4KQ Bows Out... But BBQ Bob Returns

On the stroke of midnight, the 75-year-old Brisbane radio institution 4KQ signed off for the final time, chosing station playlist staple 'American Pie' in its complete eight-minute glory to send the station off. 

Friends, staff and names from the station's long past gathered at the station to see it off for the last time, excluding long-time breakfast host Laurel Edwards, who took the opportunity after her last shift on Friday to take off for a Hawaiian break with husband Troy Cassar-Daley. In a Facebook post on Troy's page, Laurel lamented the end of the station and pledged to update listeners on the 'career movements' of the Laurel, Gary and Mark team. 

Just hours after the station signed off, news broke of rival station 4BH's appointment of former 4KQ and 97.3 breakfast host 'BBQ' Bob Gallagher to the breakfast slot as of July 11. Speculation was rife that the current 4KQ team might take the slot after Ace Radio's 4BH grabbed the "Classic Hits" tag line, mirrored 4KQ's long-time favourite show Jukebox Saturday Night and welcomed former 4KQ listeners, but for 4KQ fans, Bob will be a much-loved second prize. Former Triple M announcer Scott Menz has also been announced for a new local nights program on the station. Gallagher, a long-time Brisbane radio favourite was seen partying at the 4KQ send-off last night after leaving the 97.3 breakfast show late last year to retire to spend more time with family. 97.3 re-branded as Kiis earlier this year to fall in line with its slightly younger-skewing Sydney and Melbourne sister stations. 

Gallagher told the Courier Mail: “I absolutely love Brisbane. With the change of 4KQ to sport, I look forward to connecting with all the loyal Classic Hits lovers at my new home. If anything is happening across the city, I am keen to be all over it. And if I don’t know about it, I’m looking forward to having the listeners tell me about it.”

In a strange business-led quirk, 4KQ was the #1 station in Brisbane as recently as the last twelve months, but was purchased by Melbourne-based Sports Entertainment Network (SEN) and will be relaunched this month as a 24-hour sports channel. The sale was forced by 4KQ parent company ARN acquiring the Grant Radio network which included stations in Ipswich, the Gold and Sunshine Coasts which put it in breach of an ACMA ruling limiting the number of stations in a region. 

Ace Radio CEO Mark Taylor has teased that more local appointments are on the way for 4BH, while SEN has also unveiled a new lineup for the 693 dial including former 4BC announcer Ben Davis and well known sports identities Cameron Smith, Pat Welsh, Ian Healey, Gary Belcher, Katie Brown, Luke Hodge and more. 

One thing's for sure, AM radio has never been this interesting....

But for now, vale 4KQ. 75 years strong and going out on top.