Triple J is an Australian public service radio station owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian content than commercial networks.
The station was set up under the Whitlam government to extend the appeal of the ABC to young Australians. 2JJ or Double Jay began broadcasting in Sydney on 19 January 1975. It stood apart from commercial stations and rapidly garnered an audience due to its fringe rock music programming and lack of advertising. Following a transition to FM broadcasting in 1981, the station rebranded to 2JJJ or Triple J and expanded regionally throughout the 1990s. Two spin-off digital stations were launched in the 2010s: Double J targets more mature audiences and Triple J Unearthed only plays local Unsigned artist musicians.
Despite declining radio ratings, Triple J continues to make a significant impact in the Australian music scene and has been historically praised for making popular culture accessible for young people across regional Australia. Triple J supports music festivals and concerts across the country, and organises its own events like One Night Stand. Every year it broadcasts the Hottest 100, a public poll of the years' most popular music, and runs the J Awards. Its music discovery platform, Unearthed, provides airplay opportunities for independent artists and has helped launch the careers of celebrated Australian musicians. As a taxpayer-funded entity, Triple J has long been criticised for its edgy identity and for promoting a homogenous music scene.
Double Jay was intended to be the first link in Whitlam's planned national youth network, however, his administration was not re-elected in the 1975 federal election. The succeeding Fraser government's budget cuts to the ABC also halted this plan from moving forward. By the time 2JJ went to air, the Whitlam government was in its final months of office, and presenters on the station were frequently accused of Political bias in the months that followed.
Its first broadcast demonstrated a determination to distinguish itself from other Australian radio stations. The first on-air presenter, DJ Holger Brockmann, notably used his own name, which, at his previous role at 2SM, was considered "too foreign-sounding". After an introductory montage that featured sounds from the countdown and launch of Apollo 11, Brockmann launched the station's first broadcast with the words, "Wow, and we're away!", and then played Skyhooks' "You Just Like Me 'Cos I'm Good in Bed". The choice of this song to introduce the station was significant, as it represented several important features of the 2JJ brand at the time. Choosing an Australian band reflected the network's commitment to Australian content at a time when American acts dominated pop stations. Further, the song was one of several tracks from the Skyhooks' album that had been banned on commercial radio for its explicit sexual content. The station chose to play songs that were banned from commercial airwaves, including the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil". Because 2JJ was a government-funded station operating under the umbrella of the ABC, it was not bound by commercial censorship codes, and was not answerable to advertisers nor the station owners. In contrast, their Sydney rival, 2SM, was owned by a holding company controlled by the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, resulting in the ban or editing of numerous songs.
The internal politics of 2JJ were considered a radical departure from the formats of commercial stations. 2JJ's presenters had almost total freedom in their on-air delivery, and all staff participated in major policy decisions. For example, as former announcer Gayle Austin reflected: "In early March, women took over the station as announcers to celebrate International Women's Day", and "The listeners owned the station... and if they wanted to come to the meetings and join the debate, they were welcome".
In its early years 2JJ's on-air staff were mainly recruited from either commercial radio or other ABC stations. In another first for the industry, their roster also featured presenters who did not come from a radio background, including singer-songwriters Bob Hudson and John J. Francis, and actor Lex Marinos. Other notable foundation staff and presenters in January 1975 were Chris Winter, Marius Webb, Ron Moss, Arnold Frolows, Mark Colvin, Jim Middleton, Don Cumming, and Mac Cocker.Bruce Elder & David Wales, Radio With Pictures! The History of Double Jay AM and JJJ FM (Hale & Ironmonger, 1984), pp.6–7 Alan McGirvan was the breakfast announcer. Early staff also included Ted Robinson, Chris Winter, and Jim Middleton. Marius Webb and Ron Moss were the station coordinators, while Ros Cheney was progamme coordinator, and they established the workplace as kind of collective. Producer and programmer Sammy Collins later said of Cheney that she was "more political and more dedicated than the men", and it was her presence which enabled female representation at every level. Double Jay was the first Australian music radio station to allow women DJs; one of these was Gayle Austin.
