Most commercial radio stations don't start in someone's apartment. Nova 106.9 did. Before it had a proper studio, the launch team rented a one-bedroom flat at Kangaroo Point, broadcast the very first sounds from the bedroom through a work-experience DJ named Bevan, ran meetings out of the kitchen, and kept the paperwork stacked in the bathroom. That scrappy start on April 4, 2005, eventually gave way to the Teneriffe studios the station still calls home two decades later.
Brisbane's Turn in a Bigger Disruption
Nova 106.9 wasn't the network's first move, it was its fifth. Nova launched in Sydney on April 1, 2001, deliberately timed for the disruptor image founding CEO Paul Thompson wanted, before expanding to Melbourne later that year, then Perth and Adelaide, and finally Brisbane in 2005. By the time Brisbane got its own Nova frequency, the network already had a clear identity: play new music first and don't take the format too seriously.
A Breakfast Show That Kept Reinventing Itself
The original Nova 106.9 breakfast lineup paired Ash and Luttsy with Kip Wightman and Meshel Laurie, a team that has scattered across Australian media since, with Wightman moving to KIIS 97.3 and Laurie building a podcasting career. Swimming great Susie O'Neill joined Nova Brisbane in 2013 and went on to co-host the flagship breakfast show for more than a decade before stepping away at the end of 2024, only to return in January 2026 alongside Luttsy and new co-host Nick Allen-Ducat.
Twenty Years On, Still Playing the New Stuff
Nova 106.9 marked its 20th anniversary on April 4, 2025, a milestone for a station that began as little more than an apartment and a work-experience booking. The format has grown into a full adult contemporary and top 40 mix, but the network's original instinct, chasing new music ahead of the crowd, still shapes how the station sounds today.
From a Bedroom to Brisbane's Airwaves
It's a reminder that even a station streaming in crisp AAC+ 320k today started with duct-taped cables and borrowed furniture. That contrast, between the tiny Kangaroo Point beginning and the polished commercial station Brisbane listeners now tune into every morning, is part of what makes Nova 106.9's history worth knowing before you hit play.