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Capital Life, also known as Life, was a digital radio station broadcasting across the UK 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 cont ...
network and streamed online. Capital Life was due to be available on DTV but never launched due to the closure of the station.


About

Capital Life was owned by
GCap Media GCap Media was a British commercial radio company formed from the merger of the Capital Radio Group and GWR Group. The merger was completed in May 2005. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. O ...
, having been launched by Capital Radio PLC before the company merged with the GWR Group PLC. It was one of the first
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. Types In digital broadcasting syst ...
stations to launch in the UK in 1999 on the Digital One multiplex. The station had two presenters to start with. It was based in a news studio used by Capital Gold London outside of breakfast hours. Later it moved into a newly created Digital Broadcast studio in Leicester Square, which it in turn shared with
Capital Disney Capital Disney was a British digital radio station aimed at 8 to 16 year olds which used to broadcast across the UK on DAB Digital Radio in selected areas. Capital Disney launched on 16 September 2002 as a joint venture between GCap Media PLC ...
and Century London Until 2005, Paul Phear Magic 105.4 presented the breakfast show on weekday mornings, culminating in "The Life Top Ten At Ten" - a chart from years gone by - any year from 1975 onwards - the chart was, in fact, not actual historic chart positions but the order chosen by the programme controller to avoid playing certain novelty songs and those that did not reflect the musical style. After the Life Top Ten At Ten, the station was automated all day - news from IRN hourly, but music at all other times. Paul Phear then returned to present a late night love song show from 10 pm. For a short spell, Jon o'Neill presented in the drivetime slot. On Saturday morning, there was a show presented by Phillip Chryssikos. Sunday, it was non-stop music. After a successful year presenting 'The Life Coach' a quirky weekend breakfast show, comedian Anthony Davis replaced Paul Phear, hosting the weekday breakfast show live, instead of pre-recording, a rare event for a Digital radio station, making Capital Life one of the very few digital radio stations to have live presentation. (Along with sister station
Capital Disney Capital Disney was a British digital radio station aimed at 8 to 16 year olds which used to broadcast across the UK on DAB Digital Radio in selected areas. Capital Disney launched on 16 September 2002 as a joint venture between GCap Media PLC ...
, which provided mostly live programming). Unlike other radio stations, there were no travel bulletins (due to the limited number of DAB Radios in households at the time, and the fact the station provided blanket national coverage), commercials or interviews with celebrities and politicians and sports reports - the emphasis was on music and there was a playlist similar to that of Century Digital.


Relaunch and demise

'Life' relaunched as Capital Life in 2005, under Programme Controller Micky Gavin (who left very shortly afterwards to run
Hereward FM Heart Peterborough (formerly Hereward FM) was an Independent Local Radio station serving Cambridgeshire, south Lincolnshire and west Norfolk. Launched on 10 July 1980 as Hereward Radio 225, the station was the first local service in the area, wi ...
) and Digital Content Director Kevin Palmer, and a full presenter line up joined the station, along with a new sung jingle package from Reelworld. These presenters (with subsequent positions/station) included: Susan Spence (now LBC 97.3 & BBC Radio 5 Live), Nicola Bonn ( Classic FM and Heart Network), Ali Wheeler (
Invicta FM Heart Kent (previously Invicta FM) was a local radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. It broadcast to Kent from studios at John Wilson Business Park in Whitstable. History Invicta in the 80s Originall ...
), Leigh Jones ( Red Dragon), Tom Rudolph, Brian O'Neill ( GMTV), Pam Sharpless, Micky Gavin (
Real Radio Real Radio was a network of five regional radio stations broadcasting to North East England, North West England, Scotland, Wales and Yorkshire. Each station broadcast a mix of local and networked programming. On Tuesday 6 May 2014, the statio ...
Scotland), Jonathan Miles (
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
Radio Newcastle) Ali Jones ( Fox FM) and Anthony Davis ( LBC 97.3 and Jazz FM) Upon the merger of Capital Radio PLC and GWR Group PLC, 'Capital Life' was mooted to become the Digital alternative to BBC Radio 2 and preparations were made for
Capital Gold The Capital Gold radio station started in London in 1988 on Capital Radio's AM frequency, after the Independent Broadcasting Authority had urged stations to end simulcasting (broadcasting the same programmes simultaneously on AM and FM) and t ...
and Capital Life to be merged into one 'super station'. Later, these plans were quietly abandoned by GCap Media, and
Capital Gold The Capital Gold radio station started in London in 1988 on Capital Radio's AM frequency, after the Independent Broadcasting Authority had urged stations to end simulcasting (broadcasting the same programmes simultaneously on AM and FM) and t ...
rebranded to 'Gold'. In its final two years, Life had no presenters. Quietly, the weekend presenters were dropped, later followed by all weekday programming aside from the live breakfast show. This too was later dropped, and the station broadcast non-stop music with news bulletins every hour for the remainder of its life. The only other non music items heard were promotions for
GCap Media GCap Media was a British commercial radio company formed from the merger of the Capital Radio Group and GWR Group. The merger was completed in May 2005. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. O ...
products such as CD releases associated with its other radio stations, Classic FM and
theJazz theJazz was a British jazz digital radio station run by GCap Media that started on Christmas Day of 2006Fru Hazlitt Anne Frances Hazlitt (born April 1963) is a British broadcasting executive. Early life She was born in south-west Surrey. She attended Downe House School from 1974 to 1980. She attended the Goldsmiths University from 1981 to 1984, where she studie ...
announced a package of measures to save GCap Media from being taken over and prevent the company from slipping further into the red due to bad trading conditions within the radio industry. Under Fru Hazlitt, GCap announced a complete retreat from
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. Types In digital broadcasting syst ...
. (A bold move, after the
Ralph Bernard Ralph Mitchell Bernard (born 11 February 1953) is a British journalist, and a former chief executive of commercial radio group GCap Media. Early life He attended Caterham High School in north-east London. Career He started his career as a journa ...
years in charge of the company, who had been a big supporter of Digital Radio, both while in charge of GWR Group PLC and
GCap Media GCap Media was a British commercial radio company formed from the merger of the Capital Radio Group and GWR Group. The merger was completed in May 2005. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. O ...
.) It had already been announced in 2007 that Life, along with sister station
Core Core or cores may refer to: Science and technology * Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages * Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding * Core (optical fiber), the signal-carrying portion of an optical fiber * Core, the centra ...
were to close with all investment in them ceasing. It was only now that there had been any announcement that
TheJazz theJazz was a British jazz digital radio station run by GCap Media that started on Christmas Day of 2006Planet Rock would be sold. Life continued to broadcast with continuous music until 31 March, when it went off air at just after 11pm, along with theJazz.


References

{{Global Radio Digital-only radio stations Defunct radio stations in the United Kingdom Radio stations established in 1999 Radio stations disestablished in 2008 GCap Media 1999 establishments in the United Kingdom