DNN or the Digital News Network was a rolling news service on Digital Radio in the United Kingdom.

Background

It was revolutionary for the British radio market as it was the first regional network of news stations. Set up in 2001, the network of five stations was available in the Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

 and the North West, Newcastle

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

 and the North East, Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

 and Wales/West, Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 and the West Midlands

West Midlands (region)

The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...

 and from 2003 in Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

 and Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

.

Sue Owen was the stations launch director, with Dave Richards as her Deputy Editor. Richards took on her role upon her departure for BBC Radio Stoke

BBC Radio Stoke

BBC Radio Stoke is a BBC Local Radio station in England, for the area of North and Mid Staffordshire, north east Shropshire and South Cheshire. The station began broadcasting programmes on 14 March 1968 as BBC Radio Stoke-on-Trent....

 just six months after the stations launched. This followed a culling of staff through redundancy.

The stations ran on a 20 minute menu of news, sport, travel, business and showbiz. It was a truly dip in service for news junkies, hence the strap: The News you Want, When you Want it! DNN also acted as a news bulletin provider to around 30 stations across the UK offering regional news, sport

Sport

A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...

 and travel. It was thought it would go on to be a regional rival to IRN

Independent Radio News

Independent Radio News provides a service of news bulletins, audio and copy to commercial radio stations in the UK and beyond.The managing director of IRN is Tim Molloy, who succeeded long-term MD John Perkins in November 2009...

.

DNN was set up by Capital (GCap Media

GCap Media

GCap Media was a British commercial radio company formed from the merger of the Capital Radio Group and GWR Group. The merger was completed in May 2005. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. On 31 March 2008 the company agreed a takeover by...

), Chrysalis Radio and GMG

GMG

GMG may refer to:*Global Migration Group, an inter-agency group working on international migration issues*Gamecock Media Group*Garden Media Guild , a British trade association for garden writers, photographers and broadcasters*GMG Airlines, an airline of Bangladesh*Good Morning Gloucester A daily...

 as part of the bid to win regional DAB licenses from the Radio Authority, who later became Ofcom

Ofcom

Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...

. Regulations have always demanded news and local content on new stations and DNN was seen as the carrot to win the new multiplex licenses.

DNN's target audience was male and female, 35 to 55 and ABC1.

After 5 years of operation and little investment DNN was absorbed into LBC

LBC

LBC Radio operates two London-based radio stations, with news and talk formats. LBC was Britain's first legal commercial Independent Local Radio station, providing a service of news and information to London. It began broadcasting on 8 October 1973, a week ahead of Capital Radio...

 at the end of 2006 by the then sole owner Chrysalis. and LBC's London talk station was heard on the MXR regional multiplexes. A reduced digital news bulletin service was moved out of DNN's Heart Birmingham home and into Chrysalis London, which subsequently became Global Radio

Global Radio

Global Radio UK Ltd. is a British commercial radio company, the largest in the country following acquisitions of Chrysalis Radio and GCap Media.The company's Chief Executive Officer is Stephen Miron, while the Group Chairman is Charles Allen...

.

However, in December 2008, the DAB regional news bulletins and travel reports ceased. LBC and Heart Digital are now a straight relay of the news bulletins and output of the London FM stations, and The Arrow is now a non-stop, DJ-free music station,

Presenters

• Anita Clements
• John Collins
• Dave Richards
• Gareth Setter
• Amy Armstrong
• James Rea
• Sue Owen
• Caroline Beavon
• Dave McMullan