[London Lite]

Absolute has never been indie, it's AOR.

It does lean more that way but I would say there is an indie element - they both play the likes of Wet Leg, Arctic Monkeys, Razorlight, Kaiser Chiefs etc.

Once they go mainstream yes. When London had two rock stations on FM, it was made clear that both had to be distinctive from each other. Xfm/Radio X was the 'alternative' station for new music, while Virgin/Absolute played contemporary rock.

Global have also wanted to emulate the BBC as much as possible without having to provide the PSB requirements, so you have Capital emulating Radio 1 without the heavy speech elements outside breakfast, Capital Xtra being a copy of 1Xtra, Dance as their BBC Sounds playlist and so on.

Another theory why Global launched Classic Rock is because the Communicorp UK owned rock station XS Manchester a couple of years ago wasn't allowed to flip to become a franchise of Capital Xtra which this format would allow it to change to a Global franchise without going to consultation as long as they keep three hours local with their heavy speech commitments. (Radio X is already on FM in Manchester)