Capital London
This article is about the British radio station. For other uses, see Capital Radio (disambiguation).
| Capital 95.8 Logo Capital 95.8 Logo | |
| Broadcast area | London |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 95.8 MHz Sky Digital: 0109 Virgin Media: 958 (931/932 ex Telewest) DAB Digital Radio (London) |
| Programming | |
| Format | Contemporary |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | GCap Media |
| History | |
First air date | 16 October 1973 |
| Links | |
| Website | www.capitalradio.com |
Capital 95.8 is a London radio station owned by GCap Media (formerly Capital Radio Group).
Early Years
The station, which was based at Euston Tower until early in 1997, was originally named Capital Radio, and was launched by then-chairman Richard Attenborough in October 1973. Capital went on air just over a week after news station LBC, making it the second legal commercial radio station in the UK. The first song to be played on Capital was Bridge Over Troubled Water, by Simon and Garfunkel. In 1988, the station relaunched under the name Capital FM, before reverting to its original name at the beginning of 2006 and then relaunching again in March 2007 with the name Capital 95.8.
Broadcasting on FM and medium wave, it has used 95.8 MHz since its inception, while the medium wave frequency was originally 539 metres (557kHz). This happened to be the same frequency that the Dutch pirate radio station Radio Veronica was using, and the interference between the two meant that neither station could be heard clearly in parts of southern England or Belgium.
In 1975, Capital's medium wave frequency moved to 194 metres (1548 kHz) after Veronica had been closed by the Dutch anti-pirate legislation. As the British government encouraged an end to simulcasting as part of its plan to expand choice in UK radio, a separate service - Capital Gold - was set up in 1988 to broadcast on Capital's medium wave frequency.
DJs
The station's original presenters include;
- David Symonds
- Kerry Juby
- Tommy Vance
- Tony Myatt
- Michael Aspel
- Joan Shenton
- Kenny Everett (of whom they now provide podcasts )
- Dave Cash
- Roger Scott
- Maggie Norden (Presenter of Hullabaloo)
- Brian Hayes
- Greg Edwards
- Nicky Horne
- Gerald Harper
Later presenters include:
- Sue Cook
- Peter Young
- Ian Davidson
- Graham Dene
- John Sachs
- David Jensen
- Chris Tarrant (who hosted the breakfast show for 17 years)
- Pat Sharp
- Mick Brown
- Richard Allinson
The following also worked on Capital's sister station Capital Gold
More recent DJs include
Currently on Capital 95.8:
- Johnny Vaughan
- Lucio
- Craig Doyle
- James Cannon
- Chris Brooks
- Margherita Taylor
- Tony Shepherd
- James Bassam
- Myleene Klass
- Jo Good
- Stephen Sullivan
- Tim Lichfield
- Sophie Malcolm
- Dave Berry
- Matt Brown
- Bam Bam and Kat Shoob
- Paul Gillies
- Ben Glover
Recent History
The studios of Capital 95.8 are today based in Leicester Square, which is also home to Capital's parent company, GCap Media.
In September 1996 the then Capital FM launched its website, a little later than some UK broadcasters, but high demand led to it crashing within a few hours.
Towards the end of 2005, and the beginning of 2006, the station went through a number of changes. From December 2005 it was decided to only have two advertisements in one break in order to get listeners back to the music faster (these adverts were however played on the station at more regular intervals).
On 9 January 2006 due in part to the fact that by then many people were no longer listening on FM but via the Internet, TV or DAB,[citation needed] the station was once again relaunched under its original name (Capital Radio), with a modified line-up of presenters and a slightly tweaked music format. After this re-launch turned out not to have had the desired success, a new Programme Controller was appointed in September 2006. Scott Muller came from the Nova group in Australia, and the station saw another tweak in style.
The new era has seen Capital re-branded back to "London's Hit Music Station", a play on the stations earlier brand of "London's Number One Hit Music Station" with noticeable improvements - leading to an uprisal in audience figures at the end of last year. The station also changed its on air name to "95.8 Capital Radio", incorporating the frequency of "95.8" back into the station since it was dropped at the January 2006 re-launch.
In March 2007 the new name of the station is Capital 95.8 and its slogan reads "The Sound Of London". The marketing campaign combines outdoor, cinema, and print adverts. [1]