Feb 2014 Radio News
Smooth Radio North West, North East and East Midlands, along with Capital South Wales, Real Radio North Wales, Capital Scotland, Real Radio Yorkshire and Real XS Manchester have been sold to Communicorp, which is entirely owed by Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien.
National sales and non-peak programming will still be provided by Global Radio under a franchise agreement, however local airtime will be handled seperatly.
Here are the station changes, as reported by RadioToday.
• Real Radio stations in the North West, North East, Wales and Scotland will become Heart and run by Global Radio.
• Smooth Radio stations in the East Midlands, North West and North East will stay as Smooth Radio but will be run under a franchise agreement with Communicorp. These stations will have regional breakfast and drivetime shows but take programming from Global Radio-operated Smooth Radio London off peak.
• Heart North Wales to become Capital and run by Global Radio.
• Smooth Radio will replace Gold on AM frequencies across England, with the exception of London, Manchester and East Midlands where Smooth already operates on FM. • Real Radio in Yorkshire and North Wales will become Heart under franchise agreement with Communicorp.
• Capital South Wales and Capital Scotland will stay as Capital and be run under franchise agreement with Communicorp.
• Real Radio XS in Glasgow will remain with Global Radio and be turned into Xfm
• Real and Smooth Radio CEO Mark Lee will remain in charge and continue to lead the business.
• Hold Separate will continue across the two companies until the deal has been cleared by the Irish Competition Authority.
Below are the region by region digital multiplex station changes:
(Information provided by Radio Today, tables courtesy of a516digital.)
Ayr | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Real Radio XS |
► |
XFM |
Bath and West Wilts | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Gold |
► |
Smooth |
Heart Bath |
stays |
|
Heart Wilts |
stays |
Birmingham | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Heart |
stays |
|
Smooth Radio |
► |
Smooth W Mids |
Bournemouth | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital S Coast |
stays |
|
Gold |
► |
Smooth |
Heart |
stays |
Bristol and Bath | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Gold |
► |
Smooth |
Heart |
stays |
Cambridge | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Gold |
► |
Smooth |
Heart |
stays |
Cardiff and Newport | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital S Wales |
► |
Capital S Wales |
Gold |
► |
Smooth |
Heart (UK) | (removed) | |
Real Radio Wales |
► |
Heart Wales |
Central Lancs | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Real Radio NW |
► |
Heart NW |
Smooth Radio |
► |
Smooth NW |
Cornwall | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Heart Cornwall |
stays |
Coventry | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Heart |
stays |
|
Smooth Radio |
► |
Smooth W Mids |
Devon | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Gold |
► |
Smooth |
Heart |
stays |
Edinburgh | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital Scotland |
► |
Capital Scotland |
Heart (UK) | Removed, as Real Radio on Central Scotland mux becomes Heart (Scotland). | |
Smooth |
stays |
Glasgow | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital Scotland |
► |
Capital Scotland |
Heart (UK) | Removed, as Real Radio on Central Scotland mux becomes Heart (Scotland). | |
Smooth |
stays |
Gloucestershire | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Gold |
► |
Smooth |
Heart |
stays |
Herts, Beds, Bucks | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Gold |
► |
Smooth |
Heart |
stays |
Kent | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Gold |
► |
Smooth |
Heart |
stays |
Leicester | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Gold |
stays |
|
Heart |
stays |
Liverpool | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
► |
Capital |
Real Radio NW |
► |
Heart NW |
Smooth Radio |
► |
Smooth NW |
Manchester | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
► |
Capital |
Real Radio NW |
► |
Heart NW |
Smooth Radio |
► |
Smooth NW |
Mid/West Wales (SW Wales) | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Real Radio Wales |
► |
Heart Wales |
Northampton | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Gold |
► |
Smooth |
Heart |
stays |
Norfolk | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Gold |
► |
Smooth |
Heart |
stays |
Nottingham | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Gold |
stays |
|
Heart |
stays |
|
Smooth Radio |
► |
Smooth E Mids |
Oxford | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Gold |
► |
Smooth |
Heart |
stays |
Peterborough | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Gold |
► |
Smooth |
Heart |
stays |
Plymouth | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Gold |
► |
Smooth |
Heart |
stays |
Reading and Basingstoke | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Gold |
► |
Smooth |
Heart |
stays |
Southend and Chelmsford | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Gold |
► |
Smooth |
Heart |
stays |
South Hampshire | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Gold |
► |
Smooth |
Heart |
stays |
Sussex Coast | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Gold |
► |
Smooth |
Heart |
stays |
Swansea | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Real Radio Wales |
► |
Heart Wales |
Swindon | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Gold |
► |
Smooth |
Heart |
stays |
Teesside | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Real Radio NE |
► |
Heart NE |
Smooth Radio |
► |
Smooth NE |
Tyne and Wear | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Real Radio NE |
► |
Heart NE |
Smooth Radio |
► |
Smooth NE |
Wolverhampton, Telford | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Heart |
stays |
|
Smooth Radio |
► |
Smooth W Mids |
Wrexham, Chester, Liverpool | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Real Radio Wales |
► |
Heart North Wales |
Regional multiplexes:
CENTRAL SCOTLAND | ||
Now | Becomes | |
Real Radio XS |
► |
XFM |
Real Radio Scotland |
► |
Heart Scotland |
YORKSHIRE
(until multiplex closure) |
||
Now | Becomes | |
Capital |
stays |
|
Heart (UK) | removed | |
Gold |
► |
Smooth Radio |
Real Radio Yorks |
► |
Heart Yorks |
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