2CH

2CH
Sydney, Australia;
Frequency	DAB+ Sydney 2
Branding	Classic Hits 2CH (last format)
Programming
Format	Classic Hits (last format)
Ownership
Owner	Pacific Star Network; (Radio 2CH Pty Ltd);
History
First air date	15 February 1932; 92 years ago
Last air date	10 June 2022
Former frequencies	1210 kHz AM (1932–1935); 1170 kHz AM (1935 – 22 October 2020)
Call sign meaning	Churches = The Council of Churches
Technical information
ERP	5kW
Links
Webcast	Online
Website	www.2ch.com.au

2CH was a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia, which closed on 10 June 2022, after more than 90 years on the air. It was owned by Pacific Star Network.

Prior to this, the station changed format on 10 June 2022 to sports, and this was its format at closure.^{[citation needed]}

History

2CH commenced broadcasting on 15 February 1932 on 1210 kHz.^[1]^[2] It moved to its final AM frequency of 1170 kHz in 1935.^[3]

Ownership

The CH stands for "churches". In 1944, the NSW Council of Churches sub-let the licence to Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia) who provided program content for six days per week, with the Council of Churches being responsible for programming on Sundays. The NSW Council of Churches was its licence holder until it was sold to John Singleton in April 1994 becoming part of the Macquarie Radio Network.^[4]

In January 2017, 2CH was sold to a consortium of Oceania Capital Partners, Glenn Wheatley and John Williams for $5.6 million.^[5] The station had to be sold to comply with an undertaking given to the Australian Communications and Media Authority following the merger of the Macquarie Radio Network and Fairfax Media (owners of 2GB and 2UE respectively) to comply with legislation allowing one party to only control two radio stations in a market.^[6]

The station posted a loss of $1.9 million on revenue of $2.4 million for the year to March 2019^[7] In June 2020, it was sold for $11 million to Pacific Star Network.^[8]^[9]

Church Thanksgiving

On 18 February 2007, a thanksgiving service to celebrate 2CH's 75 years of broadcasting was held at St Andrew's Anglican Cathedral, Sydney Square, commencing at 2 pm. The Reverend Peter Jensen, the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney presided with Rev. Dr. Ross Clifford preaching.^[10]

Transition to 'DAB+ only' radio station and final end

In August 2020 after the station was purchased by Pacific Star, it was announced that 2CH would be switching to only broadcasting on digital radio.^[11] 2CH was heard on DAB+ radio until 10 June 2022, after briefly simulcasting on DAB+ and 1170 kHz in the AM broadcast band. The station used be live-streamed over the internet until the station demise.

Although not the first 'DAB+ only' radio station in Australia, 2CH was probably the first to transition by relinquishing its AM radio frequency allocation.

Trevor Sinclair broadcast his final show on the AM broadcast band from Midday-7pm on 22 October 2020. Chris Kearns broadcast his show on both AM and DAB+ until Midnight 22 October 2020, when the AM frequency 1170 kHz was taken over by 1170 SEN, carrying a dedicated sports broadcasting network, known as the Sports Entertainment Network.^[12] At 6 pm on 10 June 2022, 2CH left the airwaves for the final time with Jane Nield as the last live announcer.^[13]^[14] This follows an 18 month legacy after the Sports Entertainment Network purchased the station in 2020, and an unsuccessful DAB+ trial.^[15]

The former 2CH medium wave frequency, 1170 kHz, is now used by SEN 1170.^[16]