The station originally took to the air in Cardiff only. Known as CBC, the station launched on 11 April 1980 on broadcasting on FM and AM. Following the closure of neighbouring Gwent Broadcasting in April 1985, CBC began relaying its service as a temporary measure to southern Gwent on FM and AM. This became permanent when CBC re-launched as Red Dragon Radio on 14 October 1985. Initially, there were separate drivetime shows for Glamorgan and Gwent, but these were dropped for a single service by the early 1990s. Simulcasting on and AM ended in 1990, with the launch of Touch AM. Those frequencies are now used by the Smooth Radio network. On 3 January 2011, the station was rebranded from Red Dragon Radio to Capital South Wales as part of a merger of owners Global's Hit Music and Galaxy networks to form the Capital FM network. On 6 February 2014, Global Radio announced it would be selling Capital South Wales to Communicorp. Capital's network programming and brand name are retained under a franchise agreement. Global's Heart Wales station shares facilities at the Capital studios in Cardiff Bay. On 26 February 2019, Global confirmed the station's local breakfast and weekend shows would be replaced with networked programming from April 2019. The weekday drivetime show was retained alongside news bulletins, traffic updates and advertising.
Coverage area
Initially, CBC broadcast to Cardiff on and Newport on FM. These frequencies were switched to and respectively in 1987, following a national reorganisation of UK FM frequencies. The signal, which is the stronger of the two, comes from the transmitter at Wenallt near Cardiff, with the signal being transmitted from Christchurch in Newport. The signals reach as far out as the South Wales Valleys to the north and part of Bridgend to the west. Capital South Wales also broadcasts on the NOW DigitalSouth East WalesDAB multiplex and online.
Programming
All networked programming originates from Global's London headquarters, including Capital Breakfast with Roman Kemp. Local programming is produced and broadcast from Global's Cardiff Bay studios from 4-7pm, presented by Josh Andrews and Kally Davies.
News
Global's Newsroom broadcasts hourly regional news updates from 5am-7pm on weekdays and 8am-12 midday at weekends with headlines on the half-hour during Capital Breakfast on weekdays. The bulletins are produced for Communicorp by Global's Cardiff Bay newsroom, which also produces bulletins for Heart South Wales, Heart North Wales and Smooth Wales.
