Capital (radio network)

Capital
Country	United Kingdom
Broadcast area	United Kingdom
Headquarters	Leicester Square, London
Branding	The UK's No.1 Hit Music Station
Programming
Language(s)	English;
Format	Contemporary hit radio
Ownership
Owner	Global
History
Launch date	3 January 2011
Replaced	Galaxy Network; The Hit Music Network;
Coverage
Stations	See list
Links
Webcast	Global Player
Website	www.capitalfm.com

Capital is a network of twelve independent contemporary hit radio stations in the United Kingdom, broadcasting a mix of local and networked programming. Ten of the stations are owned and operated by Global, while the other two are owned and operated under separate franchise agreements.^[1]

As of September 2024, the stations serve a combined weekly audience of 7.5 million listeners and target a core audience in the 15–34 age group; 57% of all listeners are within this demographic.^[2] The national version of the network is widely available on Global Player, Freeview, Sky, Freesat, Virgin Media and Digital One DAB. Capital is the fifth most-popular radio network in the UK by listeners, and the second largest of the commercial stations after Heart.^[3]

Capital has a playlist^[4] which is updated weekly, and up until around February 2022, featured songs from the last one or two years.^[5] Since 2022, Capital has started playing older songs from the 2010s, 2000s, and late 1990s, with most of them played on their sister station Capital Anthems; although unlike fellow hit music station BBC Radio 1, it doesn't usually play any rock or alternative music (Capital's sister network Radio X was the only station that plays rock and alternative) while other genres such as drill and occasional drum and bass were played on Capital Xtra and Capital Dance respectively.

^ UK Tunes into Capital FM MacLaurin Media, 4 January 2011 Archived 20 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
^ "The Audience | Global". Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
^ "RAJAR". www.rajar.co.uk. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
^ "Capital FM". Capital. Archived from the original on 28 August 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
^ "Music Scheduling @ Capital FM & Radio Hamburg". Radioiloveit. 28 April 2013. Archived from the original on 8 June 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2013. Capital FM is pure CHR and therefore hardly plays anything older than 2 years. The majority of songs is from the last 12 months, with a major focus on current hits.

[1] UK Tunes into Capital FM MacLaurin Media, 4 January 2011 Archived 20 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine

[2] "The Audience | Global". Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.

[3] "RAJAR". www.rajar.co.uk. Retrieved 6 July 2022.

[4] "Capital FM". Capital. Archived from the original on 28 August 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.

[5] "Music Scheduling @ Capital FM & Radio Hamburg". Radioiloveit. 28 April 2013. Archived from the original on 8 June 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2013. Capital FM is pure CHR and therefore hardly plays anything older than 2 years. The majority of songs is from the last 12 months, with a major focus on current hits.

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