Grant Broadcasters has launched a brand new station in Launceston called Chilli on FM 90.1. It becomes the second commercial music station in the northern Tasmanian city. Grant Broadcasters bought the FM frequency from racing station Tote Radio when it successfully acquired a narrowcast frequency last year (see our earlier story).
This is the first time the Chilli brand has been used for a radio station in Australia, although Chill, or language variations of the name such as the Indian version called Radio Mirchi, have been around in other countries for some time. It is a name that lends itself perfectly to a ‘Hot’ format.
14,000 spectators in Launceston joined Grant Broadcasting company Tasmanian Broadcasters in welcoming the new FM radio station at the chilli 90.1 Skyfire event on the Tamar River foreshore this week. The new station has a facebook page which has already been generating significant traffic in the station’s target youth demographic.
Chilli 90.1’s general manager Colin Taylor has told radioinfo:
“Launceston is one the nation’s most progressive cities with the annual spend grossing $1 billion in 2010. A vibrant hub of tourism, agriculture and heavy industry, we’re the home of the mighty (Tassie) Hawks AFL team and MSFEST (Tasmania’s largest outdoor music festival). Launceston is often classified as one of the nation’s biggest regional university cities and chilli is perfectly positioned to service this market.
“The response thus far has been overwhelming. The people of Launceston have been crying out for a second radio station for the past twenty years and I’m proud of the team that has managed to accomplish this in less than five months since Grant Broadcasters (parent company of Tasmanian Broadcasters) purchased the license.
The chilli 90.1 skyfire (a choreographed music/fireworks spectacular) was the perfect way to celebrate the launch of our new station with the people of Launceston and thank you to the many thousands of families and friends that joined us at Royal Park for the evening. What a great way to start the party!”
Program Director Richard Clarke says “chilli’s listeners know what they want and they want it now.” He says the station will have “killer content,” such as Australia’s hottest hits and announcers who “seize the moment.” Former Austereo presenter and music programmer AJ Johnson will be part of the team, which also includes Tim Green and Josh Torney.
Ckarke promises the station will deliver “an unrivalled mix of the biggest shows they know and love, interactive social media and prizes you actually want to win.”
Describing the lineup Clarke says: “Chilli’s new breakfast duo Tim & Josh are two very relaxed guys that enjoy their footy, beer and music. The bromance developing between them is obvious and our listeners are loving it (check out the Facebook Page). With back-to-back hits, mash-ups and the chilli street stars in the chilli patriots, 2011 is going to be a sensational year for chilli 90.1.”
The station is currently using its old studio equipment, but plans an upgrade shortly. The only equipment change made so far has been to replace the old NextGen playout system with AudioVault, the system used across the rest of the Grant network. Website streaming has just gone live this week.
It is not known whether Grant Broadcasters will extend the Chilli brand to any of its other stations at this time.
