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Absolute Radio

Coordinates: 51°30′44″N 0°08′13″W / 51.512248°N 0.136937°W / 51.512248; -0.136937
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51°30′44″N 0°08′13″W / 51.512248°N 0.136937°W / 51.512248; -0.136937

Absolute Radio
Absolute Radio logo
Broadcast areaUnited Kingdom:
National (AM);
London (FM)
Frequency1215 kHz, AM Variants
105.8 MHz (G. London)
DAB - (Digital One)
- 11D (England & Wales)
- 12A (Scotland)
Sky: 0107
Virgin Media: 915
Freeview: 727
Freesat: 724
TalkTalk TV: 620
Smallworld: 851
Orbit Network: 127
Usen (Japan): CG3
BrandingAbsolute.
Programming
FormatModern adult contemporary
Ownership
OwnerTIML Radio Limited
Absolute Classic Rock
Absolute 80s
Absolute 90s
Absolute Radio Extra
History
First air date
As Virgin Radio
30 April 1993
As Absolute Radio
29 September 2008
Links
WebsiteAbsoluteRadio.co.uk

Absolute Radio is one of the UK's three Independent National Radio stations. The station rebranded to its current name at 7.45am on 29 September 2008.[2][3]

The station is based in London and plays popular rock music. It currently broadcasts on mediumwave and DAB across the UK, on 105.8 FM in London, Sky (channel 0107), Virgin Media (channel 915), Freeview (channel 727), Freesat (channel 724) and TalkTalk TV (channel 620). It is also available in other parts of the world via satellite, cable, and on the Internet. Absolute Radio is a patron of The Radio Academy.[4]

History

1993-1997: Virgin Radio launch and early years

No 1 Golden Square with "Virgin Radio" branding, 1993 - 2008.

The 1990 Broadcasting Act allowed for the launch of independent national radio (INR) stations in the United Kingdom.[5] The Radio Authority was mandated to award three INR licences, one of which (INR1) had to be for a 'non-pop' station (which was awarded to Classic FM), and one of which had to be be for a predominantly speech-based service (this would be advertised later as INR3 and would be awarded to Talk Radio). The remaining licence was to be open to 'all-comers'. The licences were to be awarded to the highest cash bidder, providing that the applicant met criteria set down in the Broadcasting Act.[6]

The second national licence, INR2, would take over the 1197 kHz and 1215 kHz frequencies, which were to be relinquished by BBC Radio 3.[7] The licence was advertised in October 1991[8] and five organisations bid: the Independent National Broadcasting Company of Sheffield, which bid £4,010,000 per year; a TV-am/Virgin consortium (£1,883,000); Radio Chiltern's 20/20 Radio (£1,311,000); Radio Clyde's Score Radio (£701,000); and a consortium of CLT, Harvey Goldsmith and RTÉ (£211,000).[7] The TV-am/Virgin consortium was awarded the licence in April 1992, after the Radio Authority said that it was not satisfied that Independent National Broadcasting would be able to sustain the service.[9] Later that year, TV-am lost its ITV license[10] and its stake in the radio station was sold in March 1993[11] to Apax Partners, JP Morgan Investment Corporation and Sir David Frost.[12][13]

The station launched as Virgin 1215 at 12.15pm on 30 April 1993. The first song was a cover version of the Steppenwolf song "Born to be Wild", recorded by Australian group INXS. Richard Branson was the first voice to be heard, live from the Virgin Megastore in Manchester, with Richard Skinner the first voice back in the London studios.[14] Skinner was also Programme Director, a role he shared with John Revell.[15] David Campbell, previously managing director of one of Virgin's post-production television companies,[16] was the chief executive at launch.[11]

From before its launch on AM, Virgin Radio was campaigning for a national FM network. Initially, it lobbied for Radio 4's FM network to be made available[17] and then, when the Radio Authority launched a consultation on the use of the 105-108 MHz band,[18] it lobbied for it to be set aside as a national network.[19] The Radio Authority decided, however, that 105-108 MHz would be licensed to new local and regional stations[20] and Virgin Radio applied for[21] and won one of the new FM licences advertised in London as a result.[22]

Virgin Radio launched on 105.8 MHz FM in London on 10 April 1995[23] beginning with a message from David Frost at 6am followed by the Russ ‘n’ Jono breakfast show. Part of the licence requirements for the London service meant that a daily London opt-out was broadcast on FM, presented initially by Rowland Rivron.[24]

Within a year, Virgin Group was considering the next steps for the radio station, including the option of a flotation[25] or buying back the shares of JP Morgan, Apax and Sir David Frost.[13] In May 1997, it was announced that Capital Radio had agreed to acquire Virgin Radio in an £87 million deal.[26] Capital's plans included moving Virgin Radio from 1 Golden Square to Capital's Leicester Square building and splitting programming between the AM and FM services.[27] The Radio Authority approved the acquisition,[28] but Nigel Griffiths, the Consumer Affairs Minister, referred the takeover to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission (MMC).[29] The MMC report into the takeover would not be issued until January 1998, and would recommend that the deal could only go ahead if Capital Gold was sold or Virgin's London FM licence was left out of the deal.[30] However, the delay in approval of the Capital acquisition would ultimately lead to the deal not going through.

