Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) has announced that it will rebrand its stable of regional radio stations from 15 December.

In what will be one of Australian media’s biggest brand moves, SCA will significantly enhance the value of its brand assets by streamlining its portfolio.

The Hit Network is set to become the largest radio network in the country with 43 stations by expanding to encompass an additional 34 regional stations, all of whom are currently branded as either Sea FM, Hot FM or Star FM.

Sea FM Gold Coast and Sea FM Gosford will soon embrace the Hit Network’s colour palette, design elements and collateral, but will retain their original names.

Meanwhile, SCA’s LocalWorks stations will take on the Triple M branding, making Triple M the second largest radio network in Australia with 35 stations.

Four of SCA’s heritage stations – Townsville’s 4TO, Gosford’s 2G0, Newcastle’s KOFM and the Gold Coast’s Gold FM – will retain their original station name but move to the iconic Triple M colour palette.

SCA noted that the regional Triple M stations will also retain their ‘everything local’ focus, while listeners can expect bigger prizes and experiences, more sport, live events and fresh music features.

Rick Lenarcic, head of regional media at SCA, said the rebranding will not only deliver better content to its regional audiences, but also make it easier for the group to do business.

“For the first time, our audiences and advertisers will identify and engage with brands that are both local to their region and national,” he said.

“We look forward to unveiling the brands and their associated marketing campaigns and collateral a bit later on in the year.”