Capital (radio network)

Capital

Broadcast area	United Kingdom
Branding	95-106 Capital
Slogan	The UK's No.1 Hit Music Station
Frequency	95-108 MHz depending on area, DAB National on D1, Freesat: 719 Freeview: 724 Sky: 0109 Virgin Media: 958 RDS: Capital_
First air date	Capital London, 1973; other stations 1975-1999; Capital (radio network), 2011
Format	Contemporary hit radio, news, entertainment, speech, showbiz
Language(s)	English
Audience share	4.1% (whole of UK) (June 2016, RAJAR)
Owner	Global Radio
Sister stations	Heart Classic FM Smooth Radio Capital Xtra Radio X LBC Gold
Website	www.capitalfm.com

Capital is a radio network of twelve independent contemporary hit radio stations in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Global Radio.^[1] Capital was previously known as Mix, One, Galaxy and Hit Music at various times. The stations were formerly owned by GCap Media and Chrysalis Radio prior to their respective takeovers by Global Radio and, with the exception of Capital London, were all part of Galaxy or Hit Music until they were merged to form the Capital network on Monday 3 January 2011.

The stations serve a combined weekly audience of 8 million listeners and target a core audience in the 14-34 age group.^[2]

History

Capital Radio, GWR and GCap Media

Throughout the 1990s, Capital became one of the UK's major radio groups by acquiring a number of additional local radio stations including Red Dragon FM, BRMB and Wyvern FM. Rival GWR Group also acquired a number of local radio stations in the 1990s, including Leicester Sound, Ram FM, GWR FM, Chiltern FM, Hereward FM, Marcher Sound and Trent FM, which operated as part of the 33 station Mix network.

Capital Radio and GWR Group's merger in 2005 resulted in the stations being amalgamated into One which existed until June 2009 when most of the stations, now in the ownership of Global Radio, who purchased GCap in 2008, were rebranded as part of The Heart Network. This left Leicester Sound, Ram FM, Red Dragon FM and Trent FM which formed Hit Music with network content produced in Nottingham. In January 2011, these stations were rebranded as part of Capital.

Galaxy

The first Galaxy radio station, Galaxy 97.2, was launched in 1990 in South West England initially broadcasting solely from Bristol and operated under the Chiltern Radio Group. In 1994 the station won the first regional FM licence and moved frequency to 101.0 MHz, rebranded as Galaxy 101 and expanded coverage to include South Wales. At the same time a second studio was opened in Cardiff to provide some programming alongside the existing Bristol studio. Chrysalis Radio purchased the station in 1996 and a year later, expanded the network by buying Faze FM's stations - Kiss 102 in Manchester and Kiss 105 in Yorkshire. In 1998, black community station Choice FM was acquired in Birmingham. Chrysalis Radio won the North East regional licence in 1999 and sold the original station, Galaxy 101, to the GWR Group in 2002 (now Kiss 101).

In 2007, Chrysalis Radio was sold to Global Radio and following their subsequent acquisition of GCap in 2008, XFM Scotland and Power FM were rebranded under the Galaxy moniker in November 2008. Another rebrand followed in January 2011 when all Galaxy stations were rebranded as Capital.

Capital

Within the first five months of the network, Capital's flagship London station regained its position as the most listened-to commercial station in London. However, Manchester, the North East, South Wales and Yorkshire lost listeners, contrasting with Birmingham, Central Scotland and the South Coast where listening figures inreased.^[3]

On 1 July 2011, Global Radio requested changes to the formats of Capital Birmingham and Capital Scotland, which had obligations from previous owners. This was to enable formatic consistency within all nine Capital stations.^[4] On 17 November 2011, Ofcom approved both format change requests.^[5]

On 6 February 2014, Global Radio announced it would be selling two of its Capital stations - in Scotland and South Wales - to Communicorp. Capital's network programming and brand name is still used by both stations under contract.^[6]

Two ex-Heart stations were added to the network on Tuesday 6 May 2014 - Capital Cymru (serving Anglesey and Gwynedd) and Capital North West and Wales, broadcasting from Wrexham.

In January 2016, Global added the former Juice FM station in Liverpool to the network, after approval was given to buy the station from UTV Media for £10 million.^[7]

List of Capital stations

Notable current presenters

Production/programming

Capital stations based in Central Scotland and Birmingham produced and transmitted specialist output for the network on Saturday and Sunday overnights respectively. However, in July 2012 this was replaced with content from 95.8 Capital studios in Leicester Square, London, where the majority of network programming is now produced. Breakfast and drive-time shows on weekdays and weekend afternoons are produced and broadcast from local stations' studios.^[8] Capital also broadcasts via a number of DAB ensembles that do not correspond with a local FM station, and as an audio channel on the Digital Terrestrial Television and Digital Satellite platforms. These platforms take a national feed with programming (except adverts) identical to that of 95.8 Capital London.