In January 1997, Chris Evans had left his role as presenter of the Radio 1 breakfast show as a result of a disagreement between him and the programme controller Matthew Bannister (Chris had asked for Fridays off to allow more time for him to work on his Channel 4 television show, TFI Friday).[31][32] Evans was keen to return to radio.[33] Indeed it was reported that his agent, Michael Foster, had approached Matthew Bannister to ask if Chris would be allowed to be return to Radio 1,[34] and he had gone as far as commencing negotiations to buy Talk Radio.[35]

Richard Branson wanted Evans to work for Virgin Radio, so much so that he joined him on a Concorde flight to New York in order to try to persuade him to join as the drive time presenter.[36][37] In the end, Virgin Radio hired Evans to present the breakfast show, replacing the incumbent Russ 'n' Jono show (presented by Russ Williams and Jonathan Coleman). His show started on 13 October 1997, the same day that Zoë Ball started as Evans' replacement on Radio 1.[38] The initial contract would only be for ten weeks, until the MMC announced its decision on the Capital Radio takeover.[37] Evans approached David Campbell to discuss buying the radio station and, with Michael Foster's help, they put together a deal to buy the radio station with venture capital supplied by Apax Partners and Paribas, with Virgin Group retaining a 20% stake in the business.[39] The deal was announced on 8 December 1997, and would see the formation of the Ginger Media Group, an umbrella company overseeing Virgin Radio and producing programmes such as TFI Friday.[40][41]

1998-2000: The Ginger Media Group

Evans' ownership of Virgin Radio started well, with a breakfast show audience increase of 660,000 to 2.2m in his first three months.[42] In August 1998, Chris Evans took a spur of the moment decision one weekend to launch a Saturday afternoon show called Rock 'n' Roll Football, a show that is still broadcast on Absolute Radio.[43] From 5 October 1998, Virgin Radio started simulcasts of the breakfast show on Sky One each morning for an hour between 7.30 and 8.30am. When a track was played on the radio, viewers would see a video at the same time.[44][24]

The start of the new football season in August 1999 saw Terry Venables join Russ Williams in a show that would precede Rock 'n' Roll Football.[24] At the end of 1999, in response to the TV programme Who Wants To Be A Millionaire not having given away its top prize, Virgin Radio set a broadcasting first when Clare Barwick won £1 million at the culmination of "Someone’s Going To Be A Millionaire".[45][24]

The management team at the Ginger Media Group were considering expansion opportunities, including a plan to acquire the Daily Star newspaper from United News & Media, and hire Piers Morgan to edit it. Their plans were stalled, however, when the shareholders got cold feet. Evans wrote in his autobiography that "the management wanted to stick to our original brief of expansion, whereas our investors only cared about extracting the added value."[43]

2000-2008: SMG ownership

The management team therefore set themselves on a strategy to sell the business three years ahead of schedule.[43] They hired Goldman Sachs to run the sale process, and considered a public flotation,[46] before selling to the Scottish Media Group (now STV Group plc) for £225 million in March 2000. The Scottish Media Group, which owned Scottish Television and the Herald newspaper, fought off other bidders including Clear Channel, NRJ and Guardian Media. Evans personally made £75 million out of the sale.[47]

Evans was subsequently fired by his new employer in 2001 for failing to report into work for five consecutive days while reportedly partying with his then wife Billie Piper.[48]

Chief Executive, John Pearson, who had been with the station since before launch, resigned in April 2005,[49] and was replaced by Fru Hazlitt, who had previously been managing director of Yahoo! UK and Ireland.[50]

On 13 June 2006, SMG plc signed a deal with YooMedia to make Virgin Radio available on Freeview. It has always placed a great emphasis on other methods of transmission than medium wave, as the 1215 kHz frequency suffers from considerable interference, particularly after dark – BBC Radio 1, which used 1215 kHz for its first eleven years on air, moved to higher-quality medium wave frequencies (now used by talkSport) in 1978 mainly for this reason.

