Gold streams classic hits and oldies live across the UK, a national network built from the merger of two rival heritage stations that each spent decades building their own loyal audience. Stream it live and free right now on Radio Shuffle, no account or app required.
Born on Capital's old AM frequency
Gold's roots trace back to 1988, when Capital Gold launched in London on Capital Radio's AM frequency after British regulators pushed stations to stop simulcasting identical programming on both AM and FM. Early presenters included Tony Blackburn, Kenny Everett and David Hamilton, broadcasting names who had already built careers on British radio well before Capital Gold gave them a dedicated oldies home.
Two networks becoming one
A separate rival existed alongside it: Classic Gold, built from the AM licences of the former GWR Group's local stations around the country. The two networks merged in August 2007, rebranding under the single Gold name on August 3 of that year and combining two previously competing oldies audiences into one national brand.
Shrinking on AM, growing on digital
Gold's footprint has shifted significantly since that merger. A 2014 relaunch made the station partly automated and pulled it out of several local areas after many of its AM and DAB frequencies transferred to sister station Smooth Radio, before Gold gained a national DAB multiplex slot in 2019 to offset the local losses. The station's AM transmitters have been closing one by one since then, with London's shutting down in September 2023 and the remaining analogue signals following through 2024.
Still reaching nearly two million listeners a week
Despite trading local AM coverage for a national digital signal, Gold holds onto a real audience, with RAJAR figures putting its combined weekly listenership at around 1.8 million as of March 2024. Now run from Global's own studios in Leicester Square, London, Gold carries forward both the Capital Gold and Classic Gold lineages into a single always-on stream of decades-spanning hits.
Stream Gold free on Radio Shuffle, anywhere, any time, with no sign-up required.