All Bauer-owned radio stations will be removed in December. According to the latest figures from Radio Joint Audience Research (Rajar), digital television accounts for 3.8 percent of all digital listeners.

Messages informing listeners of the changes will be shown on 10 radio stations currently available via satellite and cable. It is not known why the Bauer stations are being removed.

Bauer recently launched his Mission Christmas appeal, an annual campaign for the charity Cash for Kids. Several stars, including Ant & Dec, Ken Bruce of Greatest Hits Radio and Ronan Keating and Harriet Scott of Magic Breakfast, are supporting the appeal.

In 2022, Mission Christmas raised more than £14.2 million in gifts and cash donations, which were used to ensure 270,728 children and young people had presents to unwrap on Christmas Day.

In June, Bauer Radio was fined £25,000 by the UK communications regulator after it stopped broadcasting Absolute Radio’s nationwide AM service before the end of its licence period.

The license was last renewed for 10 years in May 2021. However, on January 26, 2023, the station confirmed that it had “discontinued” the Absolute Radio AM service.

Ofcom said the maximum penalty was £250,000 but “taking into account all the circumstances relevant to this case” imposed a penalty of £25,000 payable to HM Paymaster General.

The German magazine publisher Bauer bought the radio division of the British company Emap in 2018. Emap Radio Limited was then renamed Bauer Radio Limited.

Which Bauer radio stations will be removed?

Absolute Radio, Absolute 80s, Absolute 90s, Absolute Classic Rock, Hits Radio, Greatest Hits Radio, KISS, Magic, Jazz FM and Planet Rock will all be removed from Sky, Virgin and Freesat by December 13th.

More than 50 radio stations use the Sky TV platform, including those from Global, the BBC, RTÉ and independent operators.

Where else can you hear them?

All channels can still be heard on Freeview.