Absolute Radio 90s is a semi-national digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Absolute Radio Network. Its output is non-stop 1990s hits.
The station launched on DAB in London in June 2010 and on the
Digital One
Digital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. , the multiplex covered more than 90% of the population from 137 transmitters. Coverage was extended to Northern Ireland in July 2013. It conta ...
platform on 25 August 2010 and was initially available for one month as a "test".RadioToday However, the availability of the station nationally continued beyond the end of September, and after a strong opening
RAJAR
Radio Joint Audience Research Limited (RAJAR; ) was established in 1992 to operate a single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United Kingdom. RAJAR is jointly owned by the BBC and Radiocentre. RAJAR's predecessor was c ...
figure, it was confirmed that the 90s service would continue to be available on Digital One. It remained on that multiplex until January 2015, when its slot was given over to Magic. Ahead of this change Absolute 90s began appearing on a number of local DAB ensembles from 12 December 2014, replacing
Kerrang! Radio
Kerrang! Radio is a British specialist rock music radio station related to ''Kerrang!'' magazine, broadcast nationally on DAB and online. Launched in 2002, it is owned and operated by Bauer Media and forms part of the Kerrang! Network, which ...
in many cases. Absolute 90s continues to broadcast nationally via satellite TV and online, and on 29 January 2018 the station went nationwide on DAB.
Background
The station was announced in May 2010 when Absolute Radio 80s launched on the
Digital One
Digital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. , the multiplex covered more than 90% of the population from 137 transmitters. Coverage was extended to Northern Ireland in July 2013. It conta ...
national multiplex.
Launch
The service was launched on 21 June 2010 by Christian O'Connell at 10am with the
Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentRoll With It" the first song played on the station. It was then followed by a 90s mixtape.
Like its other digital spin-offs, Absolute Radio 90s also carries the Dave Berry breakfast show from Absolute Radio. During the 2013 season, Absolute Radio 90s was the UK's broadcaster of
NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...
(
American football
American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
) games, taking over in that capacity from
BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra
BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra (formerly BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra) is a British digital radio in the United Kingdom, digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, and specialising in extended live sports coverage. It is a sister station ...
. (Absolute Radio abandoned NFL broadcasts in 2014.)
Availability
The service, which took over the slots previously used by Absolute Radio 80s, was available in London on the Switch Digital multiplex. The station replaced dabbl in
Bristol
Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
,
Essex
Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
,
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
,
Swindon
Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...
and
Cardiff
Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
. The service is also available on
Sky
The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...
(channel 0203).
Absolute Radio 90s launched on the
Digital One
Digital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. , the multiplex covered more than 90% of the population from 137 transmitters. Coverage was extended to Northern Ireland in July 2013. It conta ...
platform in August 2010, initially as a test due to run until 30 September 2010. This used the broadcast capacity of Absolute Radio Extra during that station's downtime. The trial was subsequently extended, and in November 2010 it was confirmed that the station would remain on Digital One, sharing with Extra as before, on a permanent basis, and that a new station, Absolute Radio 00s ("Noughties") would launch on DAB in London in December (in the former 90s slot). As a result of its national launch Absolute Radio 90s has now also been removed from the other local DAB multiplexes it broadcast on ( Absolute Classic Rock took over the slot on the
Cardiff
Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
local multiplex).
As a result of sharing its
Digital One
Digital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. , the multiplex covered more than 90% of the population from 137 transmitters. Coverage was extended to Northern Ireland in July 2013. It conta ...
slot with Absolute Radio Extra, Absolute Radio 90s was off-air on DAB between 1:30pm and 6:30pm on Saturdays. However, the digital TV and internet broadcasts of the 90s station were uninterrupted and continuous throughout this period. Following the closure of Absolute Radio Extra, Absolute Radio 90s regained a full uninterrupted service on all platforms.
At the end of 2017, Absolute Radio 90s resumed transmitting nationally on Digital One, taking the place of temporary station Magic Christmas, and so during 2018 had dual illumination on local and national tier. In February 2019, as part of the reorganisation of DAB capacity required ahead of the launch of Scala Radio, Absolute Radio 90s began transmitting on
SDL National
Sound Digital is a semi-national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva, Bauer Media Group and News Broadcasting. The multiplex covers 73% of the population from a total of 45 transmitters.
History
Following ...
(taking the place of
Heat Radio
Heat Radio is a British digital radio station, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK. It originally launched in 2003, related to the ''Heat'' magazine. Heat Radio currently broadcasts on DAB in London and nationwide online.
As of Decem ...
) with its other slots vacated, the Digital One slot going to
Kisstory
Kisstory is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Kiss Network. Playing "old skool and anthems", it is a sister station to Kiss.
As of March 2025, the station has a weekly audience of 2 mill ...
and local-tier slots to Magic Chilled, both of which in turn gave up their SDL capacity to Scala.
On 16 October 2023, Absolute Radio 90s switched to DAB+ broadcasting in stereo.
On 13 December 2023, Absolute Radio 90s was removed from
Sky
The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...
, along with every other radio station owned by Bauer Media on the TV platform, including
Absolute Radio
Absolute Radio is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Absolute Radio Network. It broadcasts nationally across the UK via digital audio broadcasting.
The station focuses on alternative ...
Hits Radio
Hits Radio is a network of 26 contemporary hit radio stations in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK. The network launched in 2018 with the rebranding of Bauer's Manchester station Key 103 and its merger with The Hi ...
,
Greatest Hits Radio
Greatest Hits Radio (GHR) is a classic hits radio network in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK. It currently includes 18 local and regional radio stations operating over 50 FM and DAB licences in England, Scotl ...
,
Kiss
A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...