Capital South Wales
British radio station
Capital South Wales is a regional radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global as part of the Capital network. It broadcasts to Cardiff and Newport and the surrounding areas from studios in Cardiff Bay.
History
The station originally took to the air in Cardiff only. Known as CBC (Cardiff Broadcasting Company), the station launched on 11 April 1980 on broadcasting on 96.0 MHz FM and 1359 kHz AM. Following the closure of neighbouring Gwent Broadcasting in April 1985, CBC began relaying its service as a temporary measure to southern Gwent on 104.0 MHz FM and 1305 kHz AM. This became permanent when CBC re-launched as Red Dragon Radio on 14 October 1985. Initially, there were separate drive time shows for Glamorgan and Gwent, but these were dropped for a single service by the early 1990s.
Simulcasting on 1305 kHz and 1359 kHz AM ended in 1990, with the launch of Touch AM.
On 3 January 2011, the station was rebranded from Red Dragon FM 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 South 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.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Capital South Wales” as british radio station. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as british radio station. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3309533. VIAF identifies the subject as 6501155044789472520009. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1980, 1359, 1985 and 1305.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Capital South Wales”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Capital South Wales primary sources, Capital South Wales archive and Capital research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Capital South Wales”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Capital South Wales” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.