2BS Bathurst
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2BS 1503AM Bathurst (known on air as 1503 2BS Gold) is a local radio station located in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It broadcasts on 1503 kilohertz, from a transmitter in Bathurst, with a power output of 5 kilowatts (5,000 watts).
The callsign meaning is made up of two parts:
- 2, which is a New South Wales prefix for radio stations
- BS, which is an abbreviation for Bathurst
It is owned by Bathurst Broadcasters Pty. Ltd., a privately-held company, owned by local businessman Ron Camplin, who also owns sister station B-Rock 99.3FM. It was previously owned by the London Times Mirror, and by Australian Consolidated Press.
The station began broadcasting on the 1st January 1937. A station had existed in Bathurst prior to this, 2MK, owned by the Mockler Brothers, beginning in 1925. Also, 2BS wasn't always the intended call-letters, 2BX was also considered. Finally, a station located at Meadow Lane which was to serve both Bathurst and Lithgow was also projected to start in 1925, with the call letters 2LE. That station never enventuated.
In the 1950s it was discovered that 2BS's signal was causing problems with the signal of Melbourne station 3AK. This forced 3AK to become a daytime station, having previously been an overnight station. This problem was fixed in the 1960's by switching to directional antennas, which led to 3AK commencing 24 hour transmission. This was at the same time ACP owned both stations.
Today, 2BS is an adult contemporary station with a prime target audience of 25+, playing music from the 1950's onwards. The majority of its programming is produced locally, taking only Sports Today with Peter Bosley and New Day, Australia with John Kerr from 2UE Sydney, Ray Hadley's Continuous Call Team from 2GB Sydney, and syndicated programs The Outback Club (country music) and My Generation (music from a particular year).
The station recently started FM repeater stations in the surrounding towns of Blayney, Oberon and Sofala.
