Capital Birmingham is a local radio station owned and operated by

Global Radio Global Media & Entertainment Limited, trading as Global, is a British media company formed in 2007. It is the owner of the largest commercial radio company in Europe having expanded through a number of historical acquisitions, including Chrysa ...

as part of the

Capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

radio network. It broadcasts to Birmingham from studios at Brindleyplace in Birmingham City Centre. In April 2019, Capital Birmingham was merged with a sister station in the East Midlands to form Capital Midlands.

History

The station began broadcasting as Choice FM on 1 January 1995, after taking over the licence previously operated by Buzz FM. Four years later, Choice was renamed as Galaxy after it was bought out by Chrysalis. Galaxy was sold off to Global Radio in June 2007 in a £170 million deal which saw the group take over The Arrow, LBC and Heart. The station was relaunched and re-branded as 102.2 Capital on 3 January 2011 as part of a merger of Global Radio's

Galaxy A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. ...

and

Hit Music ''Hit Music'' was a weekly British chart newsletter; sister publication to ''Music Week''. ''Hit Music'' existed for almost nine years, supplying the official UK music charts (as compiled by Gallup and later OCC/CIN). The founding editors were ...

networks to form the nine-station

radio network. In April 2013, the station along with Heart West Midlands moved to new studios at Eleven Brindleyplace in central Birmingham.

Station merger

On 26 February 2019, Global confirmed the station would be merged with Capital East Midlands. As of Monday 8 April 2019, the regional output consists of a three-hour Drivetime show on weekdays, alongside news bulletins, traffic updates and advertising. Local breakfast and weekend shows were replaced with networked programming from London.

Format

Unlike other stations on the Capital network, the 102.2 Capital licence was to cater primarily for Urban contemporary black music rather than a 'contemporary/chart music-led service'. The radio station format stated that the service should provide 'a rhythmic-based music and information stations primarily for listeners of African or afro-Caribbean origin, but with cross over appeal to young white fans of urban contemporary black music'. On 1 July 2011,

requested to change the formats of Capital Birmingham and Capital Scotland which have obligations from previous owners - this is to enable all nine Capital stations to be inline. On 17 November 2011 it was announced

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...

approved two format change requests.Ofcom approves Capital format change
Radio Today, 17 November 2011 In February 2014, the station resumed opting out of networked programming for two hours each week, broadcasting an overnight specialist show featuring Afro-Caribbean music. Capital Birmingham's transmitter is located at Metropolitan House on the

A456 Known as the Hagley Road in Birmingham, the A456 is a main road in England running between Central Birmingham and Woofferton, Shropshire, south of Ludlow. Some sections of the route, for example Edgbaston near Bearwood, are also the route of ...

. It is also available on

DAB DAB, dab, dabs, or dabbing may refer to: Dictionaries * ''Dictionary of American Biography'', published under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies * ''Dictionary of Australian Biography'', published since 1949 Places * Dąb, ...

via the Birmingham, Coventry, and Wolverhampton, Shrewsbury and Telford multiplexes.

Notable former presenters

* Edith Bowman * Sacha Brooks *

Rich Clarke Richard "Rich" Clarke (born 19 August 1978) is an English radio presenter and DJ from Worcester, England, currently presenting with Global. Student radio At Royal Holloway, University of London he co-operated with future BBC journalist Ed Harry ...

* David Dunne * Andi Durrant * Stephanie Hirst *Dave Kelly * Adele Roberts * Steve Sutherland *

Margherita Taylor Margherita Taylor (born 26 April 1972) is an English TV and radio presenter. She is a freelancer with Global Group and currently presents on stations Smooth Radio and Classic FM. Taylor studied media and communications at the University o ...

* Tiësto

References

External links

Capital Birmingham

Metropolitan House transmitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Capital Birmingham Birmingham Radio stations in Birmingham, West Midlands Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom Radio stations established in 1995 1995 establishments in England