GCap executives said the measure was a way to draw new listeners to the station, which is available on the national DAB multiplex, Sky Digital, NTL, Telewest and the internet.
Trevor White, Planet Rock's programme controller, said: "The new ad policy, combined with the signing of Alice Cooper [as breakfast host from July], we believe will help to draw new listeners to the station."
Planet Rock increased its reach by 42% from the last quarter of 2005 to the first quarter of 2006 to 461,000 listeners. It targets male listeners aged 35-55.
When it introduced the new ad policy at Capital, GCap admitted that it would have a potential £7m impact on revenue, but was necessary to reverse the loss of listeners from its flagship station. It has not provided any estimate of how next week's move will affect Planet Rock revenues.
GCap also says that if the policy was successful it would extend it to other stations, and suggested that other "key heritage stations" such as its Midlands analogue station BMRB would be next to be "revitalised".
The decision to select Planet Rock as another "fewer ads" station comes as Channel 4 is building up momentum in its bid to land the second national digital radio multiplex, which is expected to be advertised by Ofcom at the end of this year.
Recent research by Ipsos revealed that ad recall on Capital Radio has improved by 38% since the policy was introduced in January.
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .
_1.jpg)
.jpg)
