History

According to media reports Global Radio was funded 75% by a consortium including John Magnier, JP McManus, Michael Tabor and Dermot Desmond. Debt from HBoS and Bank of Ireland comprised the remaining 25% of the 375 million pounds used to form the group.

Global Radio officially took control of all GCap Media brands at 23:59 on 31 October 2008. The GCap Media name was dropped at this time.

In the 2007 purchase of Chrysalis, Global took control of Heart, Galaxy, LBC and The Arrow. The GCap purchase gave Global the network of FM stations which GCap had operated as The One Network (many of which are now Heart or the Hit Music Network), plus Classic FM, Xfm, Choice FM, Gold and Chill. Following the merger Global were required to sell off a number of stations in the Midlands; this led to the creation of buyout venture Orion Media, headed by Phil Riley, former owner of Chrysalis.

Criticism of Global Radio

In February 2009 Global Radio and LBC were the subject of criticism by technical and scientific bloggers following their threat of legal action against medical journalist Ben Goldacre for mounting part of an LBC 97.3 broadcast by Jeni Barnett on his website. The move was interpreted as an attempt to suppress criticism and debate rather than enforcement of copyright.

The broadcast has been characterised as irresponsible by David Aaronovitch in The Times, and LBC and Barnett were specifically identified in a critical Early Day Motion by Norman Lamb MP.

Stations owned by Global Radio

Classic FM

Classical music station broadcast nationally on FM and DAB; also available on Freesat, Sky Digital and Virgin Media.

Galaxy Network

A group of stations playing rhythmic (dance and urban) music. Choice FM – an all-urban station based in London that was formerly owned by GCap – is now considered part of the Galaxy network for marketing purposes, but retains its own separate branding and programming.

Choice FM – London FM, various areas on DAB, nationally on Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media.

Galaxy Birmingham

Galaxy Manchester

Galaxy North East

Galaxy Scotland

Galaxy South Coast – South Hampshire on FM; on DAB in various parts of the South of England.

Galaxy Yorkshire

Galaxy Digital – now a relay of Galaxy Yorkshire content – is on DAB in various areas and nationally on Sky and Virgin Media.

Gold Network

A network of ‘golden oldies’ stations. Many of these were the AM sister stations to heritage CHR stations which are now Heart or Hit Music Network stations; though Gold Manchester was previously a standalone station (Big-AM). On DAB, Gold is available in some areas which do not have Gold on AM; in these areas Gold London is carried, though it may carry local branding on the label.

Gold London (AM & DAB) – also nationally on Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media.

Gold Black Country (AM & DAB)

Gold Bournemouth (AM & DAB)

Gold Bristol & Bath (AM & DAB)

Gold Cambridge (DAB)

Gold Cardiff & Newport (AM & DAB)

Gold Central Scotland (DAB)

Gold Derby (AM)

Gold Essex (AM & DAB)

Gold Gloucester & Cheltenham (AM)

Gold Humberside (DAB)

Gold Kent (AM & DAB)

Gold Lancashire (DAB)

Gold Leeds (DAB)

Gold Luton & Bedford (AM)

Gold Manchester (AM & DAB)

Gold Norfolk & North Suffolk (AM & DAB)

Gold Northamptonshire (AM)

Gold Nottingham (AM & DAB)

Gold Peterborough (AM & DAB)

Gold Plymouth (AM & DAB)

Gold Reading (AM & DAB)

Gold Reigate & Crawley (AM)

Gold Shropshire (AM)

Gold South Hampshire (AM & DAB)

Gold South Yorkshire (DAB)

Gold Suffolk (AM)

Gold Sussex (AM & DAB)

Gold Teesside (DAB)

Gold Tyne & Wear (DAB)

Gold Wrexham & Chester (AM)

Heart Network

Heart is a network of adult-contemporary pop stations. The network began with a regional station in the West Midlands and subsequently a station in London. Heart 106 in the East Midlands became part of the network having previously been known as Century 106; it was sold off (becoming Heart) when GWR and Capital merged into GCap. In 2009 many of the heritage CHR stations which had formed part of the One Network were renamed Heart, as were Ocean and South Hams Radio (which were not part of the One Net). Heart 106 is now owned by Orion Media but uses the Heart name and format under licence from Global, and Heart South Devon (formerly South Hams Radio) is partly owned by UKRD Group; all the other Heart stations are wholly Global-owned. Heart is also available on DAB in some areas where there is not a local Heart station; these areas receive Heart Digital, which is a relay of Heart London content. On Freeview, viewers in the ITV Central region receive either Heart West Midlands or Heart East Midlands (depending on transmitter), with viewers in other parts of England and Wales getting Heart Digital.

Heart Digital (Heart London content) – DAB in selected areas, nationally on Sky and Virgin Media; Freeview in England (not Midlands) & Wales

Heart London

Heart West Midlands

Heart East Midlands – Owned by Orion Media operating under a brand licence.

