Radio City was purchased by EMAP in 1998, and City Gold was rebranded Magic 1548 as part of the network of Magic stations on AM. In December 2001, EMAP decided that it was more economical for the Magic network to share off-peak programmes and in line with the other Magic AM stations began networking between 10am-2pm, 7pm-10am, and then 2am-6am (because of Pete Price's phone-in, which switched stations in January 2006). This resulted in Magic 1548 having more local programming on weekdays. During these hours it was simply known as Magic, although there were local commercial breaks, and local news on the hour.