| Digital One Network | |
| Licensed area | Great Britain |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 11D (222.064 MHz) England and Wales 12A (223.936 MHz) Scotland |
| Air date | 15 November 1999 |
| Owner | Arqiva |
| Website | http://www.digitalone.co.uk |
Digital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. As of March 2010[update], the multiplex covers more than 90% of the population[1] from a total of 137 transmitters.[2] A lack of available frequencies means there is no coverage in Northern Ireland; this is due to the nearby VHF analogue TV signals used in the Republic of Ireland (however these signals are due to be phased out, possibly when the digital switchover of television happens in 2012).
Contents |
| Service | Service ID | Bit rate | Audio channels | Description | DAB launch date | Analogue availability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Absolute Radio | C1C0 | 112 kbit/s | Joint stereo | Adult contemporary music, carries London output during programme splits, but with national news and advertising | 15 November 1999 | 1215 kHz 105.8 MHz (London) |
| Absolute Radio 80s | C4C1 | 112 kbit/s | Joint stereo | Adult contemporary music | 14 May 2010 | — |
| Absolute Radio 90s | C4C0 | 64 kbit/s | Mono LSF | Britpop, Indie, and Rock from the 1990s, shared space with Absolute Radio Extra | 25 August 2010 | — |
| Absolute Radio Extra | C0C1 | 64-112 kbit/s | Mono | Part time live Football and concerts, live sport also broadcast nationally on 1215 kHz, shared space with Absolute Radio 90s | 16 July 2010 | — |
| Amazing Radio | C7C0 | 64 kbit/s | Mono LSF | New indie, urban, jazz and pop music, initially broadcasting at 128 kbit/s Stereo, the bit rate was reduced to 64 kbit/s Mono upon the launch of Absolute 80s | 1 June 2009[3] | — |
| BFBS Radio | C3C0 | 80 kbit/s | Mono | Contemporary music, broadcast a three month trial service which ended on 31 March 2008, test transmissions began on 17 April 2009 and the station launched as a full-time service at 07:00 on 20 April 2009 | 20 April 2009 | — |
| Classic FM | C2A1 | 160 kbit/s | Joint stereo | Classical music | 15 November 1999 | 99.9–101.9 MHz |
| Jazz FM | C0C2 | 80 kbit/s | Mono | Jazz music, initial test transmissions labelled as "Karma" | 21 March 2011[4] | — |
| Planet Rock | C2C0 | 112 kbit/s | Joint stereo | Rock music, privately owned semi-automated radio station[5] | 15 November 1999 | — |
| Premier Christian Radio | C7C1 | 64 kbit/s | Mono LSF | Christian music, was able to launch after a fundraising effort from listeners to meet the £650,000 annual cost to broadcast on Digital One on 21 September 2009.[6] | 21 September 2009 | — |
| Smooth Radio | C6C0 | 80 kbit/s | Mono LSF | Easy Listening, replaced regional broadcasts from regional digital multiplexes; the original regional stations are still available on the channel list however, which is most of the time just a simulcast of Smooth Radio UK | 5 August 2010 | 97.5, 100.4, 101.4, 102.2, 105.2, 105.7, 106.6 MHz |
| Smooth Radio 70s | C3C4 | 80 kbit/s | Mono LSF | 1970s music. Replaced Smooth Radio Christmas [7] | 27 December 2011 | — |
| Talksport | C0C0 | 64 kbit/s | Mono LSF | Sport and talk | 15 November 1999 | 1089, 1053 kHz |
| UCB UK | C4CA | 64kbit/s | Mono LSF | Christian music | 1 December 2009[8][9] | — |
| MILE(UK) ITIS | E1C000BA | 16 kbit/s | Data | Hidden service | — | — |
| Traffic Master | E1C000B8 | 8 kbit/s | Data | Hidden service | — | — |
| What's On | E1C000B1 | 8 kbit/s | Data | Hidden service | — | — |
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.[10] The licence was awarded to the sole applicant, GWR Group and NTL Broadcast to form Digital One.[11] The original licence application included the following stations:[12]
| Digital One Ltd (original application) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Classic FM | Classical music | GWR (now part of Global Radio) |
| Classic Gold Rock | Rock music | NTL |
| Club dance | Dance music | TBA |
| Plays, books and music | Comedy, drama and serials | TBA |
| Rolling news service | Rolling news | ITN |
| Soft AC | Female contemporary music | TBA |
| Sports channel | Live sports and comment | Talk Radio UK |
| Talk Radio (now talkSPORT) | Talk radio | Talk Radio UK (now owned by UTV Radio) |
| Teen and chart hits | Pop and dance music | GWR |
| Virgin Radio (now Absolute Radio) | Complementary rock music | SMG plc |
Digital One was due to launch on 1 October 1999,[13] but this was postponed until 15 November 1999.[14]
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.[15]
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.[16]
Services previously carried on the multiplex include:
In addition to the audio services listed above a number of data services, short lived temporary audio services, and mobile video channels have been broadcast on this multiplex.
Birdsong was a transmission consisted of a continuously looping recording of bird song. When financial news station Bloomberg, and rolling news station ITN News Radio ceased to broadcast within several months of one another in 2003, replacement audio services were never found due to a commitment in Digital One's broadcasting licence to provide a news station. This resulted in a station playing a 36-minute, 56-second loop of birdsong and ambient sounds, entitled D1 Temp which broadcast until June 2005.
When the magazine-format digital radio station Oneword ceased in January 2008, the birdsong audio once again returned to the multiplex on the Oneword channel and the service name of the DAB channel changed to "Birdsong", until Amazing Radio launched on 1 June 2009.[3]
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