The UK’s Capital Radio and Classic FM have decided to sacrifice millions of pounds in revenue by responding to listeners’ pleas for fewer commercials and promising that flagship London station Capital FM will never play more than two ads in a row.

GCap Media said this was part of a “groundbreaking policy” aimed at halving the amount of time spent on commercials during the day.

The company said it was responding to listener feedback after Capital’s audience fell to 1.8 million from 2.9 million in 2001.

But GCap shares slumped 18% as it said it did not plan price rises to compensate for the reduction in advertising.

This means revenues from the station are likely to be £7m lower than a year ago.

GCap said it planned to introduce the new advertising policy at Capital on December 12, followed by a re-launch of the station on January 3.

The company said its experience of reducing advertising at Classic FM and at the Australian Nova stations left it confident that the move would result in an increase in reach and listening hours.