Virgin Radio UK launches on Freesat
January 7, 2019
Freesat, the UK’s subscription-free satellite TV platform, has announced the addition of Virgin Radio UK to its digital radio channels. The music station joins a line-up of national and regional radio stations to provide viewers with yet more choice and entertainment.
On channel number 736, listeners will have access to the very best music from the 80s to the present day, presented by an array radio hosts including Eddy Temple-Morris, Kate Lawler, Matt Richardson and Tim Cocker. And from January 21st, they’ll also have access to the biggest broadcaster in the UK, as the brand new Chris Evans Breakfast Show launches, in partnership with Sky.
Virgin Radio UK – owned by Wireless, part of News UK – currently reaches 414,000 listeners a week, tuning in for a total of 1,347,000 hours.
Freesat’s radio line-up also includes Absolute Radio, all the UK-wide BBC Radio stations, Capital, Classic FM, Heart and Smooth Radio, along with several Irish stations. And Freesat customers spent an average eight hours listening to different radio stations on their TV sets during December.
Virgin Radio UK will be joining Freesat off the back of a record-breaking December for radio listening on the platform, which saw a 13 per cent increase in numbers (year-on-year), meaning that more than one in five people tuned in over Christmas.
Commenting on the launch, Alistair Thom, Managing Director of Freesat, said: “We are excited to add Virgin Radio UK to our channels and offer our customers, who often tune in to the radio on their TVs, access to one of the most-talked-about radio shows in the past few months in the form of the new Chris Evans Breakfast Show. We are on a mission to give our four million viewers the very best subscription-free entertainment and the addition of Virgin Radio UK only enhances the choice available.”
Francis Currie, Group Content Director – Music Radio, at Wireless, added: “The brand-new Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio UK is going to rock. It’s the biggest broadcasting event of 2019 and I’m delighted that listeners on Freesat can be a part of it.”