Latest news about Absolute Radio

RAJAR Q2 2019: London and national brands round-up

Zoe Ball has lost more than three quarters of a million listeners to her BBC Radio 2 breakfast show, according to the latest audience research from RAJAR. The show’s reach is down 781,000 quarter-on-quarter to 8.266m for the three months survey period up to the 23rd June 2019. In Q1/19 she had 9.047m listeners; in Q2/2018 Chris Evans reached 9.038m. Radio 2’s audience at breakfast is now the lowest its been since Q3/2010, when Evans was fairly new in the job.

Ross Buchanan joins Absolute Radio for weekend breakfast

Absolute Radio has signed former Radio X presenter Ross Buchanan to present weekend breakfast. Ross will also host a number of shows across the network of seven Absolute Radio stations. Absolute Radio Content Director Paul Sylvester told RadioToday: “Ross is a passionate music fan and this is a great opportunity for him to share his love on-air. He’s got a great personality and we’re delighted to give him a platform to develop.”

Broadcasters unite once again for Mental Health Minute

Commercial Radio and the BBC are once again uniting to broadcast a one-minute message in support of mental health awareness. For the second year Mental Health Minute will feature globally famous voices and unite stations all over the UK, from national networks such as those run by Global, Bauer and Wireless, to smaller local stations and community stations, together with BBC Radio 1, Radio 2, and 5 Live.

Frank Skinner joins Radio Festival 2019 line-up

Absolute Radio’s Saturday morning presenter Frank Skinner will appear at the Radio Festival this year in conversation with fellow comedian and presenter Matt Forde. Frank will talk about his decade on-air, why he’s most like his real self when he’s behind the microphone and why his is the only radio show to feature an AE Housman alarm. Also just confirmed, BBC Radio 5 Live’s Drive show presenters Anna Foster and Tony Livesey will be the hosts of this year’s event, which takes place at the British Library on 13th May.

Radio professionals head to Student Radio event in Swansea

A number of radio presenters, producers and management are in sharing their experience and knowledge with students in Swansea this week. The annual Student Radio Conference is taking place over three days, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and has a line-up to rival most other industry events. Radio presenters giving up their time include Greg James, Adele Roberts, Aled Hayden Jones, Stephanie Hirst, Matt Edmondson, Mollie King, Tim Cocker, Will Manning, Vicki Blight, Trevor Nelson, Tom Swarbrick, Alex Mansuroglu and Sam Darlaston.

Bauer boss calls for collaboration and respect in radio

Bauer Media UK’s CEO Paul Keenan has called for the whole radio industry to unite so that the sector can continue to prosper, saying there’s never been a better time in commercial radio. He was speaking in the opening session at this year’s RadioDays Europe event in Lausanne, Switzerland – where he also revealed that 40% of Bauer’s streaming of radio in the UK comes from smart speakers.

Frank Skinner marks 10 years on Absolute with 10-hour show

Absolute Radio’s Frank Skinner is taking over the station’s schedule this Saturday to mark a decade on air. He’ll begin his usual show at 8am, but will continue until 6pm by co-hosting slots including Rock n Roll Football and the Indie Disco. Among those joining him on air will be usual co-hosts Emily Dean and Alun Cochrane, as well as his former comedy and singing partner David Baddiel...

KISS and Hits Radio join up for BRIT Awards show

KISS and Hits Radio will be broadcasting live from the BRITs this year with presenters from both networking joining together for a special show. ‘Live at the BRITs’ returns as a three hour show broadcast from 7-10pm on Wednesday evening. Hits Radio’s Sarah Jane Crawford and KISS’ new signing Tyler West will join to host the programme that will feature interviews with some of the event’s performers and nominees, as well as the biggest tracks from this year’s BRIT nominees.

RAJAR Q3 2018: London and national brands update

Nick Grimshaw left the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show with half a million more listeners than a year ago – handing them to Greg James who took over the show halfway through the last quarter. The show now attracts 5.75m listeners (Mon – Fri) and is up 465,000 Year on Year. In London, Capital is back on top with almost 2,100,000 listeners according to Reach in the London commercial radio battle, as Kiss slips back under the 2m listener mark (1,958,000). Magic is in third place (1.5m) whilst Heart comes in 4th (1.4m). But BBC Radio 4 continues to lead the London Reach with 2.4m listeners.

Audio and Radio Industry Awards 2018 – winners

Podcasters, local radio and the independent sector challenged the big networked radio groups at this year’s Audio & Radio Industry Awards, picking up some of the evening’s biggest awards. The ceremony at the first direct