By Lee, Jeremy Virgin Radio will be rebranded Absolute Radio, the name of part of the consortium that bought the station from SMG earlier this year.

VIRGIN Radio is to be rebranded as Absolute Radio in a bid to tap into an international audience, a spokeswoman said yesterday. Virgin Radio was bought by TIML, part of the Times of India Group, in June.

The Virgin Radio brand is to be lost to the airwaves after its new owner confirmed that the station would soon be relaunched as Absolute Radio.

It was reported in London that Virgin Radio would be taken private after Absolute Radio was named unofficially as the preferred bidder. The vendor is SMG, the Glasgow-based media group, which announced last year that it intended to dispose of Virgin.

By Jon Rees, Financial Mail on Sunday, London Mar. 23--Virgin Radio owner SMG has cut its shortlist of bidders for the station to UTV Media, owner of Talksport, and Absolute Radio, which is understood to be backed by an Indian investment company.