Capital Anglesey & Gwynedd, formerly known as Capital Cymru, is a local radio station owned and operated by

Global Global may refer to: General *Globe, a spherical model of celestial bodies *Earth, the third planet from the Sun Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 198 ...

. The station broadcasts to

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

and

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

via the

Arfon transmitting station The Arfon transmitting station is a facility for FM, DAB digital radio and television transmission near the villages of Nebo and Nasareth in Gwynedd, northwestern Wales (). It includes a guyed mast with antennas attached at various heights ...

. Previously, the station formed part of the

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

network, and earlier, the Marcher Radio Group. It switched to the Capital network on 6 May 2014.

Heart North and Mid Wales Heart North and Mid Wales is a regional radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. It broadcasts to North and Mid Wales.Harlech Harlech () is a seaside resort and community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, North Wales, and formerly in the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Merionethshire. It lies on Tremadog Bay in the Snowdonia National Park. Before 1966, it ...

), the location of its transmitter means the signal carries across

Cardigan Bay Cardigan Bay () is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales. Geography Cardigan Bay ha ...

and can be heard in parts of

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

and even in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Capital Cymru is also available on the North West Wales local DAB

digital radio Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services. This should not be confused with In ...

multiplex—broadcasting alongside the North Wales Coast feed of

Capital North West and Wales Capital North West and North Wales is a regional radio station owned and operated by Global as part of the Capital network. It broadcasts to Cheshire, the Wirral Peninsula & North Wales. The station was previously part of the Heart radio net ...

. Up until 21 February 2025, the station aired local programming in the Welsh language with the Capital network's playlist tweaked to include contemporary Welsh language music.

History

When it launched in December 1998 as Champion 103, it was the first commercial radio station to serve

and

as a whole, although Marcher

Coast 96.3 Heart North Wales Coast (formerly Coast 96.3 and originally Marcher Coast FM) was an independent local radio station broadcast along the North Wales coast, and owned & operated by Global Radio. The station, which broadcast from studios in Colwy ...

had been broadcasting to a small part of the area for some time from its Colwyn Bay studios. Originally owned and operated by the Marcher Radio Group, Champion 103 broadcast from studios at Parc Menai in

Bangor, Gwynedd Bangor (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, north Wales. It is the oldest city in Wales. Historic counties of Wales, Historically part of Caernarfonshire, the community had a ...

- later sharing its facilities with Coast 96.3. In 2000, the four Marcher stations - including Champion - were brought by the

GWR Group GCap Media was a British commercial radio company formed from the merger of the Capital Radio Group and GWR Group. The merger was completed on 9 May 2005. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Inde ...

and became part of

The One Network The One Network was the collective name for thirty-eight regional Independent Local Radio licences operated by GCap Media in the United Kingdom. It was formed from the combination of GWR Group's 'The Mix Network' and Capital Radio Group's 'The ...

. In March 2009, following Global Radio's takeover of GCap Media, Champion was rebranded as Heart Cymru as part of a rollout of the Heart network across 29 local radio stations owned by Global. By this point, local programming had been reduced to ten hours on weekdays and seven hours at weekends. In July 2010, Global closed the Bangor studios and moved Heart Cymru's operations to the former Marcher headquarters in

Gwersyllt Gwersyllt () is an urban village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The densely populated village is one of Wrexham's largest and is situated in the north western suburbs of the city, bordering the nearby villages of Llay, Cefn-y ...

, near

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

. By this point, the three Heart stations serving North Wales Coast, Cheshire & North East Wales and

the Wirral The Wirral Peninsula (), known locally as the Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide, and is bounded by the Dee Estuary to the west, the Mersey Estuary to the east, and Liverpool ...

were merged into one regional station,

Heart North West and Wales Capital North West and North Wales is a regional radio station owned and operated by Global as part of the Capital network. It broadcasts to Cheshire, the Wirral Peninsula & North Wales. The station was previously part of the Heart radio net ...

. Heart Cymru was not affected by the network restructuring. On 6 February 2014, Global announced that Heart Cymru would be rebranded as Capital, with the North Wales licence of Real Radio Wales being sold to

Communicorp Bauer Media Audio Ireland (formerly Communicorp Group) is a media holding company based in Ireland, owned by Bauer Media Group. History Communicorp Group Ltd was formed by Denis O'Brien in 1989. It launched its radio operations in Ireland that ...

and relaunched as a new separate Heart station for North and Mid Wales. Capital Cymru was launched on 6 May 2014. All local output, including extended Welsh language shows, news bulletins and network opt-outs were retained. On 23 May 2019, Capital Cymru dropped all of Capital's networked programming and introduced a full schedule of local output, including an additional Welsh-language daytime show. The station retained both the Capital branding and the tweaked CHR music playlist. '' The Official Big Top 40'', simulcast on

Heart North Wales Heart North and Mid Wales is a regional radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. It broadcasts to North and Mid Wales.Capital North West and North Wales Capital North West and North Wales is a regional radio station owned and operated by Global as part of the Capital network. It broadcasts to Cheshire, the Wirral Peninsula & North Wales. The station was previously part of the Heart radio net ...

. It now simulcasts a national drivetime show for Wales on weekdays, presented by Josh Andrews and Kally Davies and broadcast from Global's Cardiff Bay studios. Local news and traffic bulletins were retained.

Programming

Most networked programming originates from Global's London headquarters. National programming for Wales is produced and broadcast from Global's Cardiff Bay studios on weekdays from 4–7pm, presented by Josh Andrews and Kally Davies.Global confirms new nationwide radio shows for Heart, Capital & Smooth
Global, 5 February 2025

News

Global’s Cardiff Bay newsroom broadcasts hourly localized news updates from 6am–6pm on weekdays and 8am–12pm at weekends.

References

External links

* {{Welsh language Radio stations in Wales Marcher Radio Group Welsh-language mass media Bangor, Gwynedd Radio stations established in 1998

Cymru () is the Welsh language, Welsh-language name for Wales, a country of the United Kingdom, on the island of Great Britain. It, and the Welsh word referring to the Welsh people, are descended from the Common Brittonic, Brythonic word ''combr ...

1998 establishments in Wales Contemporary hit radio stations in the United Kingdom

History

Programming

News

See also

References

External links