2008-present: Acquisition by Times of India and rebranding as Absolute Radio

No 1 Golden Square with Absolute Radio branding

On 12 April 2007, it was announced that SMG plc were to sell Virgin Radio, to enable the company to focus on its television station, STV.[51] On 30 May 2008 SMG sold Virgin Radio to TIML Golden Square Limited, a subsidiary of The Times Group for £53.2 million with £15 million set aside for rebranding. TIML were given 90 days grace in which to rebrand the station. As part of the deal, Absolute Radio International, which operates two FM licences in Oxford, would manage the station.[52][53]

On 1 September 2008 it was announced that Virgin Radio would be rebranded as Absolute Radio at the end of the month (28 September).[3] At the same time some changes to the line-up were made known with JK and Joel, Robin Burke, Tony Hadley and John Osborne leaving the station and Allan Lake, Joanna Russell (of Trent FM's Jo & Twiggy) and Tim Shaw joining,[54] though Osbourne would return shortly after. However, listening figures revealed for the final quarter of 2008 have revealed that almost one fifth of former Virgin Radio listeners have been lost since the rebranding to Absolute Radio.[55]

Programming

Audience and playlist

Original Virgin Radio logo, used prior to October 2008

Virgin Radio launched aiming at a target group of 24 to 44-year-olds[56] and with a focus on album music, arguing that "singles chart shows on Radio 1 and local commercial radio were outdated because albums outsold singles by three to one."[57] It would provide a blend of album and chart music from the past 25 years and aim to fill the "hole in the middle" between Radio 1, which was specifically aimed at young audiences and "gold" stations offering classic hits.[58]

A year after launch, David Campbell was quoted as saying that "the music policy was wrong, even though Virgin had lots of research to suggest it was doing what listeners said they wanted. We did something we should never do: pursue critical acclaim, playing obscure tracks, gaining the praise of the music press." The station's approach had been to mix in more familiar music.[59]

Fru Hazlitt, when interviewed for The Guardian in September 2006, described the type of music the station championed: "It's pretty much mainstream rock festival type music. Razorlight, [[Keane] (band)|Keane]]. These bands are becoming some of the biggest in the world."[60]

When announcing the rebrand as Absolute Radio on the One Golden Square blog, Clive Dickens, Chief Operating Officer, noted that the station would be "sticking with real music – not manufactured rubbish – and we’re building on the amount of live music we do – we’re just going to discover more of all of it."[61]

The music policy continues to focus on guitar-based rock, mostly British. In a blog post in February 2009, Head of Music James Curran noted that the twenty-most played artists in the first four months of Absolute Radio had been: Coldplay, Kings of Leon, The Killers, Oasis, U2, Razorlight, Kaiser Chiefs, Queen, Keane, Stereophonics, Elbow, Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., Nickelback, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, David Bowie, The Police and Blur.[62]

Presenters

News staff

Template:Multicol Editor
Andrew Bailey Template:Multicol-break Broadcast Journalists
Adrian Hieatt
Tumshie Smillie
Tania Snuggs
Sandy Warr
Template:Multicol-end

Former presenters

Virgin Radio's original line-up included Russ Williams, Neil Francis, Richard Skinner, Mitch Johnson, Tommy Vance, Jonathan Coleman, Nick Abbot and Wendy Lloyd.

Other past presenters on the network include Danny Baker, Robin Banks, Vicki Butler-Henderson, Greg Burns, Robin Burke, Martin Collins, Gary Davies, Daryl Denham, Chris Evans (who also owned the station), Mark Fox, Neil Francis, Alan Freeman, Tony Hadley, Nicky Horne, Janey Lee Grace, Kevin Greening, Gary King, Phil Kennedy, JK and Joel, Jezza (aka Jeremy Kyle), Allan Lake, Tim Lichfield, Tim Lovejoy, Pete Mitchell, Al Murray, James Merritt, John Osborne, Lynn Parsons, Steve Penk, Vic Reeves, Jo Russell, Holly Samos, Harriet Scott, Tim Shaw, Richard Skinner, Graeme Smith, Suggs, David Tennant, Clive Warren, Sandy Beech,Ray Cokes (MTV), and many others.

Football commentary

From the 2010-11 season, Absolute Radio are broadcasting live commentary of 32 English Premier League games on Saturday afternoons.[63] The matches are broadcast on AM only; the London FM service airs "Rock 'n Roll Football" in place of match output. On DAB, Absolute Radio Extra was established as a part-time opt-out service to carry match commentaries.

Ian Wright joined the station to host a post-match phone-in programme.

