Digital One
| Licensed area | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 11D (222.064 MHz) England, Wales and Northern Ireland 12A (223.936 MHz) Scotland |
| Air date | 15 November 1999 |
| Owner | Arqiva |
| Website | http://www.ukdigitalradio.com/ |
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 from a total of 137 transmitters. and from 26 July 2013, Northern Ireland.
105.2 MHz (West Midlands)
97.7 MHz (Manchester)
On 24 March 1998, the Radio Authority advertised for the first national ensemble to be broadcast on DAB, with the three national commercial services on FM and medium wave required to be included in the ensemble. This included Classic FM, Talk Radio UK (now talkSPORT) and Virgin Radio (now Absolute Radio). The licence was awarded to the sole applicant, GWR Group and NTL Broadcast to form Digital One. The original licence application included the following stations:
Digital One was due to launch on 1 October 1999, but this was postponed until 15 November 1999.
The "Classic Gold Rock" service eventually went on air as Planet Rock, which remains on air, having migrated from D1 to the Sound Digital multiplex in 2016; it is, however, the only one of the D1 launch stations (bar the INR simulcasts) to still be broadcasting as of 2016, and is also the longest-established DAB-first service in UK national radio, having been a digital-only service until 2013, when new owner Bauer put PR on their 105.2 FM frequency in the West Midlands (previously Kerrang! Radio); the FM berth was turned over to Absolute Radio in September 2015, leaving PR as a digital-exclusive service once again. 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 Life (later known 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.
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