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The Capital Gold radio station started in London in 1988 on Capital Radio's AM frequency, after the Independent Broadcasting Authority had urged stations to end simulcasting (broadcasting the same programmes simultaneously on AM and FM) and threatened to remove one of their frequencies if simulcasting continued. The original DJs on the early incarnation of Capital Gold included Tony Blackburn, Kenny Everett and David Hamilton. The hiring of radio personalities to host networked shows continued to be a feature of the Capital Gold network as it grew.
Capital Gold featured a strong presenting lineup such as Tony Blackburn, who joined from BBC Radio London and launched the station, (1992). 9780851129396, Guinness Publishing. ISBN 9780851129396 "Diddy" David Hamilton, Paul Burnett, Paul Gambaccini and Kenny Everett, who returned to daily broadcasting at Capital Gold, hosting daytime shows on weekdays until 1994, when his deteriorating health meant he was unable to continue. The mid-late 1990s saw Capital Gold rated London's most popular AM radio station and the third-most-popular music station, behind Capital FM and BBC Radio 1.
With Capital Gold proving popular with its London audience, the station management decided to syndicate Tony Blackburn's Sunday soul show and expand its popular 'Sportstime' brand to Birmingham station Xtra AM, which Capital had purchased in 1993 along with BRMB to form GCap Media. This was followed in 1994 with the purchase of the Southern Radio Group.
Both Capital Radio plc and GWR Group lobbied the then Ofcom to allow syndicated programmes to be broadcast on their AM stations. The Radio Authority agreed and it was announced early in 1998 that Capital Gold from London would replace Invicta Supergold; Xtra and South Coast followed on 1 June.
The networking was agreed by the Radio Authority with the stipulation that at least four hours a day of weekday broadcasting were kept and local news, traffic announcements and advertising remained on each station. Listeners to the previous local stations were dismayed that so much local broadcasting was to be eliminated, resulting in the loss of jobs. Capital Radio boss David Mansfield maintained that AM listenership had steadily declined and required a consistent, high-quality programme offering across all stations to remain competitive.
Initially, the four hours were scheduled in the afternoon drivetime slot (37p.m.) with a networked breakfast/morning show hosted by comedian Mike Osman (711a.m.). This surprised many people in the industry as this sidelined Capital Gold's biggest radio name at the time, Tony Blackburn, who had previously presented the weekday breakfast show to weekends. However, a few months later Blackburn was moved back on the weekday schedule in the afternoon drivetime slot, while local breakfast shows were reintroduced to meet the four-hour requirement. A new jingle package from now-defunct jingle company AJ Productions and a new slogan – " Great Time Music" heralded the major change.
In 1999, Capital Radio plc acquired Red Dragon FM and its medium wave service Touch Radio in South Wales, with the result being that Capital Gold replaced Touch Radio. 1999 saw the station's reach increase yet again: across the UK and Ireland on Sky.
In 2002, new logos and imaging re-launched the Capital Gold Network, with the new slogan, "The Greatest Hits of the 60s, 70s and 80s", and a further medium wave station in Manchester was added after the former UTV Radio agreed to sell Big 1458 AM's broadcasting licence.
In a dispute with station bosses, Tony Blackburn left the station in 2002, having been at the station since Gold's launch in 1988. DJ Blackburn quits Capital He hosted weekday drivetime and the Soul Spectrum until being replaced by Greg Edwards. Blackburn would later appear on the Classic Gold Digital Network, leaving when this was combined into Gold.
In 2004, station management decided to stop broadcasting live football coverage under the Capital Gold Sportstime title. Jonathan Pearce had moved to BBC Radio 5 Live, Radio 5 Live lures Pearce from Capital and the fees involved in acquiring live radio coverage rights had become too costly. A replacement sports show, Sports Saturday now covers sports results. A Saturday Football League preview magazine was briefly aired in 2004 but discontinued after a few months.
On Saturday morning David Jensen hosted a celebrity and showbiz programme and recent notable guests have included Paul Weller, Jools Holland, Jeremy Irons, Smokey Robinson and Juliette Lewis. Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, Greg Edwards hosted a soul show called Soul Spectrum, the name taken from his Capital show in the 1970s. On Sunday mornings from 11:00, a chart rundown show called From the Bottom to the Top featured the top 20 tracks when the featured guest was riding high in the charts.
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