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2Hd2HD is a Australian radio station, licensed to, and serving Newcastle. It operates at 1143 kilohertz on the AM band, from its studios along the Pacific Highway/Maitland Road in Sandgate. Its power output is 2 kilowatts. The station also has a translator in Port Stephens, on 97.3 megahertz on the FM band. It is owned by Broadcast Operations Group (itself owned by Bill Caralis), and is a sister station to New FM. 2HD is the local radio partner of the Newcastle Knights, often broadcasting Knights games instead of games covered by the Continuous Call Team, even if 2GB is calling a Knights game. =Presenters= =History= 1925-1945
2HD began broadcasting on January 27, 1925, a day after Sydney's 2UE began operations, making it Australia's second oldest existing radio station. The station's call sign are the initials of the founder, Harry Douglas, not "Hunter District" as commonly believed. Douglas was a keen amateur radio enthusiast, and a alderman on the Newcastle City Council from 1919 to 1922. The station was originally in the subrub of Hamilton, but moved to the corner of Darby and King Streets soon after. Douglas sold the station to William Johnston in 1928, who sold the station to the Airsales Broadcasting Company to years later in 1930. Airsales owned the company for 10 years, and was responsible for the move to its landmark studio building in Sandgate, which was 2HD's home for nearly 50 years. Although the building itself is very different, the middle section of the building still the 1931 building.
Under controversial circumstances during the Second World War, 2HD was closed in 1941, under the National Security Regulations. At the time, around 25 staff were employed by the station, and stories claimed that the stations owners were sending covert messages, based on the timing of the music being played etc. 2HD would remain silent until near the end of the war when the Labour Party and Labour Council of New South Wales brought the station, and resumed transmissions on January 15, 1945. One of 2HD's notable personalities of the 1930's was Uncle Rex Sinclair, who continued to perform on local radio and stage until shortly before his death in 2001. 1945-1977 The Labour Party and Labour Council of New South Wales owned 2HD from 1945 until 1999. For the first 29 years of their ownership, the station was under the management of Jim Storey, with his wife Twink acting as program director and on-air personality. Other announcers during this time included Stuart Dibbley and Tom Delaney.
2HD broadcasted in the popular "The Good Guys" format, also used by other stations, including 2SM Sydney. Presenters during this time included Art Ryan, Mal Lamonte, John Hill, Allan McGirvan, Ted Bull, Mike Jeffries, Malcolm Elliott, Keith Harris, Graeme Gilbert and Cliff Musgrave. Towards the end of this period, announcer Geoff Gregory joined the station, but was better known as a program director, and host of the Sunday night program "Country Sounds". After the "Good Guys" era ended, 2HD tranmitted other formats including Easy Alternative and country. In 1977, the original office building on Maitland Road Sandgate was closed. Several years prior to that, the building was graduley being demolised, starting the with the destruction of the original transmitter building to make way for a dual carriageway along Maitland Road in 1964. The increased traffic and the location of the road near the old building was taking its toll. A new administration building, nicknamed "the submarine" was built, and NSW Premier Neville Wran opened the building in 1977.
1977-today For decades after the end of the "Good Guys" era, the station's ratings were in the doldrums, however, the station accomplised its first number one ratings success in 1987, after adopting a strong news and talk format. Factors in this success were the recruitment of 2KO's Pat Barton to present their breakfast program, and Warwick Teece, whose Openline program was a huge success. The station expanded, following the purchase of local FM station New FM in 1995, which resulted in internal re-modelling of the building. In 1999, The Labour Party and Labour Council of New South Wales sold the station to Bill Caralis.
In 1997, the station added the John Laws morning program to its lineup, becoming a ratings success. The station today has a strong lineup, with presenters such as Cameron Williams, Leighton Archer, Gavin Morris and Graeme Gilbert.
Old Logos =External Links= Newcastle's 2HD AM 1143 (used as a source for this article) 2HD
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