The 1930s: Mobile Station, and the move to Warrnambool Between October 1931 and November 1935 3YB was a mobile station,
broadcasting around Victoria in areas that did not yet have local stations. In 1931, the only stations in rural Victoria were:
3BA Ballarat,
3TR Trafalgar,
3GL Geelong,
3WR Wangaratta, and
3BO Bendigo. It broadcast first from a
Ford car and Ford truck, and later from a railway carriage originally built for the 1899 Royal Train, and first used for the
1901 visit of
Prince George, Duke of Cornwall and York, and the
Duchess. 3YB's founder was Vic Dinenny, but the concept of the station had been the brainchild of Jack Young and his brother, from Ballarat, which was reflected in the call-sign,
Young
Brothers As more rural stations opened in Victoria, the concept of a mobile station became less practical. Therefore, Dinenny applied for licences for two conventional, non-mobile stations, one in Warrnambool, and the other,
3UL, in
Warragul. The opening of the Warrnambool station, which retained the call sign 3YB, was due to take place on 27 December 1935 but, due to problems with the
transmission tower, the opening was postponed to 8.00 pm on Saturday 18 January 1936. This Victorian rural radio network was operated by
The Argus, then a daily newspaper. When
The Argus closed in January 1957, their radio network evolved into the Associated Broadcasting Company which owned 3YB until it was sold to Regional Communications Pty Ltd in 1982, and then, in 1990 the station was purchased by two private shareholders. The current operators,
Ace Radio Broadcasters purchased 3YB in 1995. In the late 1980s/1990s and into the early 21st century, the
Australian Broadcasting Tribunal embarked on a policy of increasing the number of regional radio stations, particularly on the
FM band by inviting existing
AM stations to start a second station, serving the same market. Some stations chose to start a brand new FM station, whilst others elected to move their existing station to the FM band, whilst also starting a new AM station on their former wavelength. 3YB fell into the former category, with its sister station, 3YFM (broadcasting as
95.3 Coast FM) commencing operations on 14 August 2002. However, as from 2 July 2018, 3YB has also broadcast on the FM band (see below).
Studios The first 3YB studio in Warrnambool (and its first permanent studio) was at the property
Wentworth on Weir Road. On 16 April 1945 there was a fire at the studio and transmitter complex at
Wentworth, and 3YB was forced off the air for three weeks. On 5 May 1945 the station re-opened, broadcasting from new studios on the 1st floor of the
T & G building on the corner of Leibig and Lava Streets. This studio served the station until August 1968 when new purpose-built studios were opened at 95 Timor Street. Long serving news presenter Lois Chislett has won a number of
Australian Commercial Radio Awards for best news presenter for a country station including in 2012. ==Move to FM==