Before the launch of Double Jay in Sydney, Melbourne was the undisputed capital of music; the new station shone the light on musicians from Sydney musicians, and publicised gigs happening in the city. The station played artists such as Midnight Oil, Radio Birdman, INXS, Mental As Anything, and AC/DC long before they had exposure on any other media.
After the station hosted an open-air concert in Liverpool, New South Wales, in May 1975 featuring Skyhooks and Dragon, city's The Sun-Herald newspaper claimed that attendees were "shocked" by "depictions of sexual depravity and shouted obscenities", which allegedly caused women in the audience to clap their hands over their ears, prompting Coalition frontbencher Peter Nixon to call for the station to be closed down.Elder & Wales, op.cit., p.36
During the 1970s, the music programming varied a lot and depended on the presenters and producers, with various factions favouring different artists and styles. There is also archival evidence of marijuana being used by presenters while on ABC grounds.
On 19 January 1981, the AM transmissions ceased, and Triple J became an FM-only station. It was not until the 1989 that the ABC was finally able to expand to Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, and Perth. During this period, there were attempts to establish a playlist for the whole station.
In 1990 the station took strike action after ABC management censored the N.W.A. song "Fuck tha Police". In retaliation, the presenters played N.W.A.'s song "Express Yourself" 82 times in a row. Triple M director Barry Chapman was appointed as general manager to oversee Triple J's network expansion and instil cultural change. His tenure generated controversy, most notably in 1990, when all senior announcers in the Sydney office were fired, including the most popular presenters Tony Biggs and Tim Ritchie. Several protests were held outside its William Street studios, including a 105-hour vigil, and a public meeting that packed the Sydney Town Hall with angry listeners spilled out onto the street. Listeners were concerned Chapman would bring a more commercial flair to Triple J with music programming that was less dominated by Sydney acts.
From the 1990s until around 2010, Triple J "set the cultural agenda, particularly for Australian music". Grunge music came to the fore, and bands such as Spiderbait, the Beasts of Bourbon, and The Cruel Sea attained critical and popular success, boosted by Triple J's playlist.
In May 2003, Arnold Frolows, the only remaining member of the original 2JJ staff of 1975, stepped down after 28 years as Triple J music director. He was replaced by presenter Richard Kingsmill, who joined the station in 1988. Kingsmill had previously worked as a producer and presenter at 2SER alongside Robbie Buck and Tracee Hutchison.
In late 2004, the station's promotion for their annual Beat the Drum contest – in which listeners were to send in the most remarkable places they could promote the Triple J logo – caused brief controversy after it issued a promotional image of the former World Trade Center draped with a huge drum flag. A notable winner of the competition was a Queensland farmer who formed a drum logo-shaped crop circle in his wheat-fields.
Triple J launched its own music magazine, JMag (later known as Triple J Magazine), in 2005. It was initially published quarterly, then monthly, but in 2013 the magazine ceased publication by News Custom Publishing. It returned as an annual edition, produced in-house, until 2016.
Adapting to the digital Streaming media, in 2004, the station began to release of some of its talkback shows, including Dr. Karl, This Sporting Life, and Hack. In 2006, Triple J launched JTV (later rebranded to Triple J TV), a series of television programs broadcast on ABC1 and ABC2 including music videos, live concerts, documentaries, and comedy, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at Triple J's studios.
In 2014, ABC's Dig Music digital radio station was rebranded under the Triple J umbrella, becoming Double J on 30 April 2014. The new station featured both new music and material from Triple J interview and sound archives. Former Triple J announcer Myf Warhurst, who hosted the inaugural shift, said "it's for people who love music, and also love a bit of music history". The first song played on Double J was Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' "Get Ready for Love", followed by live performances by Australian artists Kate Miller-Heidke and Paul Dempsey.
In ratings released in August 2015, Triple J was the highest or equal first in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth in the 25–39 demographic.
