| NOW Berkshire & North Hampshire | |
| Licensed area | Berkshire, North Hampshire |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 12D (229.072 MHz) |
| Air date | 31 July 2004 |
| Owner | Arqiva |
| Website | localdigitalradio.co.uk |
| Transmitters | Hannington, Hemdean, Basingstoke and Bracknell |
NOW Berkshire & North Hampshire is the name of the DAB multiplex operator for the Reading & Basingstoke areas. It serves northern portions of Hampshire in the commuter belt and the Unitarian Authorities of Reading, Slough, West Berkshire and Wokingham.
The platform has always been known as NOW Digital which was a wholly owned subsidiary of GWR Group plc. GWR would merge with Capital Radio plc to form GCap Media although the platform name remained. Global Radio bought GCap in 2008 and subsequently sold the DAB businesses to transmitter company Arqiva, the current owner.
When the platform launched, it was originally only on three transmitters. The following year, a fourth was added at Basingstoke.
The service is currently carried on four transmitters and as required, has to carry the local BBC service BBC Radio Berkshire.
Contents |
The stations currently carried on NOW Berkshire & North Hampshire are:[1]
| Service | Service ID | Bit rate | Audio channels | Description | Analogue availability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BBC Radio Berkshire | CD31 | 128 kbit/s | Joint stereo | BBC Local service | 94.6 MHz (Henley) 95.4 MHz (Windsor) 104.1 MHz (North Hampshire) 104.4 MHz (Reading) |
| Capital London | C9CC | 128 kbit/s | Joint stereo | Contemporary pop station | 95.8 MHz |
| Gold | CDD2 | 128 kbit/s | Joint stereo | Golden oldies | 1431 kHz (Reading) 1485 kHz (Newbury) |
| Heart Thames Valley | C361 | 128 kbit/s | Joint stereo | Adult contemporary music | 97.0 MHz (Reading) 102.9 MHz (North Hampshire) 103.4 MHz (Henley) |
| Kiss | C483 | 128 kbit/s | Dance & R&B music, networked from London | — | |
| NME Radio | CEC1 | 128 kbit/s | Joint stereo | Alternative music | — |
| Pop-Up Radio | CFCF | 64 kbit/s | Mono LSF | Part-time service for short-term and special-event stations | — |
| XFM London | C0B8 | 128 kbit/s | Joint stereo | Modern rock, networked from London | — |
| EPG Berks/Hants | E1C000BB | 8 kbit/s | Data | Hidden service, EPG data | — |
NOW Berkshire & North Hampshire currently broadcasts on the following sites:[2]
| Transmitter | kW | Area |
|---|---|---|
| Hannington | 1 | North West Hampshire (Andover) |
| Basingstoke | 1 | North East Hampshire (Basingstoke) |
| Hemdean | 1 | Reading & Henley-on-Thames |
| Coppid Beach | 0.25 | Wokingham |
The following is a list of services which used to be carried on the multiplex.[3][4]
| Service | What happened |
|---|---|
| Absolute Classic Rock | Removed in 2010, replaced by NME Radio |
| Chill | Withdrawn in 2009 |
| dabbl | Withdrawn in 2010, replaced by Absolute Radio 90s |
| Fun Radio | Withdrawn in 2009 |
| Galaxy | Removed in November 2010, replaced by Capital London |
| ourkindofmusic | Withdrawn in 2009, replaced by dabbl on 4 December 2009 |
| SBN | Service went bankrupt |
| The Storm | Replaced by XFM London after GWR merger with Capital |
| Traffic Radio | Ceased broadcasting 31 August 2011 |
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