Blyton Group

Blyton Group

Company type	Privately held company
Industry	Radio broadcasting, hospitality
Founder	Kevin Blyton
Headquarters	Jindabyne, New South Wales , Australia
Area served	Australia
Key people	Kevin Blyton, Lachlan Blyton-Gray, Lucy Blyton-Gray
Divisions	Radio, Snow Resorts, Cinema, Airport, Theme Park
Subsidiaries	Capital Radio Network

Blyton Group is an Australian media and entertainment company. The company primarily operates in the radio industry under its subsidiary Capital Radio Network and owns hospitality, service and entertainment businesses in New South Wales.

History

The company was started by Kevin James Blyton who first acquired a radio station 2XL (now XLFM) in the Snowy Mountains and has since grown the radio network and expanded into hospitality. With the exception of XLFM, Snow FM and 3GG, all radio stations are operated as a 50/50 joint venture with Grant Broadcasters.

The group is led by a family-based leadership team, including Lachlan Blyton-Gray as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Lucy Blyton-Gray as the Chief Strategy Officer (CSO).

In 2020, Blyton Group announced a 10-year master-plan for continued development of its Charlotte Pass Snow Resort, beginning with an upgraded chair lift.[1]

In November 2021, Grant Broadcasters sold their wholly owned radio stations to ARN. Their share of Capital Radio Network stations and wholly owned Geelong stations K Rock and Bay 93.9 remained with the Grant Broadcasters' owners, the Cameron family.[2]

Radio Network

Operating under the name Capital Radio Network,[3] the Blyton Group wholly owns three radio stations and has a joint venture with Grant Broadcasters for the remaining stations. The radio network operates in 5 locations across Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. The Snowy Mountains radio station organised the automated music for the Blyton Group's Magic Mountain amusement park speakers.

Wholly owned stations

• Snowy Mountains, New South Wales
  • XLFM
  • Snow FM
• Gippsland, Victoria
  • 3GG[4]

Joint venture with Grant Broadcasters

• Australian Capital Territory
  • 2CC
  • 2CA
  • MyDAB Canberra
  • Snow FM (relayed from Snowy Mountains on DAB+[5])
  • KIX Country
• New South Wales
  • Southern Tablelands[6]
    • GNFM
    • Eagle FM
    • KIX Country
  • Snowy Mountains
    • KIX Country
• Perth, Western Australia
  • 6iX
  • X Digital
  • KIX Country
  • MyDAB Perth

Former stations

In the 1990s, Kevin Blyton held a 40% stake in Newcastle's NXFM.[7]

Outside of buying and selling stations in the same stations/territories as current stations, he has also held stations in Tasmania and owned Q92fm in Queenstown, New Zealand which he purchased in 1992.^[citation needed]

Hospitality and services

Blyton Group operates two snow resorts in the New South Wales Snowy Mountains region. The two resorts are Charlotte Pass Snow Resort[8] and Selwyn Snow Resort.[9]

The company also has multiple hotels as a part of their operations in the region:

• Kosciuszko Chalet Hotel, Charlotte Pass
• Lucy Lodge, Charlotte Pass
• Stillwell Hotel, Charlotte Pass

In the 2019-2020 Australian summer bushfires, the Selwyn Snow Resort burned down. In June 2023, Blyton Group reopened Selwyn Snow Resort to the public following a three year rebuild. NSW Premier, Hon. Christopher Minns, officially reopened the resort on Friday 21 July 2023.

In addition to the resorts and hotels, the Blyton Group owns the Snowy Mountains Airport Corporation, which operates Cooma-Snowy Mountains Airport[10] and as a part of their Charlotte Pass resort, operate an over-snow bus service[11] linking the village to Perisher Valley.

Entertainment

Group also operates the movie theatres in the Snowy Mountains townships of Jindabyne. In Merimbula, the Blyton Group own and operate the Magic Mountain amusement park.[12]

References

1. "New Chair for Charlotte Pass". Snowy Mountains Magazine. 6 July 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
2. "ARN acquires Grant Broadcasters for $307 million". Radio Today. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
3. "Capital Radio Network Stations". Radio Alive. Archived from the original on 27 March 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
4. "3GG Finally Sold". Radio Info. Archived from the original on 10 January 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
5. "DAB+ digital radio goes live in Canberra". Radio Today. 18 July 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
6. "Capital Radio Network continues to roll out ZETTA Digital Playout System". newmedia.com.au. Archived from the original on 21 August 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
7. "The History of Newcastle Radio Stations". www.soundworld.com.au. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
8. "10-year $10 million investment announced for Charlotte Pass ski area - Australasian Leisure Management". www.ausleisure.com.au. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
9. "News - Selwyn Sale Media Release". Ski Forum. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
10. "REX to Commence Services to the Snowy Mountains". www.perisher.com.au. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
11. "Oversnow". Charlotte Pass Snow Resort. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
12. "Contact Magic Mountain". Magic Mountain Merimbula. Retrieved 18 August 2020.