Last year Brisbane’s Classic Hits 4KQ was the only AM music station to hit Number 1, anywhere in the world, according to Radioinsight ratings expert Chris Huff.

The station is set to be unloaded by ARN’s parent company HT&E as part of the deal that saw the network purchase Grant Broadcasting late last year.

radioinfo’s Steve Ahern, spoke to Ciaran Davis about the sale and asked why 4KQ was marked for sale.

Davis says despite the stations being Number 2 in the latest Brisbane ratings both overall and in breakfast and that “…the people who work out of it are hugely passionate about the brand…unfortunately the commercial reality of markets like Ipswich, Nambour, in association with Brisbane, and the stations in those markets that Grant Broadcasters have, like River (949), it’s a commercial decision we have to make. It’s a tough one to be honest.

 “We will continue to run it as if it’s part as though it is part of our network…but it is the difficult decision of this whole transaction, something we didn’t want to do but we have to.”

Davis also confirmed that the current revenue stream from the Grant stations is better than that currently coming out of 4KQ.

4KQ has been a shining light for AM music stations while Sydney’s 2CH before its demise, and Cruise 1323 in Adelaide have also performed well in recent years.

The Classic Hits format has resonated with their listeners, and AM radio hasn’t been a deterrent, mainly as most of their listeners probably grew up with it.