Absolute Radio

1993–1997: Virgin Radio launch and early years

The Broadcasting Act 1990 allowed for the launch of independent national radio (INR) stations in the United Kingdom.[2] 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 for a predominantly speech-based service (this would be advertised later as INR3 and 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.[3]

The second national licence, INR2, would take over the 1197 kHz and 1215 kHz medium wave (AM) frequencies, which were to be relinquished by BBC Radio 3.[4] The licence was advertised in October 1991[5] 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); Chiltern Radio Network'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).[4] 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.[6] Later that year, TV-am lost its ITV franchise[7]

The station launched as Virgin 1215 at 12:15 pm on 30 April 1993.[11] The original line-up of DJs included Richard Skinner, Russ Williams, Jono Coleman, Mitch Johnson, Graham Dene, Nick Abbot, Wendy Lloyd, Tommy Vance, Emperor Rosko and Dave Fanning. Chris Evans was also hired to present a Saturday morning show, following his success at BBC GLR in the weekend mid-morning slot. The show, The Big Red Mug Show, was sponsored by Nescafé. Other key presenters included Nicky Horne, Howard Pearce, Lynn Parsons and Jonathan Ross.

The first song played was INXS' cover version of the Steppenwolf song "Born to be Wild". 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.[12] Skinner was also programme director, a role he shared with John Revell.[13] John Pearson was launch sales director, a role he had previously held at LBC. Andy Mollett was launch finance director. David Campbell, previously managing director of one of Virgin's post-production television companies,[14] was the chief executive at launch.[8]

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[15] and then, when the Radio Authority launched a consultation on the use of the 105–108 MHz band,[16] it lobbied for it to be set aside as a national network.[17] The Radio Authority decided, however, that 105–108 MHz would be licensed to new local and regional stations[18] and Virgin Radio applied for[19] and won one of the new FM licences advertised in London as a result.[20]

Virgin Radio launched on 105.8 MHz FM in London on 10 April 1995[21] beginning with a message from broadcaster David Frost at 6 am 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.[22]

Within a year, Virgin Group was considering the next steps for the radio station, including the option of a flotation[23] or buying back the shares of JP Morgan, Apax and Sir David Frost.[10] In May 1997, it was announced that Capital Radio had agreed to acquire Virgin Radio in an £87 million deal.[24] 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.[25] The Radio Authority approved the acquisition,[26] but Nigel Griffiths, the Consumer Affairs Minister, referred the takeover to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission (MMC).[27] The MMC report into the takeover would not be issued until January 1998, and would recommend that the deal could only go ahead if

In January 1997, Chris Evans 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 (Evans had asked for Fridays off to allow more time for him to work on his Channel 4 television show, TFI Friday).[29] Evans was keen to return to radio and it had been reported that his agent, Michael Foster, had approached Matthew Bannister to ask if Evans would be allowed to be return to Radio 1,[30] and he had gone as far as commencing negotiations to buy Talk Radio.

Richard Branson wanted Evans to work for Virgin Radio, so much so that he joined him on a Concorde flight to New York to try to persuade him to join as the drive time presenter.[31] 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. The initial contract would only be for ten weeks, until the MMC announced its decision on the Capital Radio takeover.[31] Evans approached David Campbell to discuss buying the radio station and, with Michael Foster's help, they put together a deal to buy it with venture capital supplied by Apax Partners and Paribas, with Virgin Group retaining a 20% stake in the business. 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.[32][33]

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.[34] In August 1998, Evans took a spur of the moment decision one weekend to launch a Saturday afternoon show called Rock 'n' Roll Football, which continues to be broadcast on Absolute Radio. From 5 October 1998, Virgin Radio started simulcasts of the breakfast show on Sky One each morning for an hour between 7.30 and 8.30 am When a track was played on the radio, viewers would see a video at the same time.[22][35]

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.[22] At the end of 1999, at a time when TV programme Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? had yet to give 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".[22]

2000–2008: SMG ownership

The management team therefore set itself on a strategy to sell the business three years ahead of schedule. It hired Goldman Sachs to run the sale process, and considered a public flotation,[37] before selling to the Scottish Media Group 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 Group. Evans personally made £75 million out of the sale.[38]

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.[39]

Chief executive John Pearson, who had been with the station since before launch, resigned in April 2005,

2008–2013: Acquisition by Times of India and rebranding as Absolute Radio

On 12 April 2007, it was announced that SMG plc was to sell Virgin Radio, to enable the company to focus on its television station, STV.[42] 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 was given 90 days' grace in which to rebrand the station. As part of the deal, Absolute Radio International, operator of two FM licences in Oxford, would manage the station.[43][44]

