Classic jazz on digital radio?

Digital One, the company which runs the national commercial DAB digital radio network, says it's planning to launch the first ever UK-wide jazz station by the end of 2006.

The company's website reveals that the station will be run by GCap Media as a sister service to Classic FM, promising "a broad range of music styles" from across the jazz spectrum "including Bebop, Swing, Cool jazz, Trad, Blues, Soul jazz, Modern jazz and Smooth/Fusion."

Darren Henley, Station Manager for Classic FM, says: “We want to do for jazz what we’ve done for classical music at Classic FM. The service will be programmed in a similar style to Classic, treating jazz with the respect it deserves while making it accessible to people who enjoy Jazz but may never have been able to listen to specialist Jazz programmes before.”

The company says the initiative follows feedback from listeners and market research showing a strong demand for such a format - it also follows the launch of a petition by the UK jazz community calling for more airtime on national radio.

More details at www.ukdigitalradio.com.