COW FM 107.9 is the community radio station of Casino, a town in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, and its name is a small joke with a big local meaning: COW stands for Casino's Own Wireless. It plays a mix of music, local news and talk for the Richmond Valley, and you can hear it live here on Radio Shuffle.
What Is on COW FM
According to the station's website, COW FM has been serving the Richmond Valley since 1994 and is a member of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia. Directories such as Streema list its genres as community, entertainment, news and talk, and its call sign is 2COW. It is a local community broadcaster rather than a network relay, so the mix of music and talk is tuned to Casino and the surrounding valley.
The Town Behind the Name
Casino sits on the Richmond River, about 726 kilometres north of Sydney and 228 kilometres south of Brisbane, with just under 10,000 residents at the 2021 census, according to Wikipedia's entry on the town. Pastoral squatters settled the area in 1840 and named it after Cassino in Italy, and today the town markets itself as Australia's Beef Capital, a title also claimed by Rockhampton. Its signature event is Casino Beef Week, held each May. A station that calls itself Casino's Own Wireless has a lot of local pride to carry.
Why Community Radio Still Matters Here
Casino is a regional town where the nearest big cities are hours away by road, which is exactly the setting community radio was built for. COW FM's tag on Radio Shuffle, community radio with local programming and music, describes the role well: a frequency that belongs to the town, and one of the few places on the dial where a small country town hears its own name.
Listen to COW FM Free on Radio Shuffle
Tune in to COW FM 107.9 on Radio Shuffle. No account, no app, no fee. Press play and you are in Casino.