2UE is an all-music radio station in Sydney owned by Tapt Media and run under a lease agreement by Ace Radio. It currently broadcasts from its studios in Pyrmont, New South Wales.
History 1920s 2EU Electrical Utilities applied to the Postmaster-General's Department for a licence for a new B Class (later commercial) station licence. The station was to have the call-sign 2EU, based on the initials of Electrical Utilities. However, before the licence, PMG – Broadcasting Station Licence No.12, was issued on 7 November 1924, Electrical Utilities advised the PMG that it wished to reverse the initials in the call-sign – thus the licence was issued to 2UE.copy of the original licence in the collections of Bruce Carty, Gosford, New South Wales As to the reason for the change of call-sign, Jim Malone, Chief Manager of Telegraphs and Wireless for the Federal Government, suggested the change saying that 2UE had a "more euphonious sound".Williams, Neville, Australia's Radio Pioneers, Electronics Australia Publications, 1994, Alexandria, N.S.W.
2UE 2UE opened on 26 January 1925. The founder of Electrical Utilities and 2EU/2UE was Cecil "Pa" Stevenson, who was also 2UE's chief engineer, and one of the most prominent personalities in Australia's early broadcasting history. Prior to opening 2UE, he had operated experimental station 2IY, as well as working alongside a couple of other early experimenters.Carty, Bruce, On the Air: Australian Radio History, privately published, 2011, Gosford, N.S.W.
Pa Stevenson was assisted at 2UE by his family, and in particular by his eldest son, Murray. Murray Stevenson claimed that he was chiefly responsible for the technical side of the station. Pa Stevenson was the first announcer.
The original studio was in the dining room of the Stevenson Maroubra home; and an 80 feet (24.384 metres) transmitting tower was installed in his back yard. All the equipment was homemade; the studio and equipment costing £750 ($1,500) to build, and £9 ($18) per week to operate. Within a short time the studios were moved to Stevenson's radio store in George Street, Sydney.
Most programming was provided by 78 rpm recordings or player piano rolls. It is reputed that whilst changing records or rolls, Stevenson would whistle so as to prevent dead air. 2UE was originally on the air daily from 8.00 pm to 10.00 pm.Walker, R.R., The Magic Spark: 50 Years of Radio in Australia, 1973, The Hawthorn Press, Melbourne The station is reputed to have broadcast Australia's first radio advertisement. A local butcher was so disconcerted with the sounds between recordings and piano rolls that he paid Stevenson one shilling (10¢) to substitute his whistling with short talks about the quality of the butcher's meat. One shilling then became the station's standard advertising rate.Griffen-Foley, Bridget, Changing Stations: The Story of Australian Commercial Radio, UNSW Press, 2009, Sydney Another early advertiser was Youth-O-Form slimming tablets. A spokesperson for the manufacturer claimed: "each morning after we aired the spots there would be long queues outside the shop at Roseberry.
There are records of early 2UE broadcasts being picked up in the US and New Zealand.
2UE is the oldest current commercial radio station in Australia.2UE was not the first B Class or commercial station in Australia. This honour goes to either 2CM or 2BE, according to one's definition of a B Class station. They both broadcast out of Sydney, and both of these stations were short-lived. Bruce Carty claims that the first B Class station was 2CM, whilst R.R. Walker plumps for 2BE. The second-oldest current commercial radio station on the air is 2HD Newcastle, which made its first broadcast just one day after 2UE.
In 1929, through Cecil Stevenson, 2UE experimented with sending pictures by radio using radiovision or mechanical television. The experiments were short-lived due to the lack of receivers to pick up the transmissions. (Melbourne stations 3UZ and 3DB also both conducted similar experimental transmissions in 1929.)
1930s Broadcast Services Association As a cost saving measure in the depths of the Great Depression, in December 1935 it was announced that an organisation to be known as Broadcasting Service Association, Limited, would co-ordinate and provide combined production resources for 2UE and 2GB, but without owning or operating either station. On 7 January 1937, it was announced that the two stations would operate as the Red Network and the Blue Network; a concept which was copied from the US's NBC network, which operated a Red Network and Blue Network at this time. However, the concept never transpired in Australia, because in February 2GB announced that it was going to form its own national network, and that eventually led to the formation of the Macquarie Network in 1938 which was at first jointly managed by 2GB and 2UE.
Major Broadcasting Network
In 1938 2UE and 3DB Melbourne launched the Major Broadcasting Network which for many decades was Australia's second most important radio network, after the Macquarie Network. The main person behind the formation of the Major Network was David Worrall, manager of 3DB, and a most important figure in broadcasting history.
The Major Network's Sydney outlet later changed from 2UE to 2CH and then to 2UW before 2UE yet again became the Major Network outlet in Sydney in September 1950. The Network broadcast a wide range of live variety programs including quizzes and dramas including soap operas, mostly emanating from the 3DB or 2UE studios.Jones, Colin, Something in the Air: A History of Radio in Australia, Kangaroo Press, 1995.
