All About SYN

SYN’s mission:

• to provide young people with opportunities, education and training in all areas of the media
• to provide an informative and entertaining alternative to mainstream media
• to respect local and new music, arts and ideas
• to support the interests of the youth community
• to be youth operated

SYN believes that young people should be creators and not consumers of media. This means that all of our producers, presenters, content creators and volunteers are all under the age of 26. We are powered by the super-charged energy of one of the largest and youngest volunteer bases in Australia. Almost half of the volunteer base of SYN is too young to vote, gamble or drive.

The sound of SYN is unique. We produce media content that you won’t find anywhere else. This includes satire, talkback programs, opinion-based content, current affairs and interview programs. SYN radio specialises in local Australian music that you will not hear played on commercial stations. This includes a commitment to local hip-hop, indie, punk and ska, metal, dance and rock.
SYN can be broadcast on radio, podcast on the web, broadcast on TV, be published in a zine or blogged.

History

The Student Youth Network Inc. was formed in 2000 as a result of a merger between two youth radio projects: 3TD (Thornbury-Darebin Secondary College) and SRA (Student Radio Association), the RMIT University radio station that also spawned 3RRR in 1976.

Following a competitive bidding process in 2001 (only two FM licences and one AM licence were awarded), the Australian Broadcasting Association awarded SYN a Melbourne-wide FM community radio broadcasting licence. 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.

SYN’s expansion into television soon followed 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 one of the first programs 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.

After just five years of full-time broadcasting it is estimated that over 6000 young people have been directly involved in SYN, many of whom have gone on to bigger and better things within the creative and media industries. With an estimated listening audience of 186,000 per week (McNair Ingenuity Research) 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. SYN’s education and training programs are also utilised by community organisations around Australia.