Digital station Absolute Classic Rock – previously only available on DAB in London – is to be added to multiplexes across the North of England.
The additional coverage will see it replace Global-owned station 'Gold' on Bauer's multiplexes from midnight tonight in places including Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Preston and Hull.
Absolute Classic Rock will also introduce a new daily show from Rolling Stones legend Ronnie Wood in January – and is promising a series of specials and documentaries featuring classic artists such as Led Zeppelin, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Paul McCartney, ACDC, Slash and Elton John. The station will also have a new look daytime schedule with Leona Graham on 10am-1pm, non-stop classic rock 1-2pm, Martyn Lee doing 2-4pm, Ronnie Wood's show at 4pm, then Russ Williams on 5-8pm.
The additional coverage will see the station broadcasting to an extended, combined TSA of ten million people. It currently has a weekly reach of 303,000 via the London multiplex, Sky, Freeview and Freesat.
Absolute Radio Chief Executive Donnach O’Driscoll said: "Absolute Radio’s network strategy offers compelling reasons to listeners to buy into the DAB platform and to provide them with extra coverage for stations to enable them to stay within the Absolute Radio family of brands."
Absolute Classic Rock presenter Ronnie Wood – who's currently on the station with a weekly Friday night show – added, "The show is loads of fun, it's just me and my guitar telling my musical memories from my life in rock n roll. It’s a natural progression to have the show on every day and to be able to take it out to the people across the UK."
Absolute recently announced that a new station – Absolute Radio 00s – will launch tomorrow at 10am on the London II multiplex. They're also now confirmed that Absolute Radio 90s will stay on Digital 1 after positive feedback during a trial period.