Brunel Classic Gold
 | |
| Broadcast area |
Bristol, Bath, Swindon and West Wiltshire |
|---|---|
| Slogan | It's all about the music |
| Frequency |
1260 kHz, 936 kHz, 1161 kHz, NOW Swindon DAB multiplex NOW Wiltshire DAB multiplex NOW Bristol DAB multiplex and Online |
| First air date | 15 November 1988 |
| Format | Oldies |
| Owner | GCap Media () |
| Website | mygoldmusic.co.uk |
Gold is a regional AM station in the west of England.
The station carries the Gold programming, except for a local 4-hour afternoon programme from 12pm to 4pm, which is different in the stations two sub-regions.
Programmes
- Breakfast
- Gold Afternoons (local programme)
- Gold Late Night
- From the Bottom to the Top
- Gold Albums
History
The stations frequencies were originally used to simulcast GWR Radio, but the British Government declared its desire to end simulcasting on both FM and AM. So GWR had to split the frequencies, GWR continued on VHF/FM and became more and more music-led, playing Top 40 chart music during the daytime. On AM, GWR Radio launched Brunel Radio, a golden oldies station on 1260 kHz in Bristol, and 936/1161 kHz AM in Wiltshire. In the early 1990s Brunel started networking programming to 2CR Radio in Bournemouth and Radio 210 in Reading, Berkshire. Each station had "Classic Gold" appended to the end of their names (e.g. "Brunel Classic Gold", "210 Classic Gold" etc.). Local news and shows was combined with networked programmes in each of its areas.
Nowadays the Brunel name has been completely dropped by the station, even during local programming and the Brunel region has been split into two regions, Bristol & Bath and Swindon & west Wiltshire. Locally the stations are usually referred to as Classic Gold and then the frequency. The station was sold to UBC in 2000, however in 2007 Gcap took control again after purchasing all Classic Gold stations. The station rebranded as 'Gold' in August 2007 after the mergers between the Classic Gold Digital Network and Capital Gold.
See also
- Classic Gold
- GWR Group