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This article is about the British radio station. For other uses, see Capital Radio (disambiguation).

Capital 95.8
Broadcast area	London
Frequency	95.8 MHz Sky Digital: 0109 Virgin Media: 958 (931/932 ex Telewest) DAB Digital Radio (London)
First air date	16 October 1973
Format	Contemporary
Audience share	4.7% (September 2007, [1])
Owner	GCap Media
Website	www.capitalradio.com

Capital 95.8 is a London radio station owned by GCap Media.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early years 1.2 Recent times 2 Current DJs 3 Previous DJs 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

The station, which was based at Euston Tower until early in 1997, was originally named Capital Radio, and was launched by then-chairman Richard Attenborough at 5:00 AM on Tuesday, October 16, 1973. In 2005, the famous "Capital Radio London" signage was removed following the inauguration of GCap Media, however in January 2006 the signage was reinstalled.

Capital went on air just over a week after news station LBC, making it the second legal commercial radio station in the UK. The first song to be played on Capital was Bridge Over Troubled Water, by Simon and Garfunkel.

Broadcasting on FM and medium wave, it has used 95.8 MHz since its inception, while the medium wave frequency was originally 539 metres (557kHz). This happened to be the same frequency that the Dutch pirate radio station Radio Veronica was using, and the interference between the two meant that neither station could be heard clearly in parts of southern England or Belgium.

In 1975, Capital's medium wave frequency moved to 194 metres (1548 kHz) after Veronica had been closed by the Dutch anti-pirate legislation. As the British government encouraged an end to simulcasting as part of its plan to expand choice in UK radio, a separate service - Capital Gold - was set up in 1988 to broadcast on Capital's medium wave frequency. At the same time, the FM frequency station was relaunched under the name Capital FM.

The studios of Capital 95.8 are today based in Leicester Square, which is also home to Capital's parent company, GCap Media.

In September 1996 the then Capital FM launched its website, a little later than some UK broadcasters, but high demand led to it crashing within a few hours.

Towards the end of 2005, and the beginning of 2006, the station went through a number of changes. From December 2005 it was decided to have only two advertisements in each break in order to get listeners back to the music faster (these adverts were however played on the station at more frequent intervals).

On 9 January 2006 due in part to the fact that by then many people were no longer listening on FM but via the Internet, TV or DAB,^{[citation needed]} the station was once again relaunched under its original name (Capital Radio), with a modified line-up of presenters and a slightly tweaked music format. After this re-launch turned out not to have had the desired success, a new Programme Controller was appointed in September 2006. Scott Muller came from the Nova group in Australia, and the station saw another tweak in style.

The new era has seen Capital re-branded back to "London's Hit Music Station", a play on the station's earlier brand of "London's Number One Hit Music Station" with noticeable improvements - leading to a rise in audience figures at the end of 2006. The station also changed its on air name to 95.8 Capital Radio, incorporating the frequency of "95.8" back into the station since it was dropped at the January 2006 re-launch.

In March 2007 the station was renamed Capital 95.8 and its slogan became "The Sound Of London". The marketing campaign combines outdoor, cinema, and print adverts. [2]

Rajar figures for Q2 2007 showed Capital 95.8 slipping to fourth place recording the lowest-ever share of the London audience and for the first time falling behind Emap-owned station Magic and Heart, owned by Global Radio UK. Capital 95.8's audience share slipped from 4.6 to 4.1 per cent over the quarter. ^[1]

December 10th 2007 saw the station return to the "London's Hit Music Station" tagline, with ex-Virgin Radio presenter Greg Burns replacing Lucio on drivetime, and Lucio moving to the evening show. Lucio took over from Bam Bam who, due to low ratings, left Capital in early December 2007.

• Johnny Vaughan - Breakfast
• Lucio - Evenings
• Craig Doyle - Saturday mornings
• Greg Burns - Drivetime
• Chris Brooks - Weekday Afternoons
• Margherita Taylor - Weekday Mornings from January 2008
• Tony Shepherd - Late nights (Mon-Thu)
• James Bassam - Early Breakfast
• Myleene Klass - Sunday evenings
• Ryan Seacrest - The entertainment edge
• Stephen Sullivan - Weekend overnights
• Sophie Malcolm - Weekend breakfast
• Matt Brown - Myleene Klass co host
• Philippa Collins - Weekday overnights
• Toni Phillips - Party Capital (Friday and Saturday nights)

