Latest news about Capital XTRA

Ofcom rejects XS Manchester’s request of format change

XS Manchester’s request of format change to rebrand as Capital XTRA has been rejected by Ofcom. The request was made last October by Communicorp (now known as CCUK) to change from a rock and speech service for 35 – 64-year-olds, to an urban contemporary music service featuring music of an Afro-Caribbean origin and was subject to a public consultation. Ofcom originally said it was minded to approve the change, which would have resulted in Global’s Capital XTRA service being broadcast on 106.1FM in Manchester, closing XS. There were over 70 individuals and organisations who responded, with all but two opposed to the proposed changes...

Global radio stations join in with mass applause

LBC, Heart, Capital, Capital XTRA, Smooth, Classic FM, Radio X and Gold will pause for a mass applause to thank NHS workers this week. All the Global stations will join the show of appreciation at 8pm on Thursday 26th March, encouraging people up and down the country to stand and clap at their windows, front doors, balconies and in their living rooms. The call-to-action, which will amplify the sentiment of the online ‘Clap for our Carers’ campaign, was launched this morning at 0815 on-air...

Ofcom receives 51 objections to XS Manchester change

The feedback to Ofcom’s consultation about the proposal to change XS Manchester to Capital XTRA sees 51 objections and two in favour. Of the two welcoming the news, one is a local music company whilst the other simply comments “Since the last rebrand it’s been a dreadful station, put it out of its misery, sooner the better.” But over 50 people took the time to write to Ofcom to help block the move. Some of the comments include: ...

Opinion: RadioToday industry predictions for 2020

One thing is for sure – radio is changing at an incredible pace. Keeping up with emerging products and making full use of smart technology is key. But whilst the art of ‘input’ is changing, the ‘output’ has remained fairly static for many decades. Listeners can still hear a friendly voice on the radio at all hours of the day – the major difference is where the voice is located and when they were recorded. But let’s dig deeper down into the industry and see what 2020 might bring...

£850,000 raised at Global’s Make Some Noise gala

A number of presenters from Global’s radio brands hosted the Make Some Noise annual charity gala at London’s Finsbury Square on Monday. The event raised £850,000 for charity, as music artists including Robbie Williams, Tom Walker and Freya Ridings took to the stage to perform live in front of almost 500 special guests. Global united all its radio brands for the event – Heart, Capital, Smooth, Classic FM, LBC, Radio X, Capital XTRA and Gold – to help children and young people living with illness, disability or lack of opportunity.

RAJAR Q3 2019: London and national brands round-up

Zoe Ball has lost another 364,000 listeners to her BBC Radio 2 breakfast show in the latest radio listening figures from RAJAR. It means more than a million weekly listeners have switched off since she took over the breakfast show from Chris Evans in January. In the period 24th June to 15th September 2019 (Q3/2019), Radio 2 breakfast had a weekly reach of 7.902m – that’s down from 8.266m in Q2 and 9.047m in Q1.While Zoe is still the presenter of the UK’s biggest breakfast show, the figures are the lowest for the slot in a decade – since...

Global to launch Capital XTRA Reloaded across the UK

Capital XTRA is to get its own spin-off station on Monday as Capital XTRA Reloaded goes national on DAB digital radio. The station will feature former Galaxy, Vibe and Capital presenter Sacha Brooks in the morning slot, from 8am till midday weekdays. Global says Capital XTRA Reloaded is the ultimate throwback to the nineties and noughties playing old skool hip-hop, grime, garage, dance and RnB anthems from the likes of Usher, Drake, Beyoncé, Destiny’s Child, Sean Paul and Rihanna...

Heart 90s to launch on national DAB digital radio

Global is transforming its Heart 90s playlist service into a full national radio station on DAB, with Kevin Hughes hosting breakfast. It’s the first of five new services all going national on DAB in the next week – as teased by Global over the last few days. Heart 90s will officially launch tomorrow at 6am – Thursday 29th August – with non-stop music from the 90s and joins Heart, Heart Dance and Heart 80s which all have live national breakfast shows from Leicester Square. Kevin Hughes currently hosts Saturday afternoons on Heart, and previously presented Drive on Heart South Wales...

Yinka and Shayna Marie to take over Capital XTRA Breakfast

Capital XTRA is putting Yinka Bokinni and Shayna Marie Birch-Campbell on weekday breakfast. Yinka and Shayna Marie will replace Jez Welham, who RadioToday revealed will be leaving the show last week, from September 9th. Yinka joined Capital XTRA in 2016 as the host of the Capital XTRA Evening Show, whilst Shayna Marie started at Capital XTRA in January 2019 to host her own Friday night show well as a Saturday morning show with Yinka. Other changes are also coming to the schedule...

RAJAR Q2 2019: London and national brands round-up

Zoe Ball has lost more than three quarters of a million listeners to her BBC Radio 2 breakfast show, according to the latest audience research from RAJAR. The show’s reach is down 781,000 quarter-on-quarter to 8.266m for the three months survey period up to the 23rd June 2019. In Q1/19 she had 9.047m listeners; in Q2/2018 Chris Evans reached 9.038m. Radio 2’s audience at breakfast is now the lowest its been since Q3/2010, when Evans was fairly new in the job.