Core to close this Friday

Digital radio station Core, which broadcasts recent pop music on the national Digital One DAB network, is to close this Friday. According to an email sent to listeners by programme manager Bern Leckie, the GCap service is to finish "to make way for a new national station from this Saturday."

Mr Leckie continued: "We've had a great time bringing you fresh hits since the launch of DAB digital radio in November 1999, and putting you, the listener, in control of what you wanted to hear.

"Whether you took part on air, by text, or online, we want to thank you for making Core great fun to be part of over the last eight years."

The email says listeners can continue to follow Core music and presenters including Ryan Seacrest on GCap's One Network of local radio stations: "We would recommend joining our friends at Music Control, with former Core presenter Kevin Hughes.

"It's on Monday to Friday 7-10pm on the best local radio stations."

In March 2007, Core removed presenters and became "the UK's first Access All Areas station", with programmes consisting of continuous listener requests from social networks including MySpace. The digital station was removed from the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms in July of that year, sparking speculation at the time that the channel was to be mothballed. Core's online stream will cease at the same time as the DAB service.