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Capital Cymru

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Coordinates: 53°01′12″N 4°16′24″W / 53.0199°N 4.2732°W / 53.0199; -4.2732
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Capital North Wales
Broadcast areaGwynedd and Anglesey
Frequency
BrandingNorth Wales' No.1 Hit Music Station
Programming
FormatContemporary hit radio
Network
Ownership
OwnerGlobal
History
First air date
  • 11 December 1998 (1998-12-11) (as Champion 103
  • March 2009 (as Heart Cymru)
  • 6 May 2014 (as Capital Cymru)
Technical information
Transmitter coordinates
53°01′12″N 4°16′24″W / 53.0199°N 4.2732°W / 53.0199; -4.2732
Links
WebcastGlobal Player
Websitewww.capitalfm.com/cymru/ Edit this at Wikidata

Capital North Wales (formerly known as Capital Cymru) is a local radio station owned and operated by Global. The station broadcasts to Gwynedd and Anglesey via the Arfon transmitting station.

Previously, the station formed part of the Heart network, and earlier, the Marcher Radio Group.[1] It switched to the Capital network on 6 May 2014. Heart North and Mid Wales now covers the region as part of the Heart network.

Overview

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Although the official transmission area takes in most of the Isle of Anglesey and a large part of Gwynedd (as far south as Harlech), the location of its transmitter means the signal carries across Cardigan Bay and can be heard in parts of Pembrokeshire and even in Ireland. Capital Cymru is also available on the North West Wales local DAB digital radio multiplex—broadcasting alongside the North Wales Coast feed of Capital North West and Wales.

Up until February 21, 2025, the station aired local programming in the Welsh language with the Capital network's playlist tweaked to include contemporary Welsh language music.

History

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When it launched in December 1998 as Champion 103, it was the first commercial radio station to serve Anglesey and Gwynedd as a whole, although Marcher Coast 96.3 had been broadcasting to a small part of the area for some time from its Colwyn Bay studios.

Originally owned and operated by the Marcher Radio Group, Champion 103 broadcast from studios at Parc Menai in Bangor, Gwynedd - later sharing its facilities with Coast 96.3. In 2000, the four Marcher stations - including Champion - were brought by the GWR Group and became part of The One Network.

In March 2009, following Global Radio's takeover of GCap Media, Champion was rebranded as Heart Cymru as part of a rollout of the Heart network across 29 local radio stations owned by Global. By this point, local programming had been reduced to ten hours on weekdays and seven hours at weekends.

In July 2010, Global closed the Bangor studios and moved Heart Cymru's operations to the former Marcher headquarters in Gwersyllt, near Wrexham. By this point, the three Heart stations serving North Wales Coast, Cheshire & North East Wales and the Wirral were merged into one regional station, Heart North West and Wales. Heart Cymru was not affected by the network restructuring.[2]

On 6 February 2014, Global announced that Heart Cymru would be rebranded as Capital, with the North Wales licence of Real Radio Wales being sold to Communicorp and relaunched as a new separate Heart station for North and Mid Wales.[3]

Capital Cymru was launched on 6 May 2014. All local output, including extended Welsh language shows, news bulletins and network opt-outs were retained.[4]

On 23 May 2019, Capital Cymru dropped all of Capital's networked programming and introduced a full schedule of local output, including an additional Welsh-language daytime show.[5] The station retained both the Capital branding and the tweaked CHR music playlist.

The Official Big Top 40, simulcast on Heart North Wales, continued to air on Sunday afternoons. Outside programming hours, the station broadcast automated output, including a full hour of Welsh language music at 5am on weekday mornings.[5]

In January 2025, it was reported that Capital Cymru would lose all of its Welsh language programming following the broadcast regulator Ofcom's decision to relax local content obligations for commercial radio, apart from news.[6]

The station ended local programming in Welsh at 7pm on 21 February 2025 before resuming network programming from London two days later, effectively becoming a relay of Capital North West and North Wales. It now simulcasts a national drivetime show for Wales on weekdays, presented by Josh Andrews and Kally Davies and broadcast from Global's Cardiff Bay studios.[7] Local news and traffic bulletins were retained.

Programming

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Most networked programming originates from Global's London headquarters.[8]

National programming for Wales is produced and broadcast from Global's Cardiff Bay studios on weekdays from 4-7pm. presented by Josh Andrews and Kally Davies.[9]

News

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Capital North Wales broadcasts hourly localised news updates from 6 am–7 pm on weekdays and 6 am–12 midday at weekends.

Global's newsrooms in Cardiff Bay produces the bulletins, alongside those for Capital North West and North Wales, Heart North and Mid Wales and Smooth Wales.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Nine more Hearts makes 33". Radio Today. 28 April 2009. Nine more radio stations will be re-branded as Heart on June 22nd, including the former Marcher Group stations in North Wales and North West England.
  2. ^ "Heart Radio moves from Bangor to Wrexham". Daily Post. Colwyn Bay: Trinity Mirror. 29 July 2010. Heart has gone out of Bangor after the popular radio station decided to close its doors and move to Wrexham. It will shift North Wales operations from its Parc Menai base to the east of the region.
  3. ^ Martin, Roy (6 February 2014). "Communicorp buys 8 Global stations". Radio Today. Retrieved 6 February 2014. Heart will become region-wide in the North West when the former Marcher stations switch to Capital and Heart appears on the Real Radio North Wales and North West frequencies.
  4. ^ "Global confirms Heart expansion details". Radio Today. 14 April 2014.
  5. ^ a b "schedule". capitalfm.com. 22 May 2019. Capital Cymru
  6. ^ Gorsaf radio Capital Cymru i ddod â rhaglenni Cymraeg i ben, BBC Cymru Fyw, 9 January 2025
  7. ^ Global confirms new nationwide radio shows for Heart, Capital & Smooth, Global, 5 February 2025
  8. ^ "Public File - Anglesey & Gwynedd". Capital FM. Global Radio.
  9. ^ Global confirms new nationwide radio shows for Heart, Capital & Smooth, Global, 5 February 2025
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