Prior to January 2011, Leicester Sound, Ram FM and Trent FM shared off-peak programming from Trent's studios in Nottingham, whilst Galaxy programming came from studios in Leeds, Yorkshire. Red Dragon FM and Capital were entirely autonomous, producing all of their own output.

The Capital radio network production and station sound was created by former Capital producer Arden Hanley^[9] and is now overseen by Chris Nicoll,^[10] Arden's successor as Capital head of production. Howard Ritchie^[11] and Helen Austin ^[12] are the voice over artists for 96-106 Capital.

Virgin Media became the first sponsor of 95-106 Capital. The six-figure deal begun on 4 January 2011, with weekday drivetime shows branded as The Virgin Media Home Run across all nine stations for a six-month period.^[13]

Capital Reports

All Capital stations broadcast local news updates under the name of Capital Reports, every hour from 6am to 7pm on weekdays and from 6am to 12pm at weekends, with headlines on the half-hour during breakfast and drivetime on weekdays.

Network opt-outs

• In Anglesey and Gwynedd, Capital Cymru opts out from the network to provide additional local programming as part of its Welsh language requirements, including a six-hour drivetime show on weekdays and locally presented afternoon shows at weekends. The station also features Welsh language music in its playlist during local hours and carries a mix of Welsh, English and bilingual news bulletins each day.
• The North Wales Coast, served by Capital North West and Wales on 96.3 FM, carries an hour-long Welsh language music programme at 5am on Sunday - Friday mornings.
• In Birmingham, the station opts out on Saturday overnights to air a specialist urban show with Sacha Brooks.

Capital TV

On 3 July 2012, Global Radio announced it would launch a TV channel of the same name, Capital.^[14] The station launched on Sky and Freesat platforms on 11 October 2012 at 11:00 p.m., along with a TV channel of the same name for sister radio station Heart.^[15] The channels can also be watched via dedicated iOS apps, as well as online. On 17 October 2012, Capital TV also launched on Freeview in Manchester. Both channels play non-stop music videos 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and will also feature some exclusive content, such as the Jingle Bell Ball.^[16] On 24 July 2012 it was confirmed BSkyB would be responsible for ad sales on both channels, likewise with the radio station, Capital TV is aimed at a younger target audience.^[17]

The channel is not related to the former Restricted Service Licence television channel of the same name, which ran in Cardiff between 2002 and 2009.

Capital Xtra

On 3 October 2013, Global Radio announced that the Capital brand will be extended to form a new nationwide digital radio station by rebranding Choice FM as Capital Xtra. The rebrand took place at 6:00am on 7 October. Capital Xtra is available on FM in London on 96.9 and 107.1 MHz and nationally on the Digital One DAB multiplex.^[18]

Capital FM Arena

The Capital FM Arena was in Nottingham, and was sponsored as part of a deal which began with the predecessor brand Trent FM. As of 2016, the naming rights of the Capital FM Arena were handed over to Motorpoint and the arena is now known as Motorpoint Arena Nottingham.^[19]

Events

Every year, Capital holds a Jingle Bell Ball every December at the O2 Arena and a Summertime Ball at Wembley Stadium. Performers at these concerts have included Janet Jackson, Akon, All Saints, The Black Eyed Peas, Bruno Mars, Coldplay, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, Enrique Iglesias, Girls Aloud, Jennifer Lopez, Jessie J, JLS, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson, Ke$ha, Kylie Minogue, Lady Gaga, Leona Lewis, Lionel Richie, Miley Cyrus, Ne-Yo, Olly Murs, The Pussycat Dolls, Rihanna, Shakira, Tinie Tempah, Usher, and The Who.

Help a Capital Child

The Capital London charity Help a London Child was founded in 1975 by Richard Attenborough CBE. It is a grant giving charity which means that twice a year, the charity provides practical and lasting support to groups working with thousands of youngsters aged 18 and under.

In the first year, £8,000 was raised and grants given to 10 charities in Camden. Since its formation, the charity has raised in excess of £22 million in the London area and awarded grants to areas of great need, directly helping over 1.4 million children and young people.

Grants are awarded to refuge and homelessness projects, support groups for children and young people with a disability, special need or an illness, as well as a range of sports, music, drama and leisure activities, holiday play schemes and residential breaks in the UK, cultural activities, supplementary schools, literacy programmes and much more.

It was the winner of Outstanding Contribution to London Lifestyle at the London Lifestyle Awards in 2010. In the same year, the charity allocated a record amount in grants (£1.6 million), supporting 84,000 children and young people across London where "you're never more than one mile away from a project supported by Help a Capital Child".

Help a Capital Child was launched as the main charity of the Capital Network. The first annual event took place from 14–16 October 2011 with sister station LBC 97.3 also adopting the charity appeal.

References

External links