Editing Absolute Radio (section)

== Programming ==

=== Audience and playlist ===
Virgin Radio launched aiming at a target group of 24-to 44-year-olds<ref>{{cite news | title = Virgin flies the flag on the airwaves: Richard Branson's new station looks set to stir things up in radio | first = Martin | last = Wroe | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/media-virgin-flies-the-flag-on-the-airwaves-richard-bransons-new-station-looks-set-to-stir-things-up-in-radio-says-martin-wroe-1453885.html | work = The Independent | location = London | date = 7 April 1993 | access-date =30 May 2011}}</ref> and with a focus on album music, arguing that "singles chart shows on Radio 1 and local commercial radio were outdated because albums outsold singles by three to one."<ref>{{cite news | title = Off Air | first = Richard | last = Brooks | url = http://archive.guardian.co.uk/Repository/getFiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib:LowLevelEntityToSaveGifMSIE_DIGITALARCHIVE&Type=text/html&Locale=english-skin-custom&Path=TOB/1993/02/21&ChunkNum=-1&ID=Ar06504&PageLabel=65 | work = The Observer | location = London | page = 65 | date = 21 February 1993 | access-date =30 May 2011}}</ref> It would provide a blend of recent album tracks and chart music from the past 25 years and aim to fill the "hole in the middle" between BBC Radio 1 and local commercial radio, which were specifically aimed at young audiences, and "gold" stations offering classic hits.<ref>{{cite news | title = Virgin aims shows at 'hole in middle' of radio market | first = Andrew | last = Culf | url = http://archive.guardian.co.uk/Repository/getFiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib:LowLevelEntityToSaveGifMSIE_DIGITALARCHIVE&Type=text/html&Locale=english-skin-custom&Path=GUA/1993/01/20&ChunkNum=-1&ID=Ar00702&PageLabel=7 | work = The Guardian | location = London | page = 7 | date = 20 January 1993 | access-date =30 May 2011}}</ref>

A year after launch, David Campbell was quoted as saying that "the music policy was wrong, even though Virgin had lots of research to suggest it was doing what listeners said they wanted. We did something we should never do: pursue critical acclaim, playing obscure tracks, gaining the praise of the music press." The station's approach had been to mix in more familiar music.<ref>{{cite news | title = Rock station that is finally on a roll: The wrong music policy and poor reception gave Virgin a shaky first year | first = Maggie | last = Brown | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/media-rock-station-that-is-finally-on-a-roll-the-wrong-music-policy-and-poor-reception-gave-virgin-a-shaky-first-year-reports-maggie-brown-1372663.html | work = The Independent | location = London | date = 27 April 1994 | access-date =30 May 2011}}</ref>

Fru Hazlitt, when interviewed for ''[[The Guardian]]'' in September 2006, described the type of music the station championed: "It's pretty much mainstream rock festival-type music. [[Razorlight]], [[Keane (band)|Keane]]. These bands are becoming some of the biggest in the world."<ref>{{cite news | title = Tuned in to Virgin | work = The Guardian | date = 25 September 2006 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/sep/25/commercialradio.radio | access-date =27 November 2007 | first=Owen | last=Gibson| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071113140954/http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/sep/25/commercialradio.radio| archive-date= 13 November 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref>

When announcing the rebrand as Absolute Radio on the One Golden Square blog, Clive Dickens, chief operating officer, noted that the station would be "sticking with real music – not manufactured rubbish – and we're building on the amount of live music we do – we're just going to discover more of all of it."<ref>{{cite web | last = Dickens | first = Clive | title = Absolute Clarity | date = 2 September 2008 | url = http://onegoldensquare.com/2008/09/absolute-clarity-by-clive-dickens/ | access-date = 30 May 2011 | archive-date = 6 January 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140106043149/http://onegoldensquare.com/2008/09/absolute-clarity-by-clive-dickens/ | url-status = dead }}</ref>

The music policy continues to focus on guitar-based rock, mostly British. In a blog post in February 2009, Head of Music James Curran noted that the 30 most-played artists in the first four months of Absolute Radio had been: [[Manic Street Preachers]], [[Coldplay]], [[Arctic Monkeys]], [[Snow Patrol]], [[Kings of Leon]], [[The Killers]], [[Oasis (band)|Oasis]], [[Travis (band)|Travis]], [[U2]], [[Placebo (band)|Placebo]], [[Suede (band)|Suede]], [[Kaiser Chiefs]], [[Kasabian]], [[Queen (band)|Queen]], [[Keane (band)|Keane]], [[Stereophonics]], [[Caesars (band)|Caesars]], [[Elbow (band)|Elbow]], [[Bruce Springsteen]], [[R.E.M.]], [[Nickelback]], [[The Offspring]], [[Aerosmith]], [[The Rolling Stones]], [[Biffy Clyro]], [[The Beatles]], [[David Bowie]], [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]], [[The Police]] and [[Blur (band)|Blur]].<ref>{{cite web | last = Curran | first = James | title = Listen to the Music | date = 4 February 2009 | url = http://onegoldensquare.com/2009/02/listen-to-the-music-by-james-curran/ | access-date = 30 May 2011 | archive-date = 2 April 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150402143846/http://onegoldensquare.com/2009/02/listen-to-the-music-by-james-curran/ | url-status = dead }}</ref>

