A new digital station playing country music will launch today from Absolute Radio. The station is replacing Country Hits Radio on DAB digital radio.
During the Dave Berry Breakfast Show and Hometime with Bush & Richie listeners will be able to hear music from artists like Dolly Parton, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban. The station will also play songs from brand-new artists like Gabby Barrett and Jimmie Allen.
Presenters Baylen Leonard and Lou Nash will continue to host their current programmes at 10am and 1pm. The new station is also introducing The No Repeat Guarantee. Baylen Leonard will be joined by Keith Urban and The Shires at 10am on Monday and Tuesday this week.
The Nashville Show at 7pm will feature guests, stories and culture from the Music City. Paul Koffy and Jasmine Sadry will be speaking to stars such as Kelsea Ballerini and Brothers Osborne who will be joining in on Monday evening
Later in May Nashville star and Country artist Sam Palladio will choose his favourite tracks in two special shows.
At the weekend Una Healy will present the Saturday morning show, followed by Matt Spracklen who will introduce some of the best British and Irish country music out now. Jenny Longden and DJ Hish are also part of the new weekend schedule.
Absolute Radio Content Director Paul Sylvester said “Absolute Radio Country will be offering people even more choice at breakfast and hometime, the biggest guests direct from Nashville in the evenings and listeners won’t hear the same songs repeated during the workday with the No Repeat Guarantee. I’m delighted Baylen, Una and the team are continuing this journey as we share the biggest Country songs of all-time alongside new music and specialist programming.”
The new station is available on DAB digital radio, in the Absolute Radio app and on smart speakers.
Country music fans have recently been able to tune into more stations catering to the genre. Digital station Chris Country is available on DAB in London, Liverpool, Manchester and other parts of the UK. In 2019 Smooth Radio launched a country music spin-off station. Previously BBC Radio 2 Country has broadcast as a pop-up digital station for the C2C festival.