WHEN a new country music station tried to extend its reach to Bathurst almost 10 year ago, Radio 2BS owner Ron Camplin predicted it would be the end of local radio.

In an impassioned plea to councillors to reject plans from News Talk Country (NTC) to erect a 50m radio mast on Hereford Street, Mr Camplin said he would have to sell up if another player was allowed to enter the Bathurst market.

At the time, Mr Camplin told the Western Advocate that staff numbers at 2BS had fallen from 34 in 1990 to 20 in 2001 as a result of increased competition for advertising dollars from Orange and Lithgow stations, and the arrival of NTC would mean “that there would be enormous services lost – we simply would not be able to employ people or supply services”.

A loss of revenue would also mean a big cut to the Bathurst programming content which had long been the rock on which 2BS had built its “live and local” reputation.

Mr Camplin won that battle but, a decade later, 2BS’s live and local halo is slipping.