The Country Hour, Australia’s longest-running radio program is celebrating 80 years since it first aired. On December 3, 1945 presenter Dick Snedden first welcomed listeners to “a program for the farm families of Australia”.
WWII had ended on the 2nd of September and initially The Country Hour was a way to communicate information to a generation of new farmers, many of them soldier settlers who had come to the country to make a new life.
Today it has seven state and territory editions which continue to provide a unique and valuable service, reporting the news and reflecting the voices and views of regional and rural Australia.
Special coverage across the ABC is happening for the anniversary and into 2026 with the theme “Celebrating 80 years of telling rural stories”.
Last weekend there was a Landline special presented by Victorian Country Hour presenter Warwick Long which you can watch on ABC iview sharing the program’s history and why it remains relevant today
This week Warwick, and Queensland Rural Lead Kallee Buchanan, hosted a special national Country Hour Outside Broadcast from Parliament House in Canberra. The program’s anniversary was acknowledged at the ABC’s annual Parliamentary Showcase.
On the anniversary, Wednesday December 3, Country Hour OBs will air in every state and territory to celebrate the milestone and News Breakfast will cross to four Country Hour presenters on location in Victoria, NSW, Queensland and the Northern Territory. A special segment will run nationally on the 7PM News and the ABC NEWS Channel focusing on intergenerational farming families who have listened to and benefited from The Country Hour over the decades. The ABC web homepage also links to dedicated Country Hour content on the rural page.
ABC Director, News Justin Stevens said:
“The Country Hour exemplifies the ABC’s deep and enduring connection with rural and regional Australia, which remains integral to our service and purpose.
The program’s seven editions cover every aspect of country life, reporting on and breaking stories that have huge impacts for rural Australia and our whole nation.”
Around 600 ABC employees work and live in rural and regional Australia producing more than 800 hours of unique regional radio every week. The broadcaster’s dedicated Emergency Broadcasting service operates around the clock when lives and property are under threat.
The Country Hour is broadcast on all regional ABC Local Radio stations from midday to 1pm each weekday and is streamed on the ABC listen app.