Editing 2SER

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use Australian English|date=May 2011}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name = 2SER
| logo = 2SER_CMYK_low_res.jpg
| image = 2SER Broadway Studio 01.jpg
| city = [[Sydney]]
| area = Greater Sydney Area
| country = AU
| frequency = 107.3 [[MHz]] [[FM radio|FM]]
| airdate = 1 October 1979
| format = [[Community radio]]
| licensing_authority = [[Australian Communications and Media Authority|ACMA]]
| acma_bsl = 3059
| coordinates = {{Coord|-33.8840451|151.2015878|format=dms}}
| former_frequencies = 107.5 [[Megahertz|MHz]] [[Frequency modulation|FM]]
| network = [[Community Broadcasting Association of Australia]]; [[Community Radio Network (Australia)]]
| affiliations = [[University of Technology Sydney]], [[Macquarie University]]
| owner = Sydney Educational Broadcasting Limited
| website = {{#statements:P856}}
}}
'''2SER''' is a [[Not-for-profit organization|not-for-profit]] [[Radio broadcasting|radio station]] in [[Sydney]], [[New South Wales]], [[Australia]], broadcasting on the frequency 107.3 FM. It is operated by Sydney Educational Broadcasting Ltd, and co-funded by two Universities, [[University of Technology Sydney]] and [[Macquarie University]]. It is a member of the [[Community Broadcasting Association of Australia]]. The station has a metro-wide license and broadcasts a mix of programming styles - specialist music, general magazines, specialist talks and podcasts.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-07-13 |title=Guardian Australia and 2SER launch new podcast Breathless: the death of David Dungay Jr |url=https://www.theguardian.com/guardian-australia-press-office/2018/jul/13/guardian-australia-and-2ser-launch-new-podcast-breathless-the-death-of-david-dungay-jr |access-date=2025-03-03 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> 

== Programming ==
2SER broadcasts a wide range of music and talk shows. Talk show topics include science, current affairs, health, conservation, publishing, gender and queer culture, music, arts and theatre. Music genres include experimental, country, metal, pop and spatial audio. In 2024 station won a [[Community Broadcasting Association of Australia|Community Broadcasting Association Australia]] Award for Excellents in Australian Music,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-20 |title=2024 CBAA Community Broadcasting Awards Winners |url=https://www.cbaa.org.au/blogs/cbaa-comms/2024/10/20/2024-cbaa-community-broadcasting-awards-winners |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=www.cbaa.org.au |language=en}}</ref> sponsored by [[APRA AMCOS]].

Some programs have been on air for more than 40 years, including ''Back To Funk'',<ref>{{cite web |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |title=Back To Funk |url=https://2ser.com/back-to-funk/ |access-date=2023-08-28 |website=2ser.com |publisher=Sydney Educational Broadcasting Limited |quote=}}</ref> ''Static''<ref>{{cite news |author=<!-- None supplied --> |date=24 July 2002 |title=Yes, there is an alternative to Triple J |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/yes-there-is-an-alternative-to-triple-j-20020724-gdfh80.html |access-date= |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |publisher=Nine Entertainment Co. Pty Ltd |location=Sydney, Australia}}</ref> and ''The Phantom Dancer''.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!-- Not stated --> |date=30 April 2007 |title=In the swing of things |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/in-the-swing-of-things-20070430-gdq0th.html |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |publisher=Nine Entertainment Co. Pty Ltd |location=Sydney, Australia}}
</ref> ''Gaywaves'', Sydney's first an LGBTQIA+ program,<ref>{{Cite web |last=NFSA |date=2023 |title=Gaywaves community radio |url=https://www.nfsa.gov.au/latest/gaywaves-community-radio |website=National Film and Sound Archive}}</ref> aired from November 1979 to 2005.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-06-19 |title=Gaywaves ceases broadcasting |url=http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/626/626p4d.htm |access-date=2024-03-01 |archive-date=19 June 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050619073652/http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/626/626p4d.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Gaywaves returned to air in 2022 after 17 years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gaywaves |url=https://2ser.com/gaywaves/ |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=2SER |language=en-US}}</ref>  

