NOW Kent
Encyclopedia
NOW Kent is a DAB Digital Radio broadcast multiplex covering the county of Kent
in South-East England
. Because of concerns over frequency overlap with France, the service is not available in extreme coastal areas of the county; however, much of the county away from the coast is covered. The multiplex can occasionally (in favourable conditions) be picked up in south-eastern areas of Greater London
. The service is broadcast from transmitters at Bluebell Hill, Chartham, Ashford, Thanet and, since the addition of a further transmitter in December 2007, Tunbridge Wells. The multiplex is a single countywide service, and so super-local sub-splits (such as the localised KMFM breakfast shows) cannot be carried. (This is why KMFM, in its original form, is not currently carried on the multiplex, and the Kent-wide KMFM Extra
is provided instead).
). Capital Group were operator of the major local FM and MW stations (then branded as Invicta FM and Capital Gold; now Heart Kent and Gold Kent). The multiplex was initially branded as 'Capital Kent', and then, in May 2006, following Capital's merger with GWR, was rebranded as 'NOWdigital Kent'; this was changed to "NOW Kent", in October 2007. In early 2010 a nationwide rebranding of DAB multiplexes was undertaken which saw operator name labels removed from the DAB platform; thus, the name which now appears on the receiver is simply "Kent"; however, NOWdigital continues to operate the multiplex as part of their network.
When the service went live in late April, 2004, the multiplex carried local stations Invicta, Capital Gold Kent and BBC Radio Kent; it also carried digital relays of London-based stations Kiss 100 and Xfm London
. Days later, on 1 May, KMFM launched their Kent-wide digital station km-digital (also known as km-d).
In December 2005, km-d was renamed KMFM Digital to tie the station's branding closer to that of the analogue service. (The name has since changed again, to KMFM Extra
, as part of a relaunch of the station).
The first new addition to the multiplex, in January 2006, was FUN Radio; this was removed in January 2008, and the space this occupied has not yet been reallocated.
Global Radio's chillout music station Chill
was added in October 2006.
In June 2007, travel news station Traffic Radio
was introduced to the Kent multiplex.
In August 2007, Capital Gold and the Classic Gold Digital Network
were merged, forming Gold; Capital Gold Kent was renamed Gold Kent as a result.
In May 2008, Bauer removed dance and urban music station Kiss in favour of a relay of their other London station, melodic music broadcaster Magic 105.4; Bauer also made this change in several other areas.
In June 2009, Invicta FM was relaunched as Heart Kent as part of a relaunch of numerous Global Radio
-owned local FM stations around the country as Heart.
In August 2009, Global Radio
removed Chill from Kent (and numerous other areas) and replaced it with Galaxy. In Kent, as in several other areas of the South of England, the Galaxy service added on DAB is a relay of Galaxy South Coast rather than Galaxy Digital
(which is a relay of Galaxy Yorkshire
).
Also in 2009, the BBC
carried out a rebranding of their BBC Local Radio
stations such that stations branded "BBC Radio (location)" switched to "BBC (location)", thus BBC Radio Kent
is now officially known as BBC Kent.
Stations formerly carried on NOW Kent and not as yet replaced:
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
in South-East England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Because of concerns over frequency overlap with France, the service is not available in extreme coastal areas of the county; however, much of the county away from the coast is covered. The multiplex can occasionally (in favourable conditions) be picked up in south-eastern areas of Greater London
Greater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...
. The service is broadcast from transmitters at Bluebell Hill, Chartham, Ashford, Thanet and, since the addition of a further transmitter in December 2007, Tunbridge Wells. The multiplex is a single countywide service, and so super-local sub-splits (such as the localised KMFM breakfast shows) cannot be carried. (This is why KMFM, in its original form, is not currently carried on the multiplex, and the Kent-wide KMFM Extra
KMFM Extra
KMFM Extra is a DAB radio station based in Rochester and broadcasting to the county of Kent, South East England. It is part of the KMFM group of radio stations in the county, which are part of the KM Group....
is provided instead).
Launch and development
The licence to operate the multiplex was awarded by then regulator the Radio Authority in February 2003, and was awarded to Capital Digital, the DAB multiplex operation division of the then Capital Radio Group (now part of Global RadioGlobal 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...
). Capital Group were operator of the major local FM and MW stations (then branded as Invicta FM and Capital Gold; now Heart Kent and Gold Kent). The multiplex was initially branded as 'Capital Kent', and then, in May 2006, following Capital's merger with GWR, was rebranded as 'NOWdigital Kent'; this was changed to "NOW Kent", in October 2007. In early 2010 a nationwide rebranding of DAB multiplexes was undertaken which saw operator name labels removed from the DAB platform; thus, the name which now appears on the receiver is simply "Kent"; however, NOWdigital continues to operate the multiplex as part of their network.
When the service went live in late April, 2004, the multiplex carried local stations Invicta, Capital Gold Kent and BBC Radio Kent; it also carried digital relays of London-based stations Kiss 100 and Xfm London
Xfm London
Xfm London is a commercial radio station in the United Kingdom owned by Global Radio and broadcasts on 104.9 FM in London, on digital radio via 30 DAB multiplexes across the country, Sky, TalkTalk TV and Virgin Media....
. Days later, on 1 May, KMFM launched their Kent-wide digital station km-digital (also known as km-d).
Changes and evolution
Since the launch of the multiplex, a number of changes to the available stations have been made.In December 2005, km-d was renamed KMFM Digital to tie the station's branding closer to that of the analogue service. (The name has since changed again, to KMFM Extra
KMFM Extra
KMFM Extra is a DAB radio station based in Rochester and broadcasting to the county of Kent, South East England. It is part of the KMFM group of radio stations in the county, which are part of the KM Group....