On 1 September 2008 it was announced that Virgin Radio would be rebranded as Absolute Radio on 28 September.[45] At the same time, changes to the line-up were made known with

2013–present: Acquisition by Bauer Media

On 29 July 2013, Bauer Media Group announced it intended to purchase Absolute from The Times Group for an amount believed to be between £20m and £25m, pending regulatory approval.[49] The deal was cleared by the Office of Fair Trading on 23 December.[50]

Subsequently, by September 2014, all other London-based Bauer stations moved from Mappin House to a refurbished One Golden Square, creating a new national radio hub.

Bauer Radio announced in July 2015 that Absolute Radio would be taking up the 105.2 FM frequency in the West Midlands, previously held by Planet Rock. Absolute launched on 105.2 FM on 7 September 2015.[51] The station ended transmission on that frequency on 16 December 2018, following Bauer's decision to broadcast Greatest Hits Radio on FM across the West Midlands.

In March 2021, Ofcom approved Bauer's application for permission to alter the FM licence held by the London FM relay of Absolute Radio, enabling the frequency to be used to provide a London variant of Greatest Hits Radio.

Audience and playlist

Virgin Radio launched aiming at a target group of 24-to 44-year-olds[60] 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."[61] It would provide a blend of recent album tracks and chart music from the past 25 years and aim to fill the "hole in the middle" between BBC Radio 1 and local commercial radio, which were specifically aimed at young audiences, and "gold" stations offering classic hits.[62]

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.[63]

Studios

The station broadcast from studios in One Golden Square until April 2024.[22] It currently broadcasts from Bauer's building The Lantern, near Euston railway station in London.

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[68] until 22 November 1978, then from 23 November 1978 until 28 February 1992 by BBC Radio 3.[69]

In 1992–1993, Virgin replaced the valve-based transmitters at the ex-BBC transmitter sites it acquired with solid-state transmitters.

Virgin Radio 1215 AM then broadcast from 30 April 1993 to 28 September 2008, and Absolute Radio 1215 AM broadcast from 29 September 2008 to 19 January 2023.

Absolute Radio Classic Rock

A radio station on DAB, Virgin Media, Sky and the internet playing classic rock from the 1960s to the 1990s. Launched as Virgin Radio Classic Rock in 2000 as part of SMG Radio's strategy to trade total network listening hours at a time when analogue listening hours had been falling. The service was rebranded as Absolute Radio Classic Rock in 2008.

Absolute Radio 60s

Launched on 22 November 2011, Absolute 60s is the sixth radio station launched under the Absolute branding. The station is broadcast on DAB, some digital television networks, and online. The station has defined itself as "the home of the Beatles, Stones and Mo-Town". With The Beatles and The Rolling Stones as highlights of the station's broadcasts, it plays music originating from the 1960s. Pete Mitchell was the main daytime presenter, returning to Golden Square: he was last on Virgin Radio in 2005 hosting the Breakfast show with Geoff Lloyd.

Absolute Radio Extra

Established in 2010, Absolute Radio Extra enabled Absolute to carry its Premier League football coverage on DAB. During match coverage, the analogue frequencies of Absolute were split, with the London 105.8 FM service carrying scores-and-music show Rock 'n Roll Football, and the national 1215 AM service carrying match commentary. On DAB, the main Absolute service carried Rock 'n Roll Football, with Extra carrying match commentary. Extra was also used for coverage of music festivals and events (such as V Festival) in addition to the coverage available on the main station.

Absolute Radio Extra has subsequently ceased operation: the core Absolute service on DAB continues to relay the shared programming output of the national AM/London FM service.

Absolute Radio 40s

Absolute Radio 40s was a pop-up station in May 2020, which celebrated the 75th anniversary of VE Day. The station used the 1215 MW frequency to play songs from The Andrews Sisters, Vera Lynn, Billie Holiday, Judy Garland, Glenn Miller, Bing Crosby, Doris Day and Gracie Fields for 24 hours with Dave Berry,[119] Leona Graham[120]

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 7 pm to 6 am daily. Its content was chosen by members of Absolute's VIP Service, who selected songs which were then voted for, and songs with the most votes were played. dabbl has now ceased, its DAB slots outside London taken by Absolute Radio 90s.

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 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.

Virgin Radio Party Classics

Launched on 15 June 2006, Virgin Radio Party Classics played party