Broadcast

Studios

Virgin Radio and Absolute Radio have broadcast from studios at 1 Golden Square since Virgin Radio's launch in 1993.[24]

AM transmission

The 1215 kHz frequency (247 metres) was used, in selected areas only, by the BBC Light Programme until 1967. It was then used nationally as the original home of BBC Radio 1[64] until 22 November 1978 and from 23 November 1978 until 28 February 1992 by BBC Radio 3.[65]

In a number of areas, particularly in areas where the signal from the main 1215 transmitters overlap with each other, Absolute Radio operates a number of filler transmitters on different frequencies. Here is a list of the current AM transmitters in use by Absolute Radio:[66][67]

Transmitter Name Coverage Frequency (kHz) EMRP (kW) Grid Reference Air date
Boston[68] Lincolnshire 1242 2 TF260448 2 September 1994
Brighton (Southwick)[69] Sussex 1197 1.1 TQ234051 9 November 1993
Brookmans Park[70] London, Hertfordshire, Essex, South Bedfordshire 1215 125 TL259050 3 August 1993
Chesterton Fen[71] South and Central Cambridgeshire 1197 0.2 TL477608 2 September 1994
Dartford Tunnel Dartford Tunnel 1215 0.004 TQ571769 8 March 1993
Droitwich[72] West Midlands 1215 105 SO929663 8 March 1993
Fareham[73] South Hampshire and Isle of Wight 1215 1 SU546058 9 March 1993
Fern Barrow[74] Dorset 1197 0.25 SZ070926 11 March 1993
Gloucester[75] Gloucestershire 1197 0.3 SO841230 14 March 1993
Greenside Scalp[76] East Tayside 1242 0.5 NO431290 9 March 1993
Guildford (Pirbright)[77] West Surrey and North East Hampshire 1260 0.5 SU959541 24 December 1993
Hoo[78] North and West Kent, South and Central Essex 1197 2 TQ790720 15 March 1993
Hull[79] Humberside 1215 0.32 TA169258 15 March 1993
Kings Heath[80] Northamptonshire 1233 0.5 SP740633 7 November 1993
Lisnagarvey[81] Northern Ireland 1215 16 IJ258619 8 March 1993
Lydd[82] South East Kent and South East Sussex 1260 2 TR049208 2 April 1995
Manningtree[83] South East Suffolk and North East Essex 1233 0.5 TM123295 6 November 1993
Moorside Edge[84] North West and Yorkshire 1215 200 SE070154 8 March 1993
Oxford[85] Oxfordshire 1197 0.25 SP567105 12 March 1993
Plymouth[86] Devon 1215 1.1 SX490585 15 March 1993
Postwick[87] East Norfolk and North East Suffolk 1215 1.2 TG303086 16 March 1993
Reading (Manor Farm)[88] Berkshire 1233 0.16 SU710709 3 November 1993
Redmoss[89] Aberdeen and East Grampian 1215 2.3 NJ942024 25 March 1993
Redruth[90] Cornwall 1215 2 SW709403 28 July 1997
Sheffield[91] South Yorkshire 1233 0.3 SK348849 6 November 1993
Sideway[92] Staffordshire 1242 0.5 SJ876434 9 July 1993
Stockton[93] Cleveland 1242 1 NZ420218 15 March 1993
Swindon[94] Wiltshire 1233 0.1 SU129859 11 November 1993
Torbay[95] Devon 1197 1 SX878630 19 March 1993
Trowell[96] Nottinghamshire 1197 0.5 SK506398 27 March 1993
Wallasey[97] Merseyside 1197 0.4 SJ305926 27 March 1993
Washford[98] South Wales, Avon, Somerset 1215 100 ST058410 11 March 1993
Westerglen[99] Central Scotland 1215 100 NS868773 10 March 1993
Wrekenton[100] Tyne and Wear 1215 2.2 NZ274598 18 March 1993

Satellite distribution

In the summer of 1993, Virgin Radio began broadcasting in stereo on the Astra 1A satellite on an audio sub-carrier of the Sky News channel.[101][102] This service ceased on 1 July 2001 in anticipation of Sky's cessation of its analogue satellite service.[103] Virgin Radio was one of the first twenty radio stations which joined the Sky Digital service on 20 November 1999.[104] Carried on Astra 2A, it launched on the channel 917 of the Sky EPG[105][106], and can today be found as Absolute Radio on channel 0107.

