1970s: Launch and early years Plans (1974), under whose government Triple J was established The launch of a new, youth-focused radio station was a product of the progressive media policies of the
Whitlam government of 1972–75. Prime minister
Gough Whitlam wanted to set the station up to appeal to the youth vote, and the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), worried about its declining audience, "wanted a station for young people who would grow up to be ABC listeners." A new station was also a recommendation stemming from the McLean Report of 1974, which suggested expanding radio broadcasting onto the
FM band, issuing a new class of
broadcasting licence which permitted the establishment of
community radio stations, and the creation of two new stations for the ABC: 2JJ in Sydney, referred to as Double Jay Rock and the short-lived 3ZZ in Melbourne. 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
left-wing bias in the months that followed.
First broadcasts Double Jay commenced broadcasting at 11:00 am on Sunday, 19 January 1975, at 1540
kHz on the
AM band. The station was restricted largely to the
Greater Sydney region, and its local reception was hampered by inadequate transmitter facilities. However, its frequency was a clear
channel nationally, so it was easily heard at night throughout south-eastern Australia. After midnight, 2JJ would use off-air ABC networks to increase its broadcasting range. 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". 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". and
John J. Francis, and actor
Lex Marinos. Other notable foundation staff and presenters in January 1975 were Chris Winter, Gayle Austin, Marius Webb, Ron Moss, 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 programme 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. Despite the poor quality of reception caused by the Sydney transmitter, the station still saw rapid growth. Austin explained that station staff threatened
industrial action in July 1975 due to the transmitter issues, but officials of the BCB still refused to meet with 2JJ representatives. A new transmitter was not provided until 1980, following the transition to the FM band. city's
Sun 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. During the 1970s, the music programming varied a lot and depended on the presenters and producers, with various factions favouring different artists and styles. The first song played was another track then banned from commercial radio, "Gay Guys" by
the Dugites. To celebrate the relaunch, the station organised a concert in
Parramatta Park on 18 January 1981, featuring
Midnight Oil and
Matt Finish, who performed to a crowd of 40,000 people. On 19 January 1981, the AM transmissions ceased, and Triple J became an FM-only station. It was not yet until the 1989 and 1990 that the ABC was finally able to expand the Triple J network to
Adelaide,
Brisbane,
Canberra,
Darwin,
Hobart, Melbourne,
Newcastle, and
Perth. During this period, there were attempts to establish a
playlist for the whole station.
1990s–2000s: Regional and digital expansion Throughout the 1990s, Triple J commenced expansion to more regional areas of Australia and, in 1994, it was extended to another 18 regional centres throughout the country. In 1996, the total was brought to 44, with the new additions including
Launceston, Tasmania;
Albany, Western Australia;
Bathurst, New South Wales and
Mackay, Queensland. Triple J's most recent expansion was new addition to include
Broome, Western Australia in 2005. 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. 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 age, in 2004, the station began to release
podcasts 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.
2010s: Double J and Unearthed relaunches In 2006, the website for
Triple J Unearthed was launched. It remains a hub for
unsigned Australian artists to upload their music and be heard by the Triple J team. A
digital radio station, which only plays content from the website, was launched in 2011. 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. 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 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".
2020s: Kingsmill's departure and restructuring Triple J began 2020 with a major overhaul of its hosts, replacing longtime presenters including
Gen Fricker and
Tom Tilley with younger talent including
Bryce Mills and
Lucy Smith, in what was billed as a "generational shift for the station". 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. 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. 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, Victoria 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. ==Music and identity==