Editing Absolute Radio (section)

=== 1998–2000: The Ginger Media Group ===
Evans' ownership of Virgin Radio started well, with a breakfast show audience increase of 660,000 to 2.2m in his first three months.<ref>{{cite news | title = Evans claims victory in breakfast war | first = Paul | last = McCann | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/evans-claims-victory-in-breakfast-war-1143266.html | work = The Independent | location = London | date = 7 February 1998 | access-date =29 May 2011}}</ref> In August 1998, Evans took a spur of the moment decision one weekend to launch a Saturday afternoon show called ''Rock 'n' Roll Football'', which continues to be broadcast on Absolute Radio.{{sfn|Evans|2010}} From 5 October 1998, Virgin Radio started simulcasts of the breakfast show on [[Sky One]] each morning for an hour between 7.30 and 8.30&nbsp;am When a track was played on the radio, viewers would see a video at the same time.<ref name="Bowie" /><ref>{{cite news | title = A bumper breakfast, with ulcers | first = Hester | last = Lacey | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/a-bumper-breakfast-with-ulcers-1176033.html | work = The Independent | location = London | date = 4 October 1998 | access-date =29 May 2011}}</ref>

The start of the new football season in August 1999 saw [[Terry Venables]] join Russ Williams in a show that would precede ''Rock 'n' Roll Football''.<ref name="Bowie" /> At the end of 1999, at a time when TV programme [[Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (UK game show)|Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?]] had yet to give away its top prize, Virgin Radio set a broadcasting first when Clare Barwick won £1&nbsp;million at the culmination of "Someone's Going to Be a Millionaire".<ref name="Bowie" /><ref>{{cite news | title = £1m richer with thanks to George Eliot  | url  = http://archive.guardian.co.uk/Repository/getFiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib:LowLevelEntityToSaveGifMSIE_DIGITALARCHIVE&Type=text/html&Locale=english-skin-custom&Path=GUA/1999/12/18&ChunkNum=-1&ID=Ar00201&PageLabel=2 | work = The Guardian | location = London | page = 2 | date = 18 December 1999 | access-date =29 May 2011}}</ref>

The management team at the Ginger Media Group were considering expansion opportunities, including a plan to acquire the ''[[Daily Star (United Kingdom)|Daily Star]]'' newspaper from [[United Business Media|United News & Media]], and hire [[Piers Morgan]] to edit it. Their plans were stalled, however, when the shareholders got cold feet. Evans wrote in his autobiography that "the management wanted to stick to our original brief of expansion, whereas our investors only cared about extracting the added value."{{sfn|Evans|2010}}