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia released the Community Radio Plus App which is a one-stop shop for listeners to hear community radio. It features community radio stations nationwide and champions our sector’s rich and diverse content to listeners everywhere. The app is available for download from Google Play and The App Store.

Tower Down

January 21st 2023 saw our Transmission Tower fall in a sudden wind storm.  We are currently embarking on a big project to rebuild on our parcel of land on Scenic Hill via Remembrance Drive Griffith.  We appreciate the support from the community we are receiving – We hope to be back broadcasting on full power as soon as humanly possible. Thank you to a host of services and people – Community Broadcasting Association of Australia; The Community Broadcasting Foundation; Griffith City Council; ColyBuilt; George Duncan Electrical; Kirkman Excavations; McLeary Cranes and the valued team behind the scenes at 2MIA FM.  We will keep you updated via our Facebook Page.

We look forward to sharing more station milestones as they happen. in the mean time, we thank you for reading about 2MIA FM 95.1!