The station is also one of few media outlets that has a special program for prisoners, ''Jailbreak''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-07-10 |title=Jailhouse rock |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/jailhouse-rock-20060710-gdnx7h.html |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}</ref> 

==History==
On 1 October 1979 2SER<ref>{{Cite web |title=2SER {{!}} The Dictionary of Sydney |url=https://dictionaryofsydney.org/organisation/2ser |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=dictionaryofsydney.org}}</ref> was opened by the Federal Minister for Education, Senator [[John Carrick (Australian politician)|John Carrick]].<ref name=2SERsite>{{cite web|title=The SER Story |work=2SER FM 107.3 Official Website |publisher=2SER FM 107.3 |date=2008 |url=http://www.2ser.com/about/story |access-date=2008-02-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209142050/http://www.2ser.com/about/story |archive-date=9 February 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the mid-1990s the station expanded its programming to emphasise [[Alternative dance|underground dance music]]{{specify|date=August 2023|reason=Underground dance music or Underground dance?}}. This caused friction within the station but 2SER organised a series of highly lucrative fund raising events called Freaky Loops<ref>{{Cite web |title=(December 1997 - February 1998) |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1718620206/view |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=Trove |language=en}}</ref> in association with Sydney promoters such as Cryogenesis, [[Clan Analogue]], Club Kooky and [[Elefant Traks]] which sustained the move to a new musical format for several years until 2001.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Snarl Heavy Industries {{!}} Home of Sub Bass Snarl » Freaky Loops (1996-2001) |url=https://www.snarl.org/v3/?page_id=20 |access-date=2024-11-09}}</ref>

The station worked on improving its brand across the 2003-2005 period, incorporating a new logo, while the station's online presence and content experience was also redesigned.

In late 2004, the station was faced with a projected budget shortfall of up to $100,000 that financial year. Management addressed the situation by reducing the number of paid staff, putting forward proposals to scale down the use of its studio at Macquarie University and attempting to cater for a slightly older audience. These ideas were met with frustration from some volunteers.<ref>{{cite news|last=Jave|first=Sue|date=8 December 2004|title=Money matters: 2SER relaunch plans|newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|location=Sydney, Australia|publisher=Nine Entertainment Co. Pty Ltd|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/money-matters-2ser-relaunch-plans-20041208-gdk9qr.html}}</ref> Internal activism resulted in a softening of policy and in early 2005, the new program grid was launched. Despite the controversy in its lead-up, it proved to be a simple reshuffle of the existing grid rather than a dramatic overhaul.

From the late 2000s and into the 2010s, 2SER has continued to expand its offerings across broadcast and digital, as well as with podcasting. It has won international awards for its collaborations, including a Silver Radio Prize at the [[New York Festivals|New York Festivals Radio Awards]] for History Lab (with Impact Studios).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Congratulations to the History Lab Podcast for winning the Silver Radio Prize – The Australian Historical Association |date=25 June 2019 |url=https://theaha.org.au/congratulations-to-the-history-lab-podcast-for-winning-the-silver-radio-prize/ |access-date=2023-06-26 |language=en-AU}}</ref> 

The station celebrated its 40th anniversary in October 2019 with a podcast series,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Forty Years of 2SER clips |url=https://omny.fm/shows/forty-years-of-2ser |access-date=2023-06-26 |website=omny.fm |language=en}}</ref> exhibition<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-08-16 |title=2SER wants to hear from its former staff and volunteers |url=https://www.cbaa.org.au/article/2ser-wants-hear-its-former-staff-and-volunteers |access-date=2023-06-26 |website=Community Broadcasting Association of Australia |language=en}}</ref> and book, ''An Incomplete History of Community Radio: 2SER's 46 Boxes of Stuff.''<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-11-09 |title=Community radio history book out now |url=https://www.cbaa.org.au/article/community-radio-history-book-out-now |access-date=2023-06-26 |website=Community Broadcasting Association of Australia |language=en}}</ref>  The station's long-term publication, Listening Post,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Listening post |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1447219380 |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=Trove |language=en}}</ref> was also digitised in full and placed in the Australian open access archive [[Trove]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Long time listener |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/blog/2020/11/17/long-time-listener |access-date=2023-06-26 |website=Trove |language=en}}</ref> The station also regularly runs live events like the acclaimed.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Shetty |first=Kobi |title=2SER In Your Hood |url=https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Hansard/Pages/HansardResult.aspx#/docid/HANSARD-1323879322-149919 |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=Parliament of New South Wales}}</ref> In Your Hood series supported by the [[Inner West Council]] and Live@2SER performance series based on [[Tiny Desk|NPR's Tiny Desk]]. [[Kobi Shetty]] mentioned the February 2025 event in her address to [[Parliament of New South Wales|NSW Parliament]] as an example of "vital community work" performed by the station.<ref name=":1" />  

