The company was founded by broadcaster Paul Thompson, who upon the commencement of FM broadcasting in Australia acquired the first commercial radio licence for the metropolitan Adelaide area. SAFM commenced transmission in September 1980, with the Austereo Network established in 1986 following the company's acquisition of Fox FM Melbourne. In 1988, Austereo acquired AM radio stations 4BK Brisbane and 6IX Perth and bid to convert the stations to the FM band. In Brisbane, the company was successful, relaunching 4BK as B105 FM in February 1990; in Perth, the company was outbid by 6KY and 6PM, and consequently sold the station to Radio West. In May 1989, the company extended its reach into Sydney with the acquisition of 2Day FM. In 1995, Austereo purchased the Triple M network from Hoyts Media, adding a further five radio stations to the company's portfolio. The existing Austereo stations were rebranded to the Today Network. Subsequently, rival cinema chain Village Roadshow acquired control of Austereo, with Thompson departing as CEO. In 1997, Austereo acquired KYFM and PMFM from Jack Bendat, selling Triple M Perth to Southern Cross Broadcasting. In the mid-1990s, the company made several other acquisitions, including 2CA and FM104.7 Canberra, and KOFM and NXFM Newcastle. Austereo later entered into joint-ventures in these markets, with Australian Radio Network in Canberra and RG Capital in Newcastle. Village Roadshow partially floated the company on the Australian Stock Exchange in 2001 under the ticker symbolAEO, increasing its share in the company to 61.8% in 2004. In January 2011, industry publication Radioinfo reported Village Roadshow were "in discussions" to sell its majority shareholding in Austereo. On 31 January, Southern Cross Media Group announced it had offered to purchase Village Roadshow's 52.5% shareholding for $741 million. The bid was approved by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on 18 March and formally accepted by Village Roadshow later that month. On 6 April, Austereo shareholders accepted the takeover bid, and on 27 July Southern Cross Media Group commenced trading as Southern Cross Austereo, merging the Today and Triple M radio networks with the group's regional radio stations.