The station's original presenters include:

• David Symonds
• Kerry Juby(Deceased July 2003)
• Tommy Vance
• Tony Myatt
• Michael Aspel
• Joan Shenton
• Kenny Everett (of whom they now provide podcasts )(Deceased April 1995)
• Dave Cash
• Roger Scott(Deceased Oct 1989)
• Maggie Norden (Presenter of Hullabaloo)
• Brian Hayes
• Greg Edwards
• Nicky Horne
• Gerald Harper
• Ian T Davidson (Presented London Link International in the early days)
• Tony Myatt "Topless Tone"
• Mike Dickin (Deceased Dec 2006)
• Joan Shenton
• Mike Allen
• Kelly Temple
• Pat Sharp
• David "Ram-Jam" Rodigan
• Paul McKenna (Hypnotist)

Later presenters include:

• Sue Cook
• Peter Young
• Ian Davidson
• Graham Dene
• John Sachs
• David Jensen
• Chris Tarrant (who hosted the breakfast show for 17 years)
• Pat Sharp
• Mick Brown
• Richard Allinson
• Clive Warren
• Claire Ashford
• Lynn Parsons
• Martin Collins
• Russ Williams
• Pete Tong

More recent DJs include:

• Chris Moyles
• Neil Fox
• Richard Bacon
• Katy Hill
• Jeremy Kyle
• Nicky Campbell
• Kate Lawler
• Tim Lichfield (left in Early Summer 2007. Used to present the Nightshift show, 1-4am weekdays.)

The following also worked on Capital's sister station Capital Gold:

• Richard Skinner
• Paul Burnett
• Alan Freeman

• Capital Radio Group
• Independent Local Radio
• Capital FM Network
• List of radio stations in the United Kingdom
• Bong Game

• Capital Radio
• Capital Radio history on This Is ILR

v • d • e GCap Media

Corporate Directors: Ralph Bernard (Chairman) · Steve Orchard (Group Operations Director) · Wendy Pallot (Group Finance Director) National FM radio station: Classic FM The One Network: 2CR FM · 2-Ten FM · Trent FM · 96.9 Chiltern FM  · 97.6 Chiltern FM  · BRMB · Beacon Radio  · Buzz 97.1  · Champion 103 · Coast 96.3  · Essex FM  · Horizon Radio · Fox FM · GWR FM Bath · GWR FM Bristol · GWR FM Wiltshire · Gemini FM · Hereward FM · Invicta FM  · Lantern FM  · Leicester Sound · Marcher Sound · Mercia FM · Mercury FM · Northants 96 · Orchard FM · Plymouth Sound FM · Power FM · Q103 · Radio Broadland · RAM FM  · Red Dragon FM · SGR Colchester · SGR-FM · Severn Sound · Southern FM · Ten 17 · Wyvern FM Other Local FM Stations: Capital 95.8 · South Hams Radio1 · Ocean FM Local AM Stations: Gold Network Choice FM: Choice FM London · Choice 107.1 FM · Choice Digital Xfm Network: Xfm London · Xfm Manchester · Xfm Scotland · Xfm South Wales Digital-only stations: Capital Life · Chill · Core · Fun Radio2 · Planet Rock · theJazz TV Station: Classic FM TV 80%, with UKRD Group 50%, with HIT Entertainment Website: www.gcapmedia.com

v • d • e Radio stations in London, United Kingdom
FM Stations	89.1 • 91.3 • 93.5 • 94.9 • 95.8 • 96.4 • 96.6 • 96.7 • 96.9 • 97.3 • 97.6 • 98.8 • 100.0 • 100.9 • 101.6 • 101.7 • 102.2 • 102.6 • 102.7 • 102.9 • 103.1 • 103.3 • 103.5 • 103.8 • 104.1 • 104.6 • 104.9 • 105.4 • 105.8 • 106.2 • 106.6 • 106.8 • 107.3 • 107.5 • 107.6 • 107.8
LW Stations	198
AM Stations	558 • 630 • 648 • 720 • 765 • 828 • 909 • 963 • 972 • 1035 • 1089 • 1152 • 1215 • 1242 • 1305 • 1332 • 1368 • 1413 • 1458 • 1521 • 1548 • 1566 • 1584
United Kingdom Radio Markets: London • Manchester • West Midlands See also: List of radio stations in the United Kingdom