The celebration will go for three days, this Friday to Sunday as ABC Radio turns 80. The new will be showcasing the old, so to speak, with one of the public broadcasters new digital stations broadcasting sounds of Australia from the ABC’s vast archives going back over the last eight decades. The name of the station is  “ABC Turns 80” – a special events digital station broadcasting from June 29 to July 1, 2012. 

Starting with just 12 radio stations in 1932 and evolving into the multiplatform broadcaster that they’ve become, it’s fair to say that no other organisation has reflected and participated in Australian life in quite the same way.

“Over the past eight decades, there’s been an incredible revolution not only in the development of Australia, but also in the development of the media landscape – and what better way to showcase the wealth of material we’ve collected than through the latest radio broadcasting technology – digital radio.” Tony Walker, Manager, Digital Radio said.

The broadcast will cover significant historical moments, from the 1932 Melbourne Cup, to Gough Whitlam’s dismissal, from Blue Hills to 9/11.

“ABC Turns 80” will trace the way Australia has changed – politically, socially and culturally – and remember all the things that have defined who we are, and how we see ourselves and the world.

Some of ABC Radio’s finest current broadcasters will grab a decade and walk with listeners through it. Geraldine Doogue (1930’s), Jon Faine (1940’s), Margaret Throsby (1950’s), Linda Mottram (1960’s), Richard Fidler (1970’s), Tracee Hutchinson (1980’s), Robbie Buck (1990’s) and Zan Rowe (2000’s).

Image top left: ABC staff at the front entrance of the Crystal Brook studios in SA, 1932. (ABC Archives) Click to enlarge,