Ten Questions with Ty Frost

Staff Writer

There’s a bit of a buzz in the air at smoothfm as the Sydney and Melbourne stations celebrate their 5th birthdays this week.

Despite some within the industry tipping failure with a capital F, both have become a ratings success thanks in no small part to the music and the on-air talent.

Ty Frost has been there from the start and has watched the smoothfm brand grow in popularity in both cities. The morning host found some time to answer 10 Questions from Radio Today.


Where did your radio journey begin?

A fresh-faced not very worldly 20-year-old took an announcing gig at 3SH in Swan Hill in December 1993.

The broadcasting journey really began when my fellow smoothfm announcer Simon Diaz would pick me up from my grandparents’ place so we could do a breakfast show together at a community radio station.

What drew you to radio as a career?

I spent my entire childhood in and around radio stations and it was my singularly focussed desire to be a radio announcer.

I was the kid running the radio station through the school PA during lunch with all my other time spent at the local radio station carting “How Green Was My Cactus” and the like. I was one of those kids.

Was there any one person (or many) who inspired you?

Dad was an announcer at many stations including 2GB, 3DB and 3UZ. I definitely caught the bug from him and my uncle, who was also a jock.

What is it that you enjoy about it?

There is something unique about what we are doing at smoothfm and the intent behind what we do makes it an extremely enjoyable experience. It’s also immensely satisfying to see these frequencies having success.

Go on, name drop – any fanboy moment with an interview?

Being that we are More Music and Less Talk, there are not a lot of interviews going on. Although, it was marvellous to host a Q&A with Tina Arena at our recent long lunch Mother’s Day promotion.

How is smoothfm different to any other radio gig you may have had?

Considering I spent a decade working in the digital online technology space for the company, it’s simply lovely to be back on-air.

Smoothfm’s success has been pretty impressive, why do you think that it?

Smoothfm is only successful because of the sum of all its parts. There’s no way we’d be #1FM in Sydney and Melbourne if it weren’t for the tunes, the announcers, the linking, the production, the producers, the publicists, the creative, the integrators and great leadership. On top of that, it’s about the consistency. Our audience knows exactly what they’re going to get at any given moment.

Do you ever sit back and think ‘wow’.

Oh God yeah! When I left NOVA Entertainment in 2011 after 16 years with the company, I thought radio was behind me, let alone a broadcasting career in it. Five months later, I’m back in the building and on air with this really different sounding radio station.

What would you say to a ‘young’ Ty Frost?

I’d give him the heads up on a couple of things, but I wouldn’t want to alter the timeline all that much. I’d say to keep striving to have real self-confidence and not mask low self-esteem with ego.

What’s one thing we might not know about you?

Oh Gunners, you’ve worked with me. Do I leave anything unsaid?

(That would be ‘no’. Ty is as he sounds on-air. Probably one of the nicest people going around)

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