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Classic Gold Digital Network was one of the biggest 'gold' (oldies) formatted radio networks in the United Kingdom, with a potential audience of 47 million. Classic Gold was broadcast on analogue and DAB digital platforms, as well as Sky channel 0189. The first stations were launched in 1988; the network grew to 18 stations and was merged into what became the Gold network in 2007.
Most of the stations were originally the medium wave services of Independent Local Radio stations. For example, "Classic Gold 1359" in Coventry was originally part of Mercia Sound and was a full local service. In the 1980s, FM/AM stations split (in this case to Mercia FM and Xtra AM), before the station was bought by GWR radio in 1993, and the AM station rebranded to "Classic Gold".
In 1998, Classic Gold in Northampton legally rebranded to Classic Gold 1557 Northamptonshire.
The stations were sold to UBC in two tranches in 2000 and 2002; however, in 2007 they came back under the control of GCap (formerly GWR & Capital). Most stations in the network carried the same programming, except for a local 4-hour afternoon programme from 3pm to 7pm.
Additionally, the AM service operated by UTV Radio in West Yorkshire, Pulse Classic Gold, carried programming supplied by the Classic Gold network (with additional localisation and programmes), although it was not owned by UBC.
In summer 2007, GCap Media agreed to acquire the 18 AM Classic Gold radio stations owned by Classic Gold Digital for a cash consideration of £3.95 million. GCap merged the network with its own Capital Gold network of stations to form one classic hits network. The acquisition, which included relevant DAB digital licences held by Classic Gold, was approved by Ofcom. The new network rebranded as 'Gold' launched at 7pm on Friday 3 August 2007. [1]
Weekdays
Weekends included
These were the 20 stations in the Classic Gold Digital Network on 3 August 2007:
In addition, until 1 December 2008, the UTV Radio-owned Pulse Classic Gold in West Yorkshire broadcast programming supplied by the network, with additional localisation and programmes specific to West Yorkshire. This station relaunched as Pulse 2, a completely local station before closing in August 2020 to become Greatest Hits Radio West Yorkshire.
Hits Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire is a forthcoming Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
Heart Wiltshire was an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. It broadcast to north and west Wiltshire. The station was rebranded to Heart in March 2009 in line with Global Radio's rebranding of most of the One Network, which the station was part of. Its local competitors were Sam FM, BBC Wiltshire and community radio station, Swindon 105.5.
Gold is a network of oldies radio stations in the United Kingdom, which was formed by the merger of the Capital Gold network and the Classic Gold network in August 2007. The station relaunched in March 2014 as a partly-automated service, broadcasting in fewer areas, after many of Gold's local AM/DAB frequencies were transferred to Smooth Radio. Most programming is broadcast from the Global Radio studios in Leicester Square, London.
Pulse 2 was an Independent Local Radio station serving Bradford, Kirklees and Calderdale areas from studios in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.
Solid Gold GEM AM was an Independent Local Radio station, broadcasting to much of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland and East Staffordshire from studios in Nottingham, and later Dunstable, Bedfordshire.
Classic Gold was a network of three "Gold" music formatted stations which broadcast on AM in Bradford, Hull and Sheffield. They were the sister stations of Pennine Radio, Viking Radio and Radio Hallam respectively and they were part of the Yorkshire Radio Network.
GCap Media was a British commercial radio company formed from the merger of the Capital Radio Group and GWR Group. The merger was completed on 9 May 2005. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. On 31 March 2008 the company agreed a takeover by Global Radio for £375 million. This was completed on 6 June 2008, and the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Global Radio.
Greatest Hits Radio East Yorkshire & Northern Lincolnshire is an Independent Local Radio station serving East Riding of Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire. The station was replaced by a relay of Magic UK, as part of a restructure, on 1 September 2020.
Trent FM was an Independent Local Radio station which broadcast to Nottinghamshire. The station merged with two other East Midlands stations, Leicester Sound and Ram FM to form Capital FM East Midlands on Monday 3 January 2011.
Plymouth Gold was an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to the city of Plymouth in Devon and surrounding areas. It is owned by GCap Media and was part of the national Classic Gold Digital Network. It broadcasts on 1152 kHz AM, DAB digital radio, as well as online and on Sky Digital Channel 0189. Based at Earl's Acre, Plymouth, its sister station is Heart Plymouth, formerly known as Plymouth Sound until 2009.
Classic Gold 1332 was an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to the Peterborough area on 1332 kHz AM and DAB digital radio. It also was available around Cambridge on DAB digital radio. It was part of the Classic Gold Digital Network which was owned by GCap and was the sister station of 102.7 Hereward FM. Its studios were based in the Queensgate Centre, Peterborough.
The Capital Gold radio station started in London in 1988 on Capital Radio's AM frequency, after the Independent Broadcasting Authority had urged stations to end simulcasting and threatened to remove one of their frequencies if simulcasting continued. The original DJs on the early incarnation of Capital Gold included Tony Blackburn, Kenny Everett and David Hamilton. The hiring of radio personalities to host networked shows continued to be a feature of the Capital Gold network as it grew.
Capital Life, also known as Life, was a digital radio station broadcasting across the UK on the Digital One network and streamed online. Capital Life was due to be available on DTV but never launched due to the closure of the station.
Amber Radio was originally a classic hits/gold radio station operating from studios in both Norwich and Ipswich, England. It was the AM sister station of Radio Broadland and SGR and served Norfolk and Suffolk, covering a population of over a million for several years.
Midlands Radio plc was an independent radio operator, which operated seven radio licences in Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham and surrounding areas in the United Kingdom.
Hits Radio Black Country & Shropshire is a forthcoming Independent Local Radio station based in Birmingham, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Shropshire, Wolverhampton and the Black Country.
Free Radio was a regional group of Independent Local Radio stations in the West Midlands, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network.
Smooth Radio is a network of local radio stations broadcasting on FM, AM and DAB in the United Kingdom. Smooth Radio features a soft adult contemporary radio format. Launched in March 2014, it replaced the national Smooth Radio that had launched in 2010 on FM and DAB, and most outlets of Gold on AM.
Smooth Wales is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to the Cardiff area of South Wales and to the Wrexham area of North Wales, as well as parts of Cheshire in England. All programming content is now shared to both areas. It is the only AM station in the Smooth radio network to have its own content, a local four-hour weekday show, as all other Smooth AM stations, as added to the network in 2014, carry the London network FM content, opting out only for local news and advertising breaks. The local show on Smooth Wales was carried over from the station's previous incarnation as Gold.
Allied Radio plc was a publicly listed radio company that operated, or held an interest in, several Independent Local Radio contractors in the UK during the 1990s.