Heart Dunstable

Heart Peterborough

Heart Milton Keynes

Heart Northants

Heart Cambridge

Heart Norfolk

Heart Colchester

Heart Ipswich

Heart Berkshire

Heart Oxfordshire

Heart Bath

Heart Bristol

Heart Wiltshire

Heart Somerset

Heart Gloucestershire

Heart Torbay

Heart Exeter

Heart North Devon

Heart Plymouth

Heart South Devon – Owned as a joint venture with UKRD Group.

Heart Dorset & New Forest

Heart Kent

Heart Hampshire

Heart Sussex

Heart Essex

Heart Wirral

Heart Cymru

Heart North Wales Coast

Heart Wrexham

Hit Music Network

This is a group of heritage CHR/pop stations formerly part of the One Network that were not rebranded after the Global takeover. Having been excluded from the One Network by GCap, Global now consider Capital FM to be part of this station group; however, it and Red Dragon largely exclude the networked programming carried on the smaller stations in the block.

95.8 Capital FM – FM/DAB in London, also available nationally on Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media.

Leicester Sound

Mercury FM

Ram FM

103.2 & 97.4 Red Dragon FM

Ten 17

Trent FM

LBC Radio

LBC is a speech-based station featuring news, opinion and information. Its sister station LBC News offers rolling news during daytime, but now simulcasts LBC’s FM content overnight.

LBC 97.3 – FM/DAB in London, DAB selected other areas, nationally on Sky and Virgin Media.

LBC News 1152 – AM//DAB in London only.

Xfm Network

Xfm broadcasts alternative rock and independent music. It began officially in 1997 as an independent London station, later purchased by Capital (thus now being part of Global). The Xfm brand was extended in 2006-7 with the launch of stations in Scotland (formerly Beat 106), Manchester and South Wales; however, the Scotland station is now Galaxy and the South Wales station was sold to Town & Country Broadcasting in 2008, becoming Nation Radio. The Xfm network now consists of two stations:

Xfm London – London FM, various areas DAB, nationally on Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media.

Xfm Manchester – Manchester FM, various DAB multiplexes in north of England

Digital-only stations

Global currently operates two stations exclusively broadcast to digital listeners:

Chill – mellow music; DAB in London and Birmingham; nationally on Sky and Virgin Media.

The Arrow – classic rock music; DAB in selected areas. No longer available on digital TV.

Several DAB-only stations previously operated by Global or its predecessors have now been sold off or closed down, including Capital Life, Core, The Storm, Capital Disney, theJazz and Planet Rock. There was also a digital station called The Mix, which aired content from GWR’s Mix Network to DAB and digital TV listeners, but this was withdrawn following the GWR-Capital merger.

Internet Television stations

Classic FM TV

See also

Galaxy Radio

Heart Network

LBC

The One Network

Xfm

The Arrow

References

^ thisisglobal.com – Radio Global Radio

^ “Radio Station Uses Copyright Claim To Try To Silence Bad Science Critic; Guess What Happens?”, TechDirt, 6 February 2009

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Global Radio

Corporate Directors: Charles Allen Chairman  Ashley Tabor Group CEO  Richard Park Executive Director  Don Thomson COO  Mark Evans CFO  Owen McGartol Director

National FM radio station: Classic FM

Heart Network: Heart Bath  Heart Bedford  Heart Berkshire  Heart Bristol  Heart Cambridge  Heart Cymru  Heart Colchester  Heart Dunstable  Heart Dorset  Heart East Midlands (franchise)  Heart Essex  Heart Exeter  Heart Gloucestershire  Heart Hampshire  Heart Ipswich  Heart Kent  Heart London  Heart MK  Heart Northants  Heart North Devon  Heart North Wales Coast  Heart Norwich  Heart Oxfordshire  Heart Peterborough  Heart Plymouth  Heart Somerset  Heart South Devon  Heart Sussex  Heart Torbay  Heart West Midlands  Heart Wiltshire  Heart Wirral  Heart Wrexham

Galaxy Network: Galaxy Birmingham  Galaxy Manchester  Galaxy North East  Galaxy Scotland  Galaxy South Coast  Galaxy Yorkshire  Choice FM

The Hit Music Network: 95.8 Capital FM  Leicester Sound  102.7 Mercury FM  Ram FM  Red Dragon FM  Ten 17  Trent FM

Xfm Network: Xfm London  Xfm Manchester

LBC Radio: LBC 97.3  LBC News 1152

Local AM Stations: Gold Network

Digital-only stations: The Arrow  Chill  Galaxy Digital

Related Pages: GCap Media  Marcher Radio Group  Wrexham and Chester Gold  Hertfordshire’s Mercury 96.6  Leicester Square  Beacon Radio  96.4 BRMB  Mercia  Wyvern FM  One Network

Website: www.thisisglobal.com/radio

Categories: Radio stations in the United Kingdom | Radio stations in the United Kingdom by owner | Radio broadcasting companies of the United KingdomHidden categories: Articles that need to be wikified from December 2009 | All articles that need to be wikified

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