EuroMedia Radio

EuroMedia Radio is a Euro Republican radio company that currently owns various stations around the world.

History
EuroMedia Radio was formed out of the former City Radio Group which operated Play, Topic Radio and Choice FM, which EuroMedia acquired in 1997.

Play
Play is a brand of radio stations owned by EuroMedia. It is a station, primarily playing pop and dance hits alongside a limited playlist of rock, classic rock & soft rock. Play is popular with teen & young adult audiences, with a feminine skew. Play launched in Euro City in March 1973 as City Radio, rebranding under it's current name in October 1988, relaunching as a national network in February 1999.

Local Play stations typically include local mid-morning, lunchtime and drivetime programmes, but all are required to carry The Breakfast Club with Sara Mellor. There is a DAB version, Play 2, which is a straight simulcast of the Euro City station, albiet with altered jingles.

Play stations include:


 * Play
 * Euro City (101-103 FM)
 * Belton (93-95 FM)
 * Hartchester (99-100 FM)
 * Faulkshire (105-107 FM)
 * Newshaw (93-94 FM)
 * Play 2 (launched 2003)
 * Play Dance (launched 2002)
 * Play Megahits (launched 2010)
 * Play Christmas (December)
 * Play Summer (May-August)

Play Xtra
Play Xtra is an urban contemporary radio station, playing genres including hip-hop, RnB, grime, drill, rap, pop-rap, latin, dance, UK garage, jungle and rythmic pop.

The station launched in January 2011, partly to fill the gap left by the sale of Choice FM to 365 Media in 2009. Unlike it's demographic rival EBC 3XM - which is only available to listeners outside of Euro City on DAB, Play Xtra is available on FM in all major cities.

Virgin Radio
Virgin Radio is a radio station aimed at an older, more masculine audience than Play. The station's playlist primarily revolves around a variety of rock music, ranging from the 1960's to the present day. The station also plays a selection of other genres, including britpop, synth-pop, metal and experimental. Speech content on Virgin Radio includes sports coverage - notably football - and scripted comedy.

The station was originally a joint venture between Virgin Group and British television station TV-AM, before it was sold to the City Radio Group in 1998.

Launched on nationwide AM frequencies in 1991, expanding to FM in 1995.

Magic Radio Network
The Magic Radio Network is a network of easy listening stations which originated with the original Magic 99, a golden oldies station in Belton in 1988. Magic launched as a national station on DAB in 1996, at which time the station's playlist was changed towards easy listening.

Since it's DAB launch in 1996, the brand began to expand it's FM reach into other cities, leading to the formation of the Magic Radio Network. Whilst most of the stations in the network have adopted the Magic brand, format and presenters over the years, some stations in the network retain their brands with the Magic playlist and presenters.

3C Radio
3C Radio is a station targeted towards children and teenagers. Aimed at 8 to 15 year olds, the station broadcasts 24 hours a day with presenter and music led programming.

Topic Radio
Topic Radio is a talk radio station, similar in many ways to the UK station LBC. Mainly focused on news discussion, Topic includes a roster of both left-wing, centre-wing & right-wing presenters. It originated in Euro City in 1990 as Topic 91.2, before expanding to all areas by 1994. EuroMedia bought the station in 1995.

Aquarius
Aquarius is a classical music station which plays orchestral music, opera and includes a nightly news programme and arts discussion programmes. The station's presentation style is noticeably more commercial and populist than EBC Radio 4 - with a mix of talk, light classical records from more notable composers (the likes of Mozart, Handel and Beethoven) and advertising breaks.

United Kingdom
In 2003, EuroMedia Radio acquired the Capital Radio Group, who operated FM stations in the UK such as Capital, Capital Disney, Capital Life and Xfm. On Monday 5 January 2004, Capital Life and Capital Gold merged into one station, using the Capital Life brand, initially mooted as a digital alternative to BBC Radio 2, and employing ex-Radio 2 alumni - notably Sarah Kennedy, who defected from the public broadcaster to present the breakfast show, and Jimmy Young, in a lunchtime slot in competition with his successor, Jeremy Vine. Chris Tarrant joined from the flagship station to present the drivetime programme. Meanwhile, Mo Dutta presented the early breakfast show and Johnnie Walker presented the evening programme.

In 2006, it purchased Chrysalis Radio, which operated the Heart and Galaxy brands in addition to LBC and The Arrow. Almost immediately, EuroMedia began planning to turn Galaxy into a national network, merging it with the existing Capital station in London, whilst proposing to merge Heart into Capital Life, under the proposed name Galaxy Life, though these plans never materialised.