, as part of a relaunch of the station).
The first new addition to the multiplex, in January 2006, was FUN Radio; this was removed in January 2008, and the space this occupied has not yet been reallocated.
Global Radio's chillout music station Chill
Chill (radio station)
Chill is a British digital radio station dedicated to chill out, ambient and trip-hop music.-The station:Chill is broadcast on DAB in London and Birmingham, across the UK on Sky channel 0177 and also online. The station's aim is to help listeners relax. It is owned by Global Radio...
was added in October 2006.
In June 2007, travel news station Traffic Radio
Traffic Radio
Traffic Radio was a digital radio station based in England.It was a 24 hour rolling traffic and travel service for motorways and major roads in England, run for the Highways Agency by Global Traffic Network....
was introduced to the Kent multiplex.
In August 2007, Capital Gold and the Classic Gold Digital Network
Classic Gold Digital Network
Classic Gold Digital Network was one of the biggest 'gold' formatted radio networks in the United Kingdom, with a potential audience of 47 million. Classic Gold was broadcast on analogue and DAB digital platforms, as well as Sky channel 0189.-History:...
were merged, forming Gold; Capital Gold Kent was renamed Gold Kent as a result.
In May 2008, Bauer removed dance and urban music station Kiss in favour of a relay of their other London station, melodic music broadcaster Magic 105.4; Bauer also made this change in several other areas.
In June 2009, Invicta FM was relaunched as Heart Kent as part of a relaunch of numerous 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...
-owned local FM stations around the country as Heart.
In August 2009, 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...
removed Chill from Kent (and numerous other areas) and replaced it with Galaxy. In Kent, as in several other areas of the South of England, the Galaxy service added on DAB is a relay of Galaxy South Coast rather than Galaxy Digital
Galaxy Digital
Galaxy Digital was a radio station broadcasting through the digital platform across the United Kingdom and was owned by Global Radio. It primarily broadcast in areas where Galaxy was not represented on FM, such as London, Leicester, Nottingham, and Derbyshire...
(which is a relay of Galaxy Yorkshire
Galaxy Yorkshire
Capital Yorkshire is an Independent Local Radio station owned by Global Radio as part of the nine-station Capital radio network which specialises in mainstream music...
).
Also in 2009, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
carried out a rebranding of their BBC Local Radio
BBC Local Radio
BBC Local Radio is the BBC's regional radio service for England and the Channel Islands, consisting of 40 stations. They cover a variety of areas with some serving a city and surrounding areas, for example BBC Radio Manchester; a county, for example BBC Radio Norfolk; an administrative region for...
stations such that stations branded "BBC Radio (location)" switched to "BBC (location)", thus BBC Radio Kent
BBC Radio Kent
BBC Radio Kent is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Kent.It broadcasts on FM on 96.7 , 97.6 and 104.2 also 774 and 1602 MW and DAB.- History :The radio station was launched in 1970 under the name of BBC Radio Medway, originally only serving the...
is now officially known as BBC Kent.
Summary
| Service | Bit-rate | Audio channels | Service type | Analogue availability | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BBC Radio Kent BBC Radio Kent BBC Radio Kent is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Kent.It broadcasts on FM on 96.7 , 97.6 and 104.2 also 774 and 1602 MW and DAB.- History :The radio station was launched in 1970 under the name of BBC Radio Medway, originally only serving the... |
C631 | 128 kbit/s | Joint stereo | Local speech and music | 96.7, 97.6, 104.2 MHz 774, 1602 kHz |
| Capital South Coast | C9CC | 128 kbit/s | Joint stereo | Dance/urban, replaced melodic station Chill, relay of South Coast FM station (itself formerly pop station Power FM Power FM Power FM redirects here and refers to the former UK radio station. For the Australian radio station network of the same name, see Power FM Network. For the English language broadcaster based in the Canary Islands see Power FM Canary Islands... and later Galaxy South Coast) |
— |
| Gold | C7D2 | 128 kbit/s | Joint stereo | Golden oldies, formerly Capital Gold Kent | 603, 1242 kHz |
| Heart Kent | C2CF | 128 kbit/s | Joint stereo | Hot-AC, replaced heritage CHR service Invicta FM | 95.9, 96.1, 97.0, 102.8, 103.1 MHz |
| Kiss | C483 | 128 kbit/s | Joint stereo | Dance/urban station | — |
| KMFM Extra KMFM Extra KMFM Extra is a DAB radio station based in Rochester and broadcasting to the county of Kent, South East England. It is part of the KMFM group of radio stations in the county, which are part of the KM Group.... |
C4CF | 128 kbit/s | Joint stereo | Pop/CHR, replaced AC service KMFM Digital, digital-only station operated by owners of analogue KMFM | — |
| Pop Up Radio | CFCF | 64 kbit/s | Mono LSF | Special events service | — |
| XFM London Xfm London Xfm London is a commercial radio station in the United Kingdom owned by Global Radio and broadcasts on 104.9 FM in London, on digital radio via 30 DAB multiplexes across the country, Sky, TalkTalk TV and Virgin Media.... |
C0B8 | 128 kbit/s | Joint stereo | Rock/alternative, relay of London FM station | — |
| EPG Kent | E1C000C2 | 8 kbit/s | Data | Hidden service, EPG data | — |
Stations formerly carried on NOW Kent and not as yet replaced:
- FUN Kids
- Magic 105.4
- Traffic RadioTraffic RadioTraffic Radio was a digital radio station based in England.It was a 24 hour rolling traffic and travel service for motorways and major roads in England, run for the Highways Agency by Global Traffic Network....