=== Premium service ===
On 14 July 2022, Absolute Radio launched Absolute Radio Premium where users can listen to the various stations without advert breaks and with the ability to skip a song. The service also offers five exclusive stations: Absolute Radio Acoustic, Absolute Radio Classic Country, Andy Bush's Indie Disco 24/7, Through the Decades and Haven't Heard It for Ages.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}

=== Notable DJs ===

==== Weekdays ====
*[[Dave Berry (presenter)|Dave Berry]] 
*[[Leona Graham]]
*[[Danielle Perry]]
*Andy Bush and Richie Firth
*[[Sarah Champion (presenter)|Sarah Champion]]

==== Weekends ====
*[[Jon Richardson]]
*[[Jason Manford]]
*[[Claire Sturgess]]
*[[Matt Forde]]
*[[Skin (musician)|Skin]]
*[[Tim Burgess (musician)|Tim Burgess]]

=== Notable former presenters ===
Virgin Radio's original line-up included [[Russ Williams (DJ)|Russ Williams]], [[Richard Skinner (broadcaster)|Richard Skinner]], Mitch Johnson, [[Tommy Vance]], [[Jonathan Coleman (presenter)|Jonathan Coleman]] and [[Nick Abbot]].

Other past presenters on the network include [[Danny Baker]], [[Robin Banks]], [[Kelly-Anne Smith]], [[Vicki Butler-Henderson]], Robin Burke. [[Martin Collins]], [[Gary Davies]], [[Daryl Denham]], [[Chris Evans (presenter)|Chris Evans]] (who also owned the station), [[Ben Jones (DJ)|Ben Jones]], [[Neil Francis (broadcaster)|Neil Francis]], [[Alan Freeman]], [[Tony Hadley]] (from [[Spandau Ballet]]), [[Nicky Horne]], [[Janey Lee Grace]], [[Kevin Greening]], Simon James and Hill, Gary King, [[Jason King (radio)|Jason King]], [[Phil Kennedy]], [[Jeremy Kyle]], [[Allan Lake]], [[Iain Lee]], [[Geoff Lloyd]], [[Tim Lovejoy]], [[James Merritt]], [[Pete Mitchell (broadcaster)|Pete Mitchell]], [[Al Murray]], [[Christian O'Connell]], [[John Osborne (broadcaster)|John Osborne]], [[Lynn Parsons]], [[Steve Penk]], [[Annabel Port]], [[Vic Reeves]], [[Joel Ross (DJ)|Joel Ross]], [[Jo Russell]], [[Holly Samos]], [[Harriet Scott (broadcaster)|Harriet Scott]], [[Tim Shaw (presenter)|Tim Shaw]], [[Graeme Smith (radio presenter)|Graeme Smith]], [[Suggs (singer)|Suggs]], [[David Tennant]], [[Clive Warren]], [[Ray Cokes]], [[Dave Gorman]], [[Pete Donaldson]] and [[Frank Skinner]].

=== Sport ===
From the 2010–11 to the 2015–16 seasons, Absolute Radio broadcast live commentary of 32 [[Premier League]] games on Saturday afternoons. [[Ian Wright]] joined the station to host a post-match phone-in programme, as well as a regular music show on Absolute Radio 90s and a football podcast.

From 2013 to 2014, Absolute Radio held UK radio rights to [[American football]]'s [[National Football League]].

=== Comedy ===
In 2021, Absolute Radio commissioned its first scripted comedy series, ''Rockanory''. Based on a number of ''Rock Star Babylon'' stories by former ''[[The Now Show|Now Show]]'' comedian [[Jon Holmes]], the series featured the voices of [[Shaun Keaveny]], [[Jon Culshaw]] and [[Jake Yapp]]. Short episodes were broadcast Monday to Thursday at 11{{nbsp}}pm for six weeks from 6 September 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://radiotoday.co.uk/2021/08/shaun-keaveny-joins-absolute-radio-for-comedy-series/|title=Shaun Keaveny joins Absolute Radio for comedy series|website=Radiotoday.co.uk|date=23 August 2021|access-date=22 October 2021}}</ref>