Global expands its biggest radio brands with launch of five digital channels
Radio, media and advertising giant Global has launched five new radio stations over the last week, to accommodate different music tastes through its top brands.
Global expands its five largest radio brands with decade-specific channels
As it boasts some of the UK's largest commercial radio brands, it has decided to expand each property to capture a broader range of musical genre and decade. These digital stations are Heart 90s, Heart 70s, Capital XTRA Reloaded, Smooth Country and Smooth Chill.
Heart 90s, Heart 70s and Capital XTRA Reloaded operate across the UK on DAB, the Global Player app, on smart speakers and on desktop. Smooth Country and Smooth Chill have lesser national rollouts but remain available on the player.
The new station launch comes less than a month after rival Bauer Media pulled its digital audio inventory from Global's ad platform DAX - taking with it around 15% of inventory. The new launches help maintain Global’s marketshare and make up for lost inventory. It also gives answer Bauer's recent radio expansion that includes Scala, Country Hits and Jazz FM.
According to the latest Rajars, Heart was the biggest commercial radio brand with 9.7m weekly listeners. With two new subchannels, it hopes to grow this audience further.
Ashley Tabor-King, Global’s founder and executive president, said: “The launch of five brand new national radio stations demonstrates our commitment to DAB and building audiences on national and local Digital radio platforms.
"Following the hugely successful launch of Heart Dance in June and the incredible success of Heart 80s, we wanted to surprise and delight our listeners and customers and launch five new stations back to back. They’re already sounding fantastic, triggering memories and feel good emotions all across the UK.”
Across its radio portfolio, Global boasts 25.6m weekly listeners, around 23.4% marketshare.