Changing Stations ― The Story of Australian Commercial Radio

Changing Stations is so well compiled and researched...The book tells not just the anecdotal history of broadcasting but the amazing and complex politics of the industry, even in its infancy. This book is a must. I read the whole tome in one go. It was just too good to put down-even to eat.

Gary O' Callaghan MBE, Broadcaster

Radio is the most pervasive medium in Australia, being immediate, intimate and inexpensive. This sweeping national study covers the history of Australian commercial radio, from its beginnings to the introduction of digital radio.

In tracing the often contentious evolution of regulation and ownership, Changing Stations considers programming and listening, the national and the local, the mass and the personal, `payola' and `cash for comment'. It looks at all genres, from drama, music and quiz shows to sport, politics and talkback.

The iconic names of commercial radio come to life in this engaging story: from Norman Banks, Grace Gibson, Bob Dyer and Jack Davey to Andrea, Bob Rogers, Brian White, John Laws and Alan Jones, together with lesser known figures, such as the station manager who privately dismissed listeners as `morons' and the first woman cricket broadcaster in Australia.

Bridget Griffen-Foley is an associate professor, an Australian Research Council Queen Elizabeth II Fellow, and the director of the Center for Media History at Macquarie University. Widely recognized as Australia’s leading media historian, she is the author of The House of Packer, Party Games, and Sir Frank Packer.