Sydney narrowcaster AM1476, operating as Cool Country 2KA, unexpectedly went dark this week.
The station ceased transmission on Tuesday 24th February, bringing howls of protest from hardened country music listeners in Sydney’s western suburbs.
This ends broadcasts by the station which was started on FM 88.0 about 15 years ago, providing Sydney’s only full-time country music radio station.
A radioinfo source says it is believed present owner Ken Roberts has sold the station to an Indian language broadcaster.
Three of the station’s employees, John Bond, Cameron Syrett and David Bunt are now “open to offers.” Dean Mackin has moved to 2SM and will host a permanent Saturday shift on the network. The announcinh team are pictured above with country music legends Brooks & Dunn.
Station Manager Noel MacDonald has been integral to the success of the station, in conjunction with owner Ken Roberts.
A radioinfo reader has sent us more information about Noel: “He was the name behind the success of the band “Girlfriend” and more recently “Anja Nissen” and was the integral reason for the station’s success as manager and music programmer. It was the station’s awesome playlist that was integral to how well it was perceived in the industry and it would be wonderful if you could add his name to that post.”
The station’s FM repeaters were also reported to be off air, although a recent posting on the station’s facebook page says at least one of them is back on air.
The Cool Country facebook page tells listeners that they will still be able to hear the station streaming online and on a “soon to be launched” app.
A statement on the page says:
Cool Country 2KA will no longer be transmitting on AM1476. Thankfully you can still listen to us online.
We also have an Apple & Android ‘app’ coming soon. Hopefully there will be other transmission options in the future. Please stay tuned.
We are proud of delivering Australia’s best contemporary Country music format to our loved & appreciated listeners.
THANK YOU for your understanding & support
