Choice FM
 |
|
| City | London |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | United Kingdom |
| Slogan | Dance. Urban. UK. |
| Frequency |
FM: 96.9, 107.1 MHz (London) DAB: 11D (England/Wales/N. Ireland) 12A (Scotland) RDS: Cap_XTRA Sky: 0114 Freesat: 720 Virgin Media: 959 |
| First air date | 31 March 1990 |
| Format |
Rhythmic contemporary formerly urban contemporary |
| Owner | Global |
| Sister stations |
Capital FM Heart Classic FM Smooth Radio Radio X LBC Gold |
| Website | www |
Capital XTRA (formerly Choice FM) is an urban music radio station owned by Global Radio. It is anchored by an FM operation in London, and is also broadcast via DAB Digital Radio, Freesat, Sky, Virgin Media and online.
Choice 96.9 began as an independent company in March 1990, broadcasting from studios in Trinity Gardens, Brixton. It was Britain’s first 24-hour black music radio station with a licence, covering South London. The group won a second licence (see Buzz FM) in 1995, bringing a local version of their London offering to Birmingham, on 102.2 FM - in place of Buzz FM.
The advent of digital radio in the UK saw Choice, which already had an active webstream, joining the new MXR consortium and launching a DAB service which anchored London output with news inserts produced by the consortium's news service DNN.
The Birmingham licence was sold to Chrysalis Radio in 1999 and became Galaxy Birmingham, but Choice expanded within the capital in May 2000 when a largely independent North London licence was awarded for Choice 107.1, with the intention of reaching a larger Afro-Caribbean audience outside the limited range of the coverage from Brixton. The station was now broadcasting from Borough High Street, Borough, London.
Having previously been a minority shareholder, Capital Radio Group took full control of the station in February 2004 and moved the station's base from the target service area to the group's central studios in London's Leicester Square. The move resulted in a community march from the coverage area and their studios. It was accused of selling out as some of their DJs were removed and replaced by their Kiss counterparts who play some electronic music.
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