The formation of the Major Network actually happened after two earlier attempts by David Worrall to form a network with 2UE as the Sydney station. In 1933, a loose grouping, but the first Australian attempt to form a commercial network, was attempted, known as the Federal Network. Then, in 1933 the Associated Broadcasters of Australia was formed but, again, did not last long.
Accommodation In 1938 2UE and 2GB, as partners in the newly formed Broadcast Services Association moved their studios and offices to Savoy House, 29 Bligh Street, Sydney, with 2UE on the 4th and 5th floors and 2GB on the 6th and 7th floors.
In 1930 a new transmitter was installed at Lilli Pilli.
Ownership In 1933–34 Pa Stevenson sold the station to Associated Newspapers Ltd, publishers of The Sun. However, the Stevenson family, particularly Murray Stevenson, continued to have an influence at the station.
Time signal In 1938 the station was commencing its broadcasts at 6.00 am with The Alarm Clock.
From 1939, 2UE became the first Australian station to broadcast six pips from the Australian observatory as an hourly time signal. For many decades all Australian stations carried the six pip time signal first heard on 2UE, and many stations continued to provide this service until the service was switched off in October 2019.
Drama The 2UE Dramatic Players were established in the 1930s providing a number of dramas and serials on a repertory basis. The Players were led by George Edwards, arguably the most prominent radio actor and producer of the time. Some time later, Paul Jacklin was appointed 2UE's head of production. Malcolm "Max" Afford also played an important role in 2UE's dramatic productions in the 1930s and into the 1940s. Right up to the early 1960s 2UE was to produce many dozens of audio plays for the Major Broadcasting Network. These mainly consisted of 15-minute serials or soap operas and 30-minute dramas. However, probably the most important dramatic production to emanate from the 2UE studios was the Australian version of the Lux Radio Theatre which was heard at 8.00 pm every Sunday evening until 1952 – in pre-television days, arguably the most listened-to hour in the week for any radio station. (For much of its time on air, the Lux Radio Theatre was in competition with 2GB's Macquarie Radio Theatre later known as the Caltex Theatre.)
Live music 2UE transmitted many live musical broadcasts during this era. These ranged from classical to pop. The importance of these types of programming at that time, is highlighted by the fact that in 1933 the 2UE Academy of Music was formed under Rex Shaw and Professor Clarence Elkin, so as to train singers and instrumentalists, particularly in the classical field. However, the Academy only lasted about a year.
Cricket / Don Bradman In the 1930s, Test Cricket had a particularly high profile and most capital city radio stations, both the ABC and commercial stations, used the cricket as a vehicle for competitive programming, often interspersing live variety programs with news of the ongoing match supplied by overseas cablegrams. In 1931 a Sydney menswear store arranged for Don Bradman to broadcast twice weekly during the cricket season. He was on a two-year contract at the very high sum of £1,000 a year; a deal which is credited with keeping Bradman in Australia.
Bradman also regularly played the piano during 2UE's weekly Call to Youth program.
World War II On 3 September 1939 2UE was broadcasting a radio drama in the Lux Radio Theatre series when the performance of Leah Kleschna was interrupted by the voice of the Prime Minister, Robert Menzies announcing that Australia was now at war with Germany.
Censorship was rife during the war, particularly after the U.S. entered the conflict on 7 December 1941. After General Douglas MacArthur set up his headquarters in Australia, he wielded enormous power, including on matters of censorship. Inter-alia, he declared that every Australian radio station would only broadcast three news bulletins per day and that these would be simultaneous at 7.45 am, midday and 7.00 pm. Weather forecasts were banned because it was felt that this may assist the enemy.McLaughlin, Bill, From Wireless to Radio, The 3DB Story, 1985, Herald and Weekly Times Ltd, Melbourne
Noticesthese were D-Notices in everything but name, even though that name had been used in the U.K. since 1912. The actual term was first used in Australia in 1952. were issued banning radio stations from broadcasting some major wartime events, but as the federal government did not have the same power over the printed press as it did over radio, newspapers usually reported events that radio was not permitted to mention.
There was some talk of closing down all commercial radio stations, as the enemy could beam-in on the transmitters and use these as bombing targets. As it transpired, this did not happen. However, some stations (not 2UE) were closed down for 24 hours as punishment for perceivably ignoring bans on radio reporting particular news items.
Many sponsors donated their advertising time to patriotic appeals.
2UE was also badly affected by staff enlisting. 2UE personality Frank Bennett became a broadcaster at 9AP Labuan, Borneo. Arthur Pettet, an engineer at 2UE, became the Chief Engineer at 9AD, Morotai, Dutch East Indies. Bennett and Pettet were only two of dozens of radio personnel who took up positions at the 20 Australian military radio stations throughout the Pacific.
The supply of overseas programs was virtually cut off during the war, particularly from the U.S., meaning that Australian stations had to produce more local programs; this was the case at 2UE.
1940s Accommodation In July 1941 Prime Minister Robert Menzies officially opened a new 1,000 watt transmitter at Concord. The transmitter tower was wired with explosives by the army, so that an enemy could not have used it, should there have been a World War II invasion.
Fire destroyed the Savoy House studios in 1943, and another Sydney station, 2CH, gave 2UE temporary accommodation in their own studio complex.
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