Global has confirmed programming changes across Heart, Capital & Smooth as part of its Nations Strategy, seemingly confirming reports that it announced to staff last month it would drop local and regional programming from its key brands.
Global’s biggest radio brands include Heart, Smooth, Radio X, Classic FM and Capital.
READ MORE: Luke Littler and co stay on Sky as broadcaster extends PDC darts deal to 2030
From Monday 24th February, JK & Kelly Brook, Will Manning, and Jenni Falconer will host new networked shows across England, while dedicated drive shows will continue for Wales and Scotland.
JK & Kelly Brook will present Heart Drive across England, airing Monday to Friday, 4pm-7pm. Their show, already available nationally on DAB, will now extend to the FM network in England.
Will Manning will host Capital Drive across England, also airing Monday to Friday, 4pm-7pm. In addition to his drivetime show, Will continues to present The EE Official Big Top 40 every Sunday from 4pm-7pm.
Jenni Falconer will host a fully networked Smooth Breakfast across England & Wales, airing Monday to Friday, 6am-10am.
In Scotland, Global continues to invest in Scottish-led programming, with enhanced presenter schedules on Capital and Heart, while Smooth Scotland’s Breakfast show with John Mellis will continue to broadcast from Global’s centre in Glasgow.
In Wales, Josh Andrews & Kally Davies will present a dedicated Capital Drive across Wales, broadcasting across the nation from Cardiff. Jagger & Woody will continue to host Heart Drive across Wales.
Each national show will continue to deliver local news, travel, and weather updates, provided by Global’s newsrooms across the UK.
Heart, Capital and Smooth remain the UK’s top three commercial radio brands, with Heart alone reaching a massive 12.99m weekly listeners. In 2023, Snooth North West achieved the feat of topping the regional charts for the 15th consecutive year.
Ashley Tabor-King CBE, founder & executive president of Global, said: “This is an important time as we enter the next chapter of our growth, with fully national drive shows for Heart and Capital in England, and a fully national Breakfast show for Smooth across England and Wales. Our focus on a Nations programming strategy, with national brands delivered locally, at quality and scale, aims to give the very best content for listeners and advertisers as well as maintaining local touchpoints including news, travel, and weather.”
The move follows the introduction of the Media Act, which Global said has “secured radio’s place on smart speakers and removed the legal requirement for locally-made programming on local and regional licences, whilst of course, keeping locally relevant content in place.”
All of Global’s stations are available on radio, on Global Player (the official app for all of Global’s radio stations and content, podcasts and playlists), smart speaker, web, and on smart TVs, including Sky Q and Apple TV. The new schedules take effect from Monday 24th February.
