Digital One - History

History

On 24 March 1998, the Radio Authority advertised for the first national ensemble to be broadcast on DAB. The three national commercial services on FM and mediumwave had to be included as part of the ensemble, Classic FM, talkSPORT and Virgin Radio. The licence was awarded to the sole applicant, GWR Group and NTL Broadcast to form Digital One. The original licence application included the following stations:

Digital One was due to launch on 1 October 1999, but this was postponed until 15 November 1999.

The "Classic Gold Rock" service eventually went on air as Planet Rock, which remains on air and is now the longest-established digital-only service on the platform. The "plays, books and music" service went on air as Oneword. The "Teen & Chart Hits" service became Core, and the "Soft AC" service - which was ultimately provided by the then Capital Radio Group (now part of Global Radio) was launched as Capital Life. The "Sports Channel" proposal was dropped as a separate entity and instead combined with Talk Radio in 2000 to form the current talkSPORT as broadcast on MW and digital. ITN's rolling news service ultimately went on air as part of the multiplex, later joined by a business news service provided by Bloomberg. "Club Dance", however, never made it to air. The space released by the absence of the Club Dance and Sports Channel services from the eventual lineup was used to allow the Oneword service to end at midnight rather than the proposed 7pm, and also freed up a slot for a melodic easy listening music service aimed at an older audience, the Saga-operated PrimeTime Radio.

After the closure of PrimeTime Radio in 2006, the original licence was amended to allow the launch of a new classic and contemporary jazz service, theJazz which was launched on 25 December 2006, before the 31 December 2006 deadline set in the licence amendment.

On 11 February 2008 GCap announced that it was selling its interest in Digital One to Arqiva and that "non-core" DAB stations Planet Rock and theJazz would be closing by the end of March 2008. Planet Rock however, has been saved whilst theJazz ceased broadcasting at midnight, on 30 April 2008.

In April 2009, Global Radio, which had acquired GCap Media - part owner of Digital One, sold its 63% stake in the ensemble to Arqiva, making them the sole owner and operator of the ensemble.