Capital Liverpool

Coordinates: 53°24′10″N 2°58′46″W / 53.4029°N 2.9795°W / 53.4029; -2.9795

Capital Liverpool
City Liverpool
Broadcast area Merseyside, West Cheshire, West Lancashire
Branding 107.6 Capital
Slogan Liverpool's No.1 Hit Music Station
Frequency FM: 107.6 MHz
DAB: 11B (Liverpool)[1]
RDS: Capital
First air date 27 March 1998
Format Contemporary hit radio
Owner Global
Website Capital Liverpool

Capital Liverpool is an Independent Local Radio station serving Liverpool, England. It is owned and operated by Global Radio[2] and relaunched as part of the Capital FM network early in 2016, replacing 107.6 Juice FM.[3]

History

Juice FM logo used until 2016.

The station launched on 27 March 1998 as 107 Crash FM, from studios at 27 Fleet Street in Liverpool. It developed from a handful of RSL broadcasts in the city and was driven by Janice Long with backing from Bob Geldof, Primal Scream, Urban Splash and Kiss 102's Mike Gray and Boy George.

In its application for a full-time licence, Crash FM said it would provide an alternative rock and dance station, aimed at 15- to 34-year-olds, with a target audience of over 80,000 tuning in for around eight hours per week in the first year. The original shareholders also included CLT, although they withdrew before launch with their 25% stake taken by Channel Radio.

Crash was brought out by Forever Broadcasting in late 1999 and relaunched as Juice 107.6 on 26 March 2000. By September of that year, the station's RAJAR had increased significantly, after its format had been altered to include more mainstream pop and dance music.

In September 2003, Juice was sold to Absolute Radio (UK) Limited (AR-UK), a consortium made up of UTV Media and Eurocast, for £3.1m. AR-UK were, at the time, making moves in the FM radio licence world, notably in the West Midlands and Glasgow. The new owners aimed to develop more local programming, news and marketing but sold the station to UTV less than two years later.

On 12 January 2012, Juice switched from its Fleet Street studios to a new £1.1m facility at One Park West in Liverpool One, overlooking the Albert Dock.

On 5 June 2015, Juice FM was sold again to Global Radio for £10 million.[4][5] The sale was given regulatory approval from the Competition and Markets Authority exactly three months later, following a consultation.[2]

On the same day as the sale was cleared, Global announced it would rebrand and relaunch Juice FM as part of the Capital FM network of contemporary hit radio stations.[3] The relaunched station carries networked programming from Capital's London headquarters, although local shows continue at breakfast and drivetime on weekdays and on weekend afternoons, alongside local news bulletins.

The Juice FM brand was phased out at 4pm on 10 January 2016, with the station entering a transition period ahead of the full relaunch as Capital, which took place at 6am on 18 January 2016.[6]

According to RAJAR ratings, Capital Liverpool had 167,000 listeners in the second quarter of 2017, its lowest audience figures since 2010.[7] This increased to 181,000 listeners in the fourth quarter of 2017.[8]

Digital radio

As Juice FM, the station was not present on the Bauer-operated central Liverpool DAB multiplex, but did subsequently procure a slot on MuxCo's more recent multiplex serving Cheshire, the Wirral and northeast Wales.

Following the relaunch of Juice as Capital Liverpool, this station took the place of Capital's 97.1 FM Wirral service on Bauer Liverpool DAB. (The Wirral service is now no longer transmitted on DAB as a result of the switch.)

Transmission of Capital Liverpool on MuxCo's multiplex continued until August 2016, when the slot was turned over to the 103.4 FM Wrexham/Chester version of Capital.

Programming

Local programming is produced and broadcast from Capital's Liverpool studios 6–10am and 4–7pm on weekdays and 12–4pm at weekends. All other programming originates from Global Radio's London headquarters, including the syndicated Vodafone Big Top 40 on Sunday afternoons.[9]

The station's local presenters are Adam Weighell, Gemma Cutting and Dylan Evans (breakfast), Graeme Smith (weekday drivetime), Baz Todd, Liam Hincks and Anton Powers.[10]

News

Capital Liverpool broadcasts hourly local news updates from 6am–7pm on weekdays and 6am–12pm at weekends, with headlines on the half-hour during Capital Breakfast on weekdays.[9]

The station's journalists are Chris Chambers (editor) and Anna Hodges.[9]

Previous presenters

References

  1. ↑ Capital DAB changes for Merseyside and NE Wales, A516Digital, 10 January 2016
  2. 1 2 Global cleared to purchase Juice FM from UTV, Radio Today, 5 October 2015
  3. 1 2 Global confirms Capital to launch in Liverpool, Radio Today, 5 October 2015
  4. ↑ Juice FM sold to Global to expand Capital, Radio Today, 5 June 2015
  5. ↑ UTV Media sells Juice FM to Global Radio for £10m, theguardian.com, 5 June 2015
  6. ↑ Capital Liverpool Will Launch In January 2016, Global Radio, 16 December 2015
  7. ↑ "RAJAR Q2 2017: Regional and local round-up". RadioToday. 3 August 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  8. ↑ "RAJAR Q4 2017: Regional and local round-up". RadioToday. 8 February 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  9. 1 2 3 Capital FM Liverpool – public file
  10. ↑ "Schedule". 107.6 Capital FM. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
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