Triple J attracted significant news coverage in the lead-up to the Hottest 100 of 2017, when the station announced they would move the countdown date to the fourth weekend of January, rather than on Australia Day (26 January). The decision was taken after a listener petition and survey indicated that the majority of listeners would like it changed, owing to sensitivities in the community about celebrating the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove. The Hottest 100 has successfully broadcast on the fourth weekend of January (but not January 26) since 2018, with prominent campaigners A.B. Original calling the move "a step in the right direction".
In August 2021, the Triple J Twitter account posted a riff on a popular pick-up line, which attracted widespread criticism and accusations of ageism. Writing for NME, journalist Andrew P Street said the controversy renewed discussion about the lack of airplay of older artists on the station, with many being "deemed Double J-ready" in their mid-20s.
As radio ratings continue to decline across the board due to the rise of streaming media, Triple J saw a 2.5% decline of listeners across the major capital cities between late April and June 2022. Compared to the audience share of 7.7% in the Sydney 18–24 year-old demographic in 2021, the station had dropped to 4.4% in 2022.
In December 2023, it was announced that Richard Kingsmill, who had been the music director of Triple J and its sister stations, would be leaving after 35 years at the ABC. During his tenure, he doubled the amount of airtime given to Australian artists, from 30% to 60%, and increased the station's audience from 980,000 in 2006 to 3 million in 2022. Several news outlets, including The Guardian and Mumbrella, wrote pieces about Kingsmill's importance to the Australian music scene, with Nathan Jolly of the latter calling the broadcaster "the most important single figure in the history of Australian music", on par with Michael Gudinski and Molly Meldrum.
Former head of the Nova network, Ben Latimer, was announced as the new head of radio at the ABC amidst a major board restructuring, causing audible "shock and disappointment" in a Sydney staff meeting. Several presenters also announced their departures, and long-running late night music show Good Nights was axed.
In May 2024, Triple J hosted the inaugural Bars of Steel Live event in Parramatta, showcasing hip hop and rap artists from all across Western Sydney. In September, the station also revived its One Night Stand regional music festival, which had not run since 2019. It took place in Warrnambool to a sold-out crowd.
In January 2025, the station celebrated 50 years of existence. To celebrate the event, Double J broadcast the very first day of Triple J's 1975 broadcast, on 19 January 2025 from 11 am to 11 pm, with a two-hour simulcast on Triple J. Holger Brockmann introduced the replay. Rage also featured a birthday special in January 2025.
A change to higher rotation for new music resulted in a jump in listenership in March 2025.
Triple J initially positioned itself as a "punk" brand due to its fringe and often controversial music programming. The first song played on the station, "You Just Like Me 'Cos I'm Good in Bed" by Skyhooks, was banned from other Australian broadcasters due to its salacious content. The station had also been playing N.W.A's protest song "Fuck tha Police" for six months before ABC management caught on, who banned it in 1990. As a result, Triple J staff went on strike and put the group's song "Express Yourself" on continuous play for 24 hours, playing it roughly 82 times in a row.
were the most played act on Triple J in 2024.]]Triple J plays far more Australian music than its commercial rivals, and was a pioneer in its coverage of independent music. The station has always had a 40% Australian music quota, well above commercial radio's 25%– mainstream radio has long been criticised for not playing enough local content. Early presenter Gayle Austin reflected in 2006 that before Triple J, "Australian music didn’t have much production put into it because there wasn’t much money made out of it." In 2024, out of the 50 most played artists on Triple J, 33 were Australian, including eight in the top 10. Further, more than half of the acts included a non-male member. The most played act was indie pop duo Lime Cordiale.
For decades, Triple J has been criticised for apparently sounding too much like commercial radio and losing its distinct identity. According to Sam Whiting of The Conversation, it is a "national pastime" to critique the broadcaster for this exact reason. Writers have pointed to increased air time for international pop stars like Doja Cat, Olivia Rodrigo and Lil Nas X as proof of this, and that Billie Eilish's win in the 2018 Hottest 100 was an outcome "unthinkable even a few years earlier." Similarly, Shaad D'Souza of The Guardian claims that in recent years, the station's programming has been dominated by Garage pop bands, and overall "consistent to a fault." These criticisms tend to overlook the impact of genre shows like First Nations music show Blak Out, and dance music show House Party, as well as other published data about the changing sound of the station over time.
