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. 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. Play stations include:


 * Play
 * Euro City (101-103 FM)
 * Belton (93-95 FM)
 * Hartchester (99-100 FM)
 * Play Plus (launched 2003)
 * Play Relax (launched 2000)
 * Play Dance (launched 2002)
 * Play Megahits (launched 2010)
 * Play Christmas (December)
 * Play Summer (May-August)

Virgin Radio
Virgin Radio is a radio station playing a mix of rock, indie, alternative, soft rock, britpop & pop-rock. Launched as a digital-only station, Play Xtreme in 2005, the current name was introduced alongside it's FM launch in 2008.

A spin-off station, Virgin Radio 2 was introduced in 2010, which played songs otherwise rejected by other stations. The station (including DJs, programmes and the focus) were merged with it's parent station in 2015.

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.

Choice Radio
Choice Radio is an urban contemporary radio station, playing a wide range of genres, including but not limited to hip-hop, RnB, grime, rap, pop-rap, dancehall, disco, soul, garage house, drum and bass, soca, reggae & latin music. The station is described on it's website as “A musical celebration of the diversity & lifestyle of the Euro Republican culture".

In 2017, a spin-off of Choice Radio, Choice Rewind, was launched.

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.