Transport
Parkes has a local bus service provided by Western Road Liners, which acquired Harris Bus Lines in March 2006. The
Indian Pacific also stops twice a week, as well as the Broken Hill Outback Xplorer service, run by
CountryLinkCountryLink is the operator of passenger rail services in country New South Wales, Australia and into Queensland and Victoria. It is an operating brand of the Rail Corporation New South Wales, a government-owned entity...
, which heads to Broken Hill on Mondays and Sydney on Tuesdays. Parkes railway station is situated on the Broken Hill railway line, and opened in 1893. A smaller station served Parkes Racecourse between 1923 and 1937.
Media
Radio
- 2PK AM 1404 (talkback radio format aimed at listeners 35 years+ most prograns relayed from 2SM
2SM is an Australian radio station, licensed to and serving Sydney, New South Wales, broadcasting on 1269 kilohertz on the AM band. It is owned and operated by Broadcast Operations Group...
, Sydney): owned by Broadcast Operations GroupOwned by Bill Caralis, Broadcast Operations Group operates a number of radio stations in northern New South Wales & southern Queensland, Australia. These are collectively known as the "Super Radio Network"...
.
- PH FM 88.0 (community access radio station based in Peak Hill, 50km north from Parkes).
- ROK FM 95.5 (mixed music format aimed at 18 -39 years market - Top 40 and Classic Hits): owned by Broadcast Operations Group
Owned by Bill Caralis, Broadcast Operations Group operates a number of radio stations in northern New South Wales & southern Queensland, Australia. These are collectively known as the "Super Radio Network"...
.
- 2LVR FM 97.9 (community radio)
- 2KY
2KY is a commercial radio station based in Sydney, broadcasting throughout New South Wales and Canberra on a network of over 140 narrowcast transmitters as well as the main 1017 AM frequency in Sydney. 2KY broadcasts live commentary of thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing...
/ SKY Sports Radio FM 99.9 - (Coverage of Thoroughbred, Harness and Greyhound Racing plus other general and specialist sport and talk programming)
- SBS Radio
SBS Radio is a service provided by the Special Broadcasting Service '..to inform, educate and entertain Australians, especially those of non-English speaking backgrounds'. SBS Radio originally began as two stations based in Melbourne and Sydney, set up to provide pre-recorded information about the...
FM 101.3 (mixed format programming for ethnic communities)
The
Australian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
(ABC) transmit four stations into Parkes and the surrounding region:
- ABC Classic FM
ABC Classic FM is a classical music radio station available in Australia, and internationally online. It is operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation . It was established in 1976 as "ABC-FM", and later for a short time was known as "ABC Fine Music" , before adopting its current name...
NSW 2ABCFM 102.7 FM
- ABC Radio National NSW 2ABCRN 104.3 FM
- Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
NSW 2JJJ 101.9 FM
- ABC Central West
ABC Central West is the ABC Local Radio station for the Central Tablelands region, based in Orange, New South Wales, owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It broadcasts on 549 kHz on the AM band...
NSW 2CR 549 AM - part of the ABC Local RadioABC Local Radio is a network of publicly owned radio stations in Australia, operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.ABC Local Radio stations broadcast across the continent using terrestrial transmitters and satellites...
network.
Some stations from Dubbo and Orange also transmit into Parkes and the surrounding region.
Television
Parkes receives five free-to-air television stations (analogue and digital) including two government funded networks:
The
ABCThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
(ABC1) , the
SBSThe Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...
(SBS ONE) and three commercial networks:
- Prime7
- WIN
WIN Television is an Australian television network owned by the WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single Wollongong-only station, and has since expanded to 24 owned-and-operated stations with transmissions covering a...
and
- Southern Cross Ten
Southern Cross Ten is an Australian television channel broadcast by the Macquarie Media Group in Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and South Australia. The channel is owned by the Macquarie Media Group as is affiliated to Network Ten...
SBS offer
digital high-definitionHigh-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
simulcasts of their main channel, SBS ONE on SBS HD.
The other networks broadcast nine additional digital-only channels:
7Two7TWO is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel which was launched by the Seven Network on Sunday 1 November 2009 at 12pm....
,
7mate7mate is an Australian free-to-air high definition digital television channel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010.The network stated that 7mate would contain sport and regular programs aimed primarily at a male audience, with programming drawn from a combination of new...
,
GO!GO! is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel launched by the Nine Network on Sunday 9 August 2009.-Origins:...
,
GEMGEM is an Australian free-to-air high definition digital television channel, launched by the Nine Network on Sunday 26 September 2010 at 6am...
,
ABC2ABC2 is a national public television channel in Australia. Launched on 7 March 2005, it is the responsibility of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television division, and is available nationally to digital television viewers in Australia...
,
ABC3-Future shows:Programming confirmed for future broadcast will include:* After School Care * Bindi's Boot Camp * Bushwacked! * Dance Academy * Dancing Down Under...
,
ABC News 24ABC News 24 is an Australian 24-hour news channel launched and owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The channel replaced the former ABC High Definition simulcast of ABC1 and commenced broadcasting at 7:30pm 5:30 on Thursday, 22 July 2010.-Pre-launch:The ABC announced in January 2010...
, SBS Two, One HD and
ElevenEleven is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel, which was launched by ElevenCo, on 11 January 2011.-Joint venture:...
.
Newspapers
The local newspaper is
The Parkes Champion-Post. It is published by
Fairfax MediaFairfax Media Limited is one of Australia's largest diversified media companies. The group's operations include newspapers, magazines, radios and digital media operating in Australia and New Zealand. Fairfax Media was founded by the Fairfax family as John Fairfax and Sons, later to become John...
.
Born in Parkes District, NSW
- Dianna Corcoran
Dianna Corcoran is an Australian country music singer-songwriter. Among numerous awards, she is a two-time Golden Guitar winner-History:Corcoran's initial interest in country music involved yodeling...
, country music singer
- Stephen John Davies
Stephen John Davies is an Australian hockey player.-References:*...
, field hockey player
- David Nash
David Nash is a prominent Australian field linguist, specialising in the Aboriginal languages of Australia. Brought up in Parkes, New South Wales, he received a B.A. in pure mathematics from the Australian National University followed by an M.A. in Linguistics. He then went to the Massachusetts...
, linguist
- James Pritchard, international rugby player
- Scott Westcott
Scott Westcott is an Australian runner and school teacher. Born near Parkes, New South Wales, Westcott was an avid runner as a teenager, winning the 5000m state championships. Studying teaching in Armidale, Westcott took a job as a science teacher at Maitland Christian School in 1998...
, marathon runner
Festivals
Parkes hosts the annual
Parkes Elvis FestivalThe Parkes Elvis Festival is an annual event celebrating the music and the legend of Elvis Presley held in early January in the Australian New South Wales regional town of Parkes. The first festival in 1993 was simply a one night performance attracting 300 attendees. From then, it has grown to...
. It is held in early January to celebrate
PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
's birthday and to boost tourism.