In June 2024, Sydney software engineer Harrison Khannah launched Triple J Watchdog, a similar online resource that tracks each week's top songs, musicians and genres, with additional statistics like artists' country of origin, pronouns and their amount of Spotify monthly listeners.
The long-running slogan of Triple J is "We love music", though "We love Australian music" has also been used. ". ]]
The Triple J news theme is a "very 90s remix" of the classic ABC News theme "Majestic Fanfare". It was written and produced by Paul McKercher and John Jacobs in 1991, and is still used as of 2024. It contains a drum sample from Prince's "Gett Off" and the Scratching from N.W.A's "Fuck tha Police", a nod to the track after it was banned by ABC management. This unconventional news theme is another core element of the Triple J Brand– McKercher wanted to create a sound that was distinctly uncommercial.
Currently hosted by Ash McGregor, Home and Hosed is the flagship Australian music program on Triple J. It is broadcast most weekday evenings, whereas other specialist shows are only scheduled for once a week. Blak Out also broadcasts on Sunday nights, showcasing the music of Indigenous Australian musicians.
Triple J also has several live music segments, including Like a Version– a weekly program which sees an artist perform an original and a cover song, Live at the Wireless– broadcasts of exclusive concert recordings, and Bars of Steel, a web series featuring up-and-coming rappers Freestyle rap.
News updates on Triple J are written and edited from a youth-oriented perspective. Hack, the station's flagship current affairs program, is broadcast every weekday evening and features investigations into relevant issues affecting young Australians.
From July 2024, presenters on daily programs include:
Unearthed hosts a number of competitions and initiatives to improve the recognition of independent artists. For example, Unearthed High is an annual contest held founded in 2008 aimed at musicians and bands in Secondary school. The winner receives mentoring, recording opportunities and airplay on Triple J. Recent acts to have found success with the initiative include Hockey Dad (2014), The Kid Laroi (2018), Genesis Owusu (2015) Japanese Wallpaper (2014) and Gretta Ray (2016). Triple J also hosts regular competitions for artists on the platform to win slots on major festival lineups like Splendour in the Grass and Laneway Festival, and support slots for international artists like Denzel Curry.
The station also runs irregular speciality Hottest 100 countdowns, such as the Hottest 100 Australian Albums in 2011, the Hottest 100 of the 2010s in 2020, and the Hottest 100 of Like a Version in 2023.
In July 2023, the network launched Triple J Hottest, an Internet radio featuring a playlist of tracks from all previous Hottest 100 countdowns. It is the first sister channel to not be available on digital radio, instead only available via streaming (including the website, app, and streaming services such as TuneIn and iHeartRadio).
Triple J also had a significant effect on record distribution in its early years. Record label would previously only import recordings that they knew would yield good commercial return, leaving them often unwilling to take risks on local releases from unknown acts. For example, Australian distributors initially refused to offer 801's 1976 live album 801 Live in the country, but constant airplay on 2JJ made the record the highest selling import album of the year. Thus, the label decided to release it locally.
Former Australian Recording Industry Association staffer Danny Yau said that Triple J's nationalisation from the early 1990s created a new role for local community radio stations, particularly Sydney's FBi Radio and Melbourne's 3RRR, to fill the broadcaster's gaps with more niche regional content.
Rise in popularity
1980s: Relaunch and national expansion
1990s–2000s: Regional and digital expansion
2010s: Double J and Unearthed relaunches
2020s: Kingsmill's departure and restructuring
Music and identity
Music data
Branding
Programs
Presenters
Initiatives
Triple J Unearthed
Ausmusic Month
J Awards
Radio events
Hottest 100
Requestival
Impossible Music Festival
Live events
One Night Stand
Bars of Steel Live
Beat the Drum
Tribute concerts
Impact
Music industry
"Triple J sound"
Live music
Alternative radio
See also
Notes
External links
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