Today it runs out of [[University of Technology Sydney]] and [[Macquarie University]].  

== People ==
The station helped launch the broadcasting careers of [[Julie McCrossin]],  [[Robbie Buck]], [[Richard Kingsmill]], [[Helen Razer]], [[Eleanor Hall]], [[Fenella Kernebone]], [[Steve Ahern]], [[Jess Scully]], [[Barbara Morison]], [[Tanya Plibersek]], [[Tracee Hutchison]], [[Tiga Bayles]], [[Stuart Coupe]], Lorna Clarkson and Jonathan Harley - all of whom started out on the station as volunteers.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2004-09-14 |title=Birth centre |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/birth-centre-20040914-gdjqdh.html |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}</ref>

The founding station manager was [[Keith Jackson (media executive)|Keith Jackson]].<ref name=":0" /> Former station managers include Philip Shine,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Seyderhelm |first=Jennifer |date=2024-09-27 |title=Vale Philip Shine - RadioInfo Australia |url=https://radioinfo.com.au/news/vale-philip-shine/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241004210409/https://radioinfo.com.au/news/vale-philip-shine/ |archive-date=2024-10-04 |access-date=2025-03-03 |work=RadioInfo Australia |language=en-US}}</ref> Kaye Blackman, [[Melanie Withnall]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=SCA announces Melanie Withnall as head of news and information |url=https://www.mediaweek.com.au/sca-announces-melanie-withnall-as-head-of-news-and-information/ |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=www.mediaweek.com.au}}</ref> and Paula Kruger.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ahern |first=Steve |date=March 26, 2023 |title=Paula Kruger joins 2SER as MD |url=https://radioinfo.com.au/news/paula-kruger-joins-2ser-as-md/ |website=Radio Info}}</ref> The current station manager is Cheryl Northey<ref>{{Cite web |last=McNamara |first=Lauren |date=2024-11-28 |title=2SER appoints new managing director |url=https://mumbrella.com.au/2ser-appoints-new-managing-director-858363 |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=Mumbrella |language=en-US}}</ref> supported by Michael Jones as operations coordinator, Lachlan Holland<ref>{{Cite web |last=sarahdowns.nz |date=2024-07-08 |title=Turn It Up: 2SER's Amrap Music Picks |url=https://tonedeaf.thebrag.com/amrap-australian-music-picks-1/ |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=Tone Deaf |language=en-AU}}</ref> as music director and Chris Yates as communications and sponsorship.

==See also==
* [[The Wire (Radio program)|The Wire]], an Australian current affairs program broadcast through the Community Radio Satellite

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.2ser.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.thewire.org.au/ "The Wire" national current affairs]
* [http://www.diffusionradio.com Diffusion Science Radio]
* [http://www.2ser.podomatic.com/ Razors Edge - current affairs]
* [http://www.electionnerds.info/ The Election Nerds - politics]
* [https://omny.fm/shows/forty-years-of-2ser Forty Years of 2SER]
* [https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/gaywaves-0 Gaywaves] at the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia

{{AusStudentNews}}
{{Sydney FM}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:2ser}}
[[Category:Radio stations in Sydney]]
[[Category:Community radio stations in Australia]]
[[Category:Student radio stations in Australia]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1979|2SER]]