Capital has paid £250,000 for Big AM's AM analogue and digital licences from the TalkSport-owning Wireless Group. It will rebrand the station, which broadcasts to the Greater Manchester area, as Capital Gold.
Big AM already has a similar format to Capital Gold, playing pop and rock music from the last four decades. The acquisition will add to the Capital Gold network in Birmingham, Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, South Wales and London, where it recently overtook Virgin FM to become London's 10th biggest station in reach and audience share.
The network now has a potential audience of 18.1m, up from 15.8m.
David Mansfield, chief executive of Capital Radio, said: "The acquisition of Big AM is the latest development in our strategy to build our national presence in UK radio and strengthen our brands. This deal allows us to build Capital Radio's presence in the lucrative North-West region and also enables us to expand our successful Capital Gold format."
At the beginning of February, Capital announced a joint venture with Disney to launch a digital children's radio station called Capital Disney, which it hopes will speed up the uptake of digital radio in the UK. It has also signed a digital partnership with UBC Media.
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