A new jazz station, playing a mixture of bebop, swing, cool jazz, traditional, blues, soul jazz, modern jazz and smooth/fusion is to launch nationally as a sister station to Classic FM.

The new station will work closely with Classic FM and benefit from cross promotion. The jazz station will be heard on the national commercial DAB digital multiplex in England, Scotland and Wales and will launch at the end of 2006, as a replacement service for PrimeTime radio, which closed earlier this year.

It is not yet known if the station will broadcast in stereo, due to bandwidth restrictions.