Our Story
Vision is so much more than just radio – but being where we started, it holds a special place in our heart.
Our love affair with radio began back in the 1980’s when a small group of passionate people felt called to start a new work. The timing wasn’t quite right and they would have to wait until 1992 to really get things moving – it’s the year we mark as the “official” start of Vision, when a company was formed.
For most of the 90’s we worked as a catalyst to help others to establish Christian radio stations – most of these are still going today as independent community stations in almost 30 cities across the nation.
Our story as a broadcaster in our own right began in 1999. “Vision FM” was born on February 1 of that year, emanating from humble studios in Springwood, Brisbane. Two-and-a-half years later, we moved into larger premises in nearby Underwood to enable us to better provide 24/7 broadcast coverage to a growing number of relay stations across the nation, plus listeners on the internet as well as direct-from-satellite.
In the 12 months following March 2001, a rapid expansion began, with our relay stations tripling to around 90. In the same year, we took the bold step of introducing Australia’s first nationwide Christian worldview news service – which is now heard on Vision as well as around 25 other stations.
Fast-forward two years, and we had opportunity to secure our first high-powered licences, which were soon put on air.
The network quickly reached 150 relay stations by the end of 2003, and in the following year, our first foray into AM radio followed with sites in Shepparton, Bunbury and Kalgoorlie. Just prior to Christmas 2004, a further 17 high-powered licences were secured, going on air in 2005.
Over the years, we’ve been able to acquire hundreds of high and low-powered open narrowcast licenses to set up a national network of relay stations reaching listeners everywhere from our largest cities through to regional centres, to tiny isolated towns in the bush. Many places have benefited from our cost effective approach of using low-powered FM transmitters. Although typically only one to ten watts, they usually give quite adequate residential coverage in small towns, depending on the antenna height above local terrain. The setup cost is very achievable for most communities and the ongoing cost in minimal due to low maintenance equipment with low power consumption – we even use solar power in some remote areas.
As our network has grown, our program content has also matured and developed. Our team of professional broadcast staff comes from many walks of life and media backgrounds, and are the daily voice of Vision Christian Radio all across Australia.
Find out more
The Vision story is far bigger than just radio. Read more about our history here.