Bob Shennan, controller, BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music
"I'm delighted that Radio 2 has gained its third ever highest weekly reach, and that the Chris Evans Breakfast Show remains the UK's most listened-to morning programme." Radio 2's audience was steady year on year. Evans has lost 1.4 million listeners in six months but remains ahead of BBC Radio 1 breakfast DJ Chris Moyles.
Tim Davie, director, BBC audio and music
"These are strong figures for the industry, with BBC networks posting solid year-on-year performances after a quarter that saw records broken across the portfolio. Radio 3's commitment to bring the BBC Proms to a wider audience has been rewarded as the network bounces back above the 2 million mark." BBC Radio 3 was up 15.4% on the previous quarter, but BBC Radio 5 Live was down 6.9%.
Ashley Tabor, Global Radio founder and Global group chief executive
"I'm immensely proud of Global today – this is another great set of results taking us to our highest ever listeners, nearly 20 million. Our focus will now be to build on Capital's London success as we launch the brand across the UK in January." Global's Heart network showed gains across the country but lost the No 1 spot in London to Bauer rival Magic.
Steve Parkinson, managing director, Bauer Radio London
"We have obsessed over Magic's music mix this summer and it has paid dividends. Whether it's the tunes that people know and love, or introducing listeners to new artists like Rumer and Eliza Doolittle, the team ... are rightly proud." Magic returned to the No 1 spot among London commercial stations in terms of audience share and weekly reach.
Ford Ennals, chief executive, Digital Radio UK
"We've achieved a step change in digital listening growth in 2010 and we see that sustained in Q3, with 17.5% year-on-year growth. The Digital Radio Action Plan aims to create a further step change in digital listening in 2011, when we should begin to see the benefits of investment in coverage, content, communications and cars. Absolute Radio's success shows that compelling and distinctive digital content and strong cross promotion is a healthy digital model for the future." Digital radio's share of listening grew marginally on the previous quarter but DAB radio fell back.
Ben Cooper, deputy controller, BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra
"It's another strong set of results for Radio 1. The station is bringing in more 15- to 24-year-olds than this time last year ... Having strengthened Radio 1Xtra's proposition, I'm delighted to see an increase in the number of younger listeners we are bringing into the BBC via a digital platform." Radio 1 was down 1.4% on the previous quarter but up 4.8% year on year. 1Xtra had the biggest BBC digital-only quarterly gain, up 34.3% (and 47.3% year on year) to 806,000.
Moz Dee, TalkSport programme director
"Our strategy of creating the definitive place for sports talk, news and entertainment on the radio has clearly worked with radio listeners. I'm very proud of our programming team, who've worked hard to build credibility with great journalism and top sports interviews, whilst making the station sound fun and engaging." TalkSport showed big gains quarter on quarter and year on year to 2.96 million.
Vijay Sharma, head of BBC Asian Network
"I'm very pleased with the increased listenership this quarter. We had our biggest Summer of Mela Season to date and reached thousands of people all over the country. Following the introductions of Sonia Deol and Tommy Sandhu to the daytime schedule earlier in the year, in this period we brought Noreen Khan to the drivetime show. The increased numbers are a testament to the station's staff, who have worked very hard to produce quality programming." The Asian Network, which is due to be shut down, was up 5.7% on the quarter and 29.4% year on year to 462,000.
Andrew Harrison, chief executive, Radio Centre
"This is another very encouraging set of results for the commercial radio sector. On reach this is our second consecutive quarterly record, with listener hours also up modestly quarter on quarter. The fact that commercial radio continues to grow listeners and gain market share against the backdrop of relentless competition for listeners' time is a reflection of the sector's ongoing momentum." Commercial radio gained ground on the BBC, narrowing the corporation's lead to a 10.9% share of the audience.
John Simons, programme director, GMG Radio Group, part of the company that publishes MediaGuardian.co.uk
"Smooth Radio's record reach and increased listening hours are fantastic news for the brand, and provide an excellent platform now the station broadcasts nationally. The scope for Smooth Radio is huge and we're looking forward to seeing this growth continue as more and more people discover the station across the UK." Smooth's total UK radio audience was up 9% on the quarter and 8.9% year on year to 3.053 million.
Clive Dickens, chief operating officer, Absolute Radio
"This performance significantly grows the scale of the Absolute Radio brand in just two years. We are now a much bigger business than we were before we launched, in fact we're at a four-and-a-half-year high." Absolute Radio was up 4.2% both quarter on quarter and year on year to 1.654 million, and its digital stations posted strong figures. But the audience for the main Absolute station remains some way below its predecessor, Virgin Radio.
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