EMAP And Capital Bid For Birmingham Digital Radio Licence

CE Digital, the digital radio alliance set up by Capital Radio and EMAP Radio at the end of last year (see Emap And Capital Join Forces To Bid For Digital Licences), was the sole bidder for the Birmingham area digital licence according to the Radio Authority (RA). The licence covers a broadcast area with an adult (15+) population of 1.85 million and was the first local digital licence to be advertised by the RA.

CE Digital is also planning to submit applications for the Manchester and London based digital licences but the broadcasters have not decided whether to apply for the recently-advertised South Yorkshire licence (see Radio Authority Advertises South Yorkshire Digital Multiplex).

Capital and EMAP are planning to launch the Birmingham digital broadcast in May 2000 and will offer three Capital formats (BRMB, Capital Gold and Xfm), one EMAP station (Magic) as well as one Asian and one dance programme.

Radio Authority: 0171 430 2724 Capital Radio: 0171 766 6000 EMAP Radio: 0171 504 6000