ABC Radio Perth will celebrate 100 years of radio in Western Australia on Tuesday, 4 June 2024 with special broadcast plans set to roll out across the week.
Celebrations kick off in Breakfast with Mark Gibson featuring interviews with Perth radio legend Earl Reeve and iconic media personality Susannah Carr.
The Morning program, hosted by Nadia Mitsopoulos, will do a special live broadcast at the State Library of Western Australia, coinciding with the launch of a display on the history of 6WF Radio.
Featuring music selected from the first broadcast in 1924, performed live by the Perth Symphony Orchestra, the program will outline more about the history of radio in WA.
Throughout the week, ABC Radio Perth will continue to feature some of WA’s most familiar and well-loved radio voices.
To top off the week, ABC Perth will throw open its doors to the public on Saturday June 8, from 9am – 2.30pm for an Open House.
ABC Radio Perth manager Danielle Benda said radio had played a central role in the lives of so many Western Australians since its inception.
“When you think of the isolation of so many people in WA — especially 100 years ago — music, news and information from ‘the wireless’ would have been invaluable,” she said.
“Over the years 6WF won a place in our hearts and homes as company and reassurance in times of deep difficulty and uncertainty as well as in joy and celebration.
“ABC Radio is proud to continue to broadcast in that great tradition providing great company, excellent news services, good music and comprehensive sports coverage to audiences in Perth and throughout WA.”
Radio 6WF – still the call sign of 720 ABC Radio Perth – made its first transmission on the evening of June 4, 1924, with a speech from then-Premier Philip Collier and a program of light music and live entertainment.
Established by Westralian Farmers’ Co-operative Ltd (Wesfarmers), 6WF was the first high powered radio station in WA, broadcasting agricultural information to farmers and to provide contact with the wider world.
Tune in on ABC Perth or on the ABC listen app.