Capital Gold featured a strong presenting lineup such as Tony Blackburn, who joined from BBC Radio London and launched the station,[1] "Diddy" David Hamilton, Paul Burnett, Paul Gambaccini and Kenny Everett, who returned to daily broadcasting at Capital Gold, hosting daytime shows on weekdays until 1994, when his deteriorating health meant he was unable to continue.

The networking was agreed by the Radio Authority with the stipulation that at least four hours a day of weekday broadcasting were kept and local news, traffic announcements and advertising remained on each station.

Capital Radio boss David Mansfield maintained that AM listenership had steadily declined and required a consistent, high-quality programme offering across all stations to remain competitive.

[2] This surprised many people in the industry as this sidelined Capital Gold's biggest radio name at the time, Tony Blackburn, who had previously presented the weekday breakfast show to weekends.

However, a few months later Blackburn was moved back on the weekday schedule in the afternoon drivetime slot, while local breakfast shows were reintroduced to meet the four-hour requirement.

In 2002, new logos and imaging re-launched the Capital Gold Network, with the new slogan, "The Greatest Hits of the 60s, 70s and 80s", and a further medium wave station in Manchester was added after the former Wireless Group agreed to sell Big 1458 AM's broadcasting licence.

1988 also saw the launch of live, uninterrupted football coverage with a programme called Capital Gold Sportstime, presented by Jonathan Pearce, who was known for his loud, enthusiastic delivery.

Prominent football clubs featured on the show included Crystal Palace, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Fulham, West Ham United, Queens Park Rangers, Chelsea, Charlton Athletic, and Wimbledon.

On Saturday morning David Jensen hosted a celebrity and showbiz programme and recent notable guests have included Paul Weller, Jools Holland, Jeremy Irons, Smokey Robinson and Juliette Lewis.