40 years on air

Duane Zigliotto celebrates 40 years of community radio. (Ljubica Vrankovic) 442233_04

This story was originally published in November 19, 2024 and Star Weekly has chosen to share it again for readers to enjoy.

After 40 years of working in community radio, Melton community radio DJ Duane Zigliotto is more passionate than ever.

Mr Zigliotto, who started as a promoter, found his passion for radio when a spot came up at Triple R for a 2am time ot.

“From that, it started and then I moved on and created three different shows,” he said.

“One is an Italian show, one is a Eurovision show, and one is an international music show.”

All three shows aired on Melton Community Radio.

“Currently, I’m on air Monday and Tuesday, and it’s actually probably three hours to produce a show,” Mr Zigliotto said.

“I have been doing it for a long time, and you develop a lot of context, I know a lot of people now, so it’s much easier than when I first started.” 

Besides his musical endeavours, Mr Zigliotto is also a radio production trainer.

After 40 years in the studio, Mr Zigliotto said he’s learned a thing or two.

“These days, community radio is more important than commercial radio because you get more messages out there,” he said.

“In the last four, five years, I’ve noticed that there’s more people listening to community radio.”