Digital station Heat Radio will no longer be available nationally on DAB radio from around the 1st February, when all current presenter led programmes will end. The station will continue to be available on online platforms and in some areas through Freeview digital television.
Heat Radio first launched in 2003 as a brand extension of the magazine and is currently owned by Bauer Media. At it’s peak Heat Radio had around 1 million listeners, although this had dropped to around 600,000 recently.
The move comes at a time when Bauer are investing in new national brands. Bauer are expected to retain Heat Radio’s current DAB slot, and have also been reducing sound quality on some of their ‘localised’ services to gain more free space for future station launches.