Chris Moyles sets new radio record

[BGonaSTICK]

Radio 1 breakfast DJ Chris Moyles has broken through the 7 million listener barrier for the first time to help BBC radio to its biggest audience.

The corporation was also boosted by a record number of listeners for four of its five digital-only networks, including 6Music and BBC7, and by a record share of listening for Radio 4 since a new ratings system was introduced a decade ago.

BBC radio had a record 56% share of the audience and its biggest weekly reach of 33.46 million people in the first quarter of 2007 - nearly 1 million more listeners than the same period last year, according to Rajar figures published today.

Moyles had a record nationwide audience of 7.04 million, piling on another 744,000 listeners compared with the same period last year.

He also had a record audience in London of more than 1.04 million, the first time he has had more than 1 million listeners in the capital.

The self-proclaimed "saviour of Radio 1" helped the station add an extra 800,000 listeners year on year, taking its overall audience to 10.55 million. Its share of 10.1% was up one-tenth from 9.1% last year.

Radio 2 also increased its audience over the last 12 months, adding 310,000 listeners year on year to 13.25 million. However, its audience was down slightly on the previous quarter (13.27 million).

Radio 4 had its biggest ever share of the audience - 12.2% - since the new Rajar measurement system was introduced a decade ago, up from 11.1% in the previous quarter, and 11.7% last year.

However, its audience of 9.64 million listeners, up from 9.29 million in the same period in 2006, is yet to reach the record 10 million mark achieved under former controller Helen Boaden.

The BBC's overall audience share of 56% was up from 54.4% in the previous quarter and 55.4% in the same period in 2006, and gave it a record 13.9% lead over commercial radio.

Its previous biggest lead over commercial radio was 12.8% in the first three months of last year.

Some of the corporation's biggest gains were seen at its digital stations, with four out of the five enjoying record audiences.

Year on year, spoken word station BBC7 and 6Music increased their audience by around one-third to 808,000 and 477,000 listeners respectively.

1Xtra's audience was up a quarter on the year to 465,000, while Five Live Sports Extra gained 11% to 682,000.

"The radio industry is in excellent health, as demonstrated by the strong performance of both BBC and commercial radio," said Jenny Abramsky, the director of BBC audio and music.

"It is particularly pleasing to see the continued growth of listening via DAB and digital platforms and the record audiences for a number of our digital stations."