NFSA celebrates 50 years of talk Radio

Until 17 April 1967, talkback radio was illegal in Australia. 

‘Fifty years ago, listeners first enjoyed the possibility of discussing any topic – from ‘music, missiles, books, boots, Beatles, income tax, teenagers, Graham Kennedy‘ – on air! write Chris Arneil and Rod Butler in an article published on the National Film and Sound Archive website.

In 1963, Melbourne’s 3AK and Sydney’s 2UW began broadcasting what they called ‘open-line’ or ‘beep-a-phone’ programs (named for the beeps that were heard during recorded telephone conversations), where listeners could call in to discuss any subject.

The only problem was that this was illegal – broadcasting and telecommunications regulations introduced in 1905 prohibited the recording or broadcast of telephone conversations – and these programs were forced to cease after six months.

Talkback programs continued though, but without the voices of listeners. In an interview with The Age in 2007, 3DB’s Barry Jones recalled that he invited listeners to ring, put on some music and sprinted down the corridor to answer calls. He and his producer Peter Surrey took frantic notes and relayed as many messages as they could on air after the song.

These restrictions were finally lifted for radio (but not television) on 17 April 1967. In the lead-up to this milestone moment, Harry Robinson predicted in The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘We can expect some drivel from the public and some useful comment from people like you and me. So long as the stations don’t go overboard – and there’s no sign of that yet – we can expect to hear some of the saltiness of real conversation in among the smooth creaminess of commercials and the rattle of dee-jay patter.’

And the rest, as they say, is history.

You can read the full article from Arneil and Butler along with some fascinating audio from the NFSA here.