Nova 919 exists because DMG Radio was willing to outbid Macquarie Radio, RG Capital, Hot Tomato, and Australian Radio Network for a single FM licence. In 2003, DMG paid the Australian Broadcasting Authority 24 million dollars for the right to launch a new Adelaide station, and Nova 919 signed on the following August.
A Call Sign Built From an Airport Code
The station carries the call sign 5ADL, a straightforward formula combining "5" for South Australia with "ADL," the three-letter code for Adelaide Airport, according to a history of the station. By October 2004, just two months after launch, Nova 919 had moved into shared premises in Hindmarsh Square alongside sister station FIVEAA, which DMG Radio Australia had launched two months earlier, giving the company a foothold across two very different formats in the same city from day one.
A Breakfast Slot That Keeps Changing Hands
Few timeslots at Nova 919 have shifted as often as breakfast. Jodie Oddy and Andrew "Hayesy" Hayes took over the show in January 2023, pairing Oddy's radio and television background, including thirteen years hosting Mix's number one FM breakfast show, with Hayes's path from four-time SANFL Central Districts premiership player to sports broadcaster, according to coverage of the pairing's launch. That turnover reflects the wider pressure on breakfast radio in a market where stations regularly reshuffle their biggest show hoping to find the right chemistry.
A National Network Feeding a Local Signal
Beyond breakfast, Nova 919 leans heavily on Nova Entertainment's national lineup, carrying The Chrissie Swan Show in the afternoon and Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie during drive time, syndicated programming shared across the company's Nova stations in other Australian cities. That structure lets a single Adelaide licence, purchased for a record sum in 2003, plug into content built for a much larger national audience while still carrying its own local breakfast identity.
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For a station that reshaped Adelaide's FM landscape with a record-setting licence bid, Nova 919 is worth a stream on Radio Shuffle.