Website and internet broadcasting

Virgin Radio launched its first website on 7 March 1996.[107][108] Designed by AKQA,[109] it hosted a live RealAudio stream, making it the first European radio station to stream 24-hours a day on the internet.[107] The station went onto redesign the website a further six times as Virgin Radio.[107] Streaming audio formats and presentation developed over time: QuickTime streaming was added in July 1999, an interactive media player launched in October 1999, an Ogg Vorbis stream was launched in June 2003,[107] and HE-AAC and Ogg FLAC streams were launched in December 2009.[110]

In 2001, Virgin Radio joined the Measurecast[111] and Arbitron[112] internet broadcasting measurement services. Both measurement services have since closed. In 2009, Absolute Radio started publishing its internet listening and download statistics.[113]

Virgin Radio was also among the first to explore the opportunities for delivering its services to mobile phones. It took part in a joint venture with Ericsson in 1999 to investigate the use of third-generation mobile phone technologies for radio,[114] launched a WAP site in 2000[115] and took part in a trial in 2001 with Crown Castle and Manx Telecom to explore the use of 3G phones to add interactivity to digital radio broadcasts.[116] In 2009, Absolute Radio launched an application for the Apple iPhone[117] and tagging for the Apple iPod Nano.[118] In 2010 applications were released for the Amazon Kindle,[119] the Nokia Ovi Store, the BlackBerry[120] and Windows Phone 7[121] and Absolute Radio was selected as a launch partner for the Apple iAd mobile advertising network.[122]

Sister stations

Main article: Absolute Radio sister stations

A number of subsidiary stations to Virgin Radio and Absolute Radio have been launched as online and digital radio services over recent years, many being established during the period when SMG plc was in charge of the station. The stations were collectively known as the Virgin Radio Network (now the Absolute Radio Network). All 'Absolute' branded channels broadcast on DAB, the Internet, and digital television platforms; they are also now available as smartphone apps. The lineup of stations within the network has changed over time, and those currently on air are:

Absolute Classic Rock

Main article: Absolute Classic Rock

A radio station on DAB, Virgin Media, Sky, Freesat and the Internet playing classic rock from the sixties to the nineties. Absolute Classic Rock launched as Virgin Radio Classic Rock, with live presenters (Richard Skinner, Gordon Loncaster and Alice Cooper) by Lali Parikh.

Absolute 80s

Main article: Absolute 80s

A radio station on DAB, Freesat, Sky, Virgin Media and the Internet which plays classic hits, and is aimed at "reluctant adults" who want to reconnect with the tunes of their youth. Absolute 80s was launched on 4 December 2009.

Absolute 90s

Main article: Absolute 90s

Absolute 90s launched on 21 June 2010 on DAB to a 13m population in London, Esssex, Wiltshire, Bristol, Berkshire and Bath. The station is also available on Sky 0203 and online via website and mobile smartphones.

Absolute Radio 00s

Main article: Absolute Radio 00s

Absolute Radio 00s launched on 10 December 2010[123] at 10am online and on DAB Digital Radio in London[124]. After an internet poll, the first song played was Mr. Brightside by The Killers.

Former spin-off stations

Main article: Absolute Radio sister stations § Former stations

dabbl

Main article: dabbl

dabbl was a user-controlled music radio station broadcast on the Internet and selected local DAB multiplexes 24 hours a day, and on DAB in London from 7pm to 6am daily. Its content was chosen by members of Absolute's VIP Service, who select songs which are then voted for. Songs with the most votes are then broadcast. dabbl has now ceased, its DAB slots outside London taken by Absolute Radio 90s.

Virgin Radio Groove

Main article: Virgin Radio Groove

A radio station on DAB, Virgin Media, Sky and the Internet which played motown, soul and disco music. Originally named The Groove, it was rebranded as a Virgin Radio station in 2004 and closed at the end of 2007.[125]

Liquid

Liquid was a station playing indie, alternative and Britpop. It ran on DAB in London between 2000 and 2004, with its slot taken by Virgin Radio Classic Rock (now Absolute Classic Rock).

Virgin Radio Party Classics

Launched on 15 June 2006, Virgin Radio Party Classics played party pop music. The radio station was based on Suggs' Virgin Party Classics show broadcast on Virgin Radio. The station, which broadcast on Sky Digital and online, closed down on Friday 13 October 2006.

Absolute Xtreme

Main article: Absolute Xtreme

A radio station on DAB, Virgin Media, Sky and the Internet, playing new music. Absolute Xtreme was launched (as Virgin Radio Xtreme) on 5 September 2005, by Lali Parikh (Station Manager) with Steve Harris being the main on air talent. On 4 December 2009, Absolute Xtreme was replaced on DAB and digital TV by Absolute 80s.

Virgin Radio Viva (cancelled)

Virgin Radio Viva, which was due to launch on the new 4 Digital Group platform (which ultimately never launched), was due to be a popular music station aimed at 15- to 29-year-old women. It will now not go ahead.[125]

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Bibliography


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