ABC Radio Darwin

Radio station

12°24′52.06″S 130°58′9.41″E / 12.4144611°S 130.9692806°E / -12.4144611; 130.9692806LinksWebsiteOfficial Website

ABC Radio Darwin (call sign: 8DDD) is an ABC radio station which is located in Darwin, Northern Territory. It is one of the stations in the ABC Local Radio network and broadcasts on 105.7MHz on the FM dial. It is an Australian Government sponsored station and is run through the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

History

In 1947, the ABC took over an old Army station, 5DR, and relaunched it as its first station in the Northern Territory. In the early days, its staffers lived in huts without air conditioning, and most programming was flown up on discs. Since there was only one newspaper in the area, 5DR frequently broadcast funeral arrangements because the Northern Territory's humid climate made it impossible to keep a body for any long period of time.

In 1960 all Northern Territory radio stations moved from the 5 prefix previously shared with South Australia to the 8 prefix, the station becoming 8DR.

The station came into its own in 1974, when Cyclone Tracy slammed into Darwin. Dick Muddimer, one of the station's reporters, was able to get to the studios of local television station NTD-8 and send a message to the ABC studios in Mount Isa asking them to notify Sydney that Darwin had been struck by a cyclone. Due to the great distance between Darwin and the rest of Australia and the fact the storm made landfall on Christmas Day, most of the rest of the nation didn't know about Tracy until mid-afternoon. It was the only station whose transmitter was not completely disabled by the storm, and for the next two days was the only link between Darwin and the outside world. Over the next few weeks, it was on the air for all but 34 hours.^[1]

8DDD ABC Darwin began broadcasting in 1989, replacing 8DR. It was ABC Radio's ninth metropolitan station and was set up and first managed by Phil Cullen. Its broadcasting facilities are located in Cavenagh Street, in the Darwin City Centre. 8DDD is broadcast throughout the Darwin metropolitan areas and some rural country surrounding Darwin. The station brings Local, National and International news headlines throughout the hour. It also presents Sport and Weather.

ABC Northern Territory Outback Radio services was launched in 1985 as VL8K, VL8T and VL8A. The Katherine and Tennant Creek services broadcast the Darwin Local Radio programming, as well as Alice Springs service broadcasts Alice Springs Local Radio content. Programs are relayed on ABC Outback Radio services which was transmitted on shortwave until January 2017.

8DDD ABC Darwin transmitters

The 8DDD 105.7 MHz transmitter is located in the Darwin suburb of Berrimah.

References

^ Station history page from ABC Online

External links

ABC Radio Darwin Online
DJ Schedule
Phil Cullen
Transmitters, frequency
History

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

ABC Board
David Anderson (Managing Director: 2019–present)
Kim Williams (Chair: 2024–present)

ABC Television

National channels	ABC TV ABC HD ABC TV Plus ABC Kids ABC Me ABC News
International channels	ABC Australia (broadcast to Asia and Pacific)
Defunct channels	ABC Kids (2001–2003) Fly TV
Stations	ABC New South Wales (ABN) ABC Victoria (ABV) ABC Queensland (ABQ) ABC Tasmania (ABT) ABC South Australia (ABS) ABC Western Australia (ABW) ABC Australian Capital Territory (ABC) ABC Northern Territory (ABD)

ABC Radio

National stations	ABC Classic ABC NewsRadio Radio National Triple J
ABC Local Radio	ABC Radio Canberra ABC Radio Sydney ABC Radio Melbourne ABC Radio Brisbane ABC Radio Adelaide ABC Radio Perth ABC Radio Hobart ABC Radio Darwin
Digital-only stations	ABC Jazz ABC Country ABC Radio Grandstand Double J Triple J Unearthed
Streaming-only stations	ABC Classic 2 Triple J Hottest
International stations	Radio Australia (managed by ABC International)

ABC International

ABC Commercial

ABC Books and Magazines
ABC Content Sales
ABC Events
ABC Library Sales
ABC Music
- ABC Classics
ABC Studios and Media Production

History

History of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
History of ABC Radio
Australian Broadcasting Company
Lange v. ABC
Afghan Files

See also

v t e Radio stations in Darwin
AM and FM stations with an asterisk are also available on digital (DAB+) radio
AM stations	ABC Radio National 657* Radio TAB 1242* SEN Top End 1611 2ME Radio Arabic 1638
FM stations	Yolŋu Radio 88.9 Darwin FM 91.5 KIX Country 92.3* First Nations Radio 94.5 Darwin's 97 Seven (97.7)* Hot 100 FM (100.1)* SBS Radio 100.9* ABC NewsRadio 102.5* triple j 103.3* Territory FM 104.1* Mix 104.9* ABC Radio Darwin 105.7* ABC Classic 107.3*
Digital-only stations	ABC ABC Country ABC Jazz ABC Kids Listen ABC Grandstand Double J Triple J Unearthed ARN Regional Classic Rock Digital SBS SBS Arabic24 SBS Chill SBS PopAsia SBS PopDesi SBS Radio 3
By call sign	8ABCFM 8DDD 8GGG 8HOT 8JJJ 8KNB 8MIX 8PNN 8RN 8SBSFM 8TFM
Australian radio markets Adelaide Brisbane Canberra Darwin Gold Coast Hobart Melbourne Perth Sydney See also List of radio stations in Australia

ABC Radio

National stations

ABC Local Radio

New South Wales	Sydney Broken Hill Central Coast Central West Coffs Coast Illawarra Mid North Coast New England North West Newcastle North Coast Riverina South East Upper Hunter Western Plains
Victoria	Melbourne Ballarat Central Victoria Gippsland Goulburn Murray Mildura Swan Hill Shepparton South West Victoria Wimmera
Queensland	Brisbane Capricornia Gold Coast Far North North Queensland North West Queensland Southern Queensland Sunshine Coast Tropical North Western Queensland Wide Bay
South Australia	Adelaide Eyre Peninsula North & West SA Riverland South East SA
Western Australia	Perth Goldfields-Esperance Great Southern Kimberley Midwest and Wheatbelt Pilbara South Coast South West WA
Tasmania	Hobart Northern Tasmania
Northern Territory	Darwin Alice Springs Katherine
Australian Capital Territory	Canberra