Absolute Radio 90s

Absolute Radio 90s

Frequency	DAB: 11D (England/Wales/N. Ireland) 12A (Scotland) Sky: 0203
First air date	21 June 2010
Format	Non-stop music from the 1990s
Audience share	0.2% (December 2012, [1])
Owner	Bauer Radio
Sister stations	Absolute Radio Absolute Classic Rock Absolute Radio 60s Absolute Radio 70s Absolute Radio 80s Absolute Radio 00s Absolute Radio Extra
Website	Absolute 90s

Absolute Radio 90s is a spin-off service from Absolute Radio. Like Absolute 80s, this DAB spin-off service is a rolling music service which plays music from the 1990s. Some of the artists which feature on the service include Blur, Oasis, The Chemical Brothers, Guns and Roses, Portishead, The Stone Roses, Radiohead and Primal Scream amongst others.

The station launched on DAB Digital Radio in London in June 2010 and on the Digital One platform on 25 August 2010 and was initially available for one month as a 'test'. However, the availability of the station nationally continued beyond the end of September, and after a strong opening Rajar figure, it was confirmed that the 90s service would continue to be available on Digital One. It remained on that multiplex until January 2015 when its slot was given over to Magic. Ahead of this change Absolute 90s began appearing on a number of local DAB ensembles from 12 December 2014, replacing Kerrang! Radio in many cases. Absolute 90s continues to broadcast nationally via satellite TV and online.

Background

The station was announced in May 2010 when Absolute 80s launched on the Digital One national multiplex.

Launch

The service was launched on Monday, 21 June 2010 by Christian O'Connell at 10am with the Oasis song "Roll With It" the first song played on the station. It was then followed by a 90s mixtape.

Like its other digital spin-offs, Absolute Radio 90s also carries the breakfast show from Absolute Radio. During the 2013 season, Absolute Radio 90s was the UK's broadcaster of National Football League (American football) games, taking over in that capacity from BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra. (Absolute Radio abandoned NFL broadcasts in 2014.)

Availability

The service, which replaced Absolute 80s, was at launch available to the Greater London area via the Switch Digital platform (12A/223.936 MHz) via the following transmitter sites (Transmitter Power in brackets):

• Crystal Palace (2.10 kW)
• Bluebell Hill (2.00 kW)
• Reigate (1.51 kW)
• Guildford (1.00 kW)
• Zouches Farm (0.35 kW)
• Hemel Hempstead (0.25 kW)
• Otford (0.17 kW)
• Alexandra Palace (0.10 kW)
• Arkley (0.10 kW)
• Mount Vernon (0.10 kW)
• Stoke D'Aberdon (0.01 kW)
• Shooter's Hill - Thamesmead (0.01 kW)

In addition, the station replaced dabbl in Bristol, Essex, London, Newbury, Reading, Swindon and Cardiff. The service is also available on Sky (channel 0203).

Absolute Radio 90s launched on the Digital One platform in August 2010, initially as a test due to run until 30 September 2010. This used the broadcast capacity of Absolute Radio Extra during that station's downtime. The trial was subsequently extended, and in November 2010 it was confirmed that the station would remain on Digital One, sharing with Extra as before, on a permanent basis, and that a new station, Absolute Radio 00s ("Noughties") would launch on DAB in London in December (in the former 90s slot.) As a result of its national launch Absolute Radio 90s has now also been removed from the other local DAB multiplexes it broadcast on (Absolute Classic Rock took over the slot on the Cardiff local multiplex).

As a result of sharing its Digital One slot with Absolute Radio Extra, Absolute Radio 90s was off-air on DAB between 1.30pm and 6.30pm on Saturdays. However, the digital TV and internet broadcasts of the 90s station were uninterrupted and continuous throughout this period. Following the closure of Absolute Radio Extra, Absolute Radio 90s regained a full uninterrupted service on all platforms.