Short History
The Student Youth Network Inc. was formed in 2000 as a result of a merger between two youth radio projects: 3TD (an AM station run by high school students from Thornbury-Darebin Secondary College) and SRA (Student Radio Association), the RMIT University radio station that also spawned 3RRR in 1976.
In December 2000 the ABA auctioned a new licence for a commercial FM broadcaster to serve the Melbourne market. The winning bid was $78 million, purchased by DMG, launching Nova 100 the following year. In December 2001, following a competitive bidding process, the ABA awarded SYN a Melbourne-wide FM community radio broadcasting licence to transmit at the same signal power. Given the commercial value of the licence and the strong competition from 26 aspirant broadcasters this was a monumental achievement for a fledgling organisation (only 2 FM licences and 1 AM licence were awarded).
After an intense twelve-month period focused on raising $1 million to purchase and set up the necessary infrastructure, SYN 90.7 FM commenced permanent broadcasting at midday on 28 January, 2003.
SYNs expansion into television was soon to follow with the launch of SYN TV in 2003. A live music-video program simulcast on C31 Melbourne and 90.7 SYN FM, SYN TV was the first program in Australia, commercial or community, to be simulcast on TV, radio and the internet. It was also the first television show to be hosted by young people exclusively under the age of 18. By November 2003 it was airing in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth and attracting audiences of up to 80,000 viewers in Melbourne alone! SYN's television department has since gone onto produce over 1000 hours of live television including: SYN Summer, SYN City, The Sauce (award winning) and current production: 1700.
In February 2004, SYN launched its publication arm with the inaugural issue of Pecado (Spanish for sin). This completed SYN's ambition of producing media in all its forms: radio, TV, online and print.
Around the same time SYN launched The Nodfather - a hip-hop compilation album showcasing both fresh and established Australian talent. It received airtime on radio stations across Australia and achieved moderate sales success. It was also the first time a US-based hip-hop artist (Chino XL) collaborated with the Australian hip-hop scene (Cerebral Atrophy's 'The Front Line').
In mid-2006, just before SYNcasting was launched, SYN gained significant funding for the SYN.ORG.AU project. Providing an interactive online community for people under the age of 26, the new website will exhibit, distribute and share media content in all its forms to the extended SYN community and beyond. Set to be launched in July 2007, SYN.ORG.AU will put SYN at the forefront of the new media world.
After just four years of full-time broadcasting it is estimated that over 5000 young people have been directly involved in SYN, many of which have gone onto bigger and better things within the creative and media industries. And with an estimated listening audience of 124,000 per week (McNair Ingenuity Research 2006; more than double the previous ratings in November 2003) it is clear that SYN is resonating more and more with the Melbourne youth community. SYN has won awards from the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia in every year since its launch, including the prestigious Tony Staley Award for its dedicated service to the youth community of Melbourne. Many of SYN's education and training programs are also utilised by community organisations across Australia.
As far as we are aware SYN is internationally unique. If Australia is considered to have the most advanced community broadcasting sector in the world - which it does - and if SYN is at its forefront - which it is - it is quite reasonable to consider SYN to be one of the most amazing youth media projects worldwide!
