Classic Gold
Classic Gold, in some places Classic Gold Digital, is one of the biggest 'gold' formatted radio networks in the UK, with a potential audience of 29 million. Classic Gold Digital is broadcast on both analogue and DAB digital platforms.
Most stations were originally independent radio stations. For example, Classic Gold 1359 in Coventry was originally called Mercia Sound, and was a full local service. In the 1980s, FM/AM stations split (in this case to Merica FM and Xtra AM), before the station was bought by GWR radio, and the AM station rebranded to Classic Gold Mercia. Mercia FM is still on air today.
The format is operated by UBC, and most, if not all, stations in the network carry the same programming, except for a local 4 hour afternoon programme from 3pm to 7pm. The stations were previously part of the GWR network, but were sold off as competition rules limited the number of stations a company could own. It is anticipated that GWR will buy back the stations in the future.
The weekday schedule is currently this:
00.00. Dave James.
02:00. Overnight Express
06:00. Tony Blackburn & Laura Pittson.
09:00. Graham Rogers.
12:00. Paul Burnet.
15:00. Local Classic Gold Drivetime.
19:00. Bill Overton Talk Show.
22:00. The Evening Affair with Tim Allen.
Some Classic Gold stations had some of the longest names in the country, for example Wrexham and Chester's Classic Gold Digital Marcher 1260 AM.
There are 20 stations in the UBC Classic Gold Network:
- Classic Gold 1152 (Plymouth), Plymouth
- Classic Gold 1260 (Bristol and Bath), Bristol and Bath
- Classic Gold 1332, Peterborough, Digital – Cambridge
- Classic Gold 1359 (Coventry and Warwickshire), Coventry and Warwickshire
- Classic Gold 1431/1485, Reading, Basingstoke and Andover
- Classic Gold 1521, Reigate and Crawley
- Classic Gold 1557, Northampton
- Classic Gold 666/954, Exeter and Torbay
- Classic Gold 774, Gloucester and Cheltenham
- Classic Gold 828 (Bournemouth), Bournemouth
- Classic Gold 828/792 (Herts, Beds, Bucks and Cambs), Herts, Beds, Bucks and Cambs
- Classic Gold 936/1161, Swindon and West Wiltshire
- Classic Gold Amber (Norfolk), Norfolk
- Classic Gold Amber (Suffolk), Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds
- Classic Gold Breeze, Southend and Chelmsford
- Classic Gold Digital (London), London
- Classic Gold Digital (Network), Digital – Various
- Classic Gold GEM, Nottingham and Derby, Digital – Leicester
- Classic Gold Marcher 1260, Wrexham and Chester
- Classic Gold WABC, Wolverhampton, Shrewsbury and Telford
In adition, The Wireless Group-owned Pulse Classic Gold in West Yorkshire airs Classic Gold programmes after their BIG AM station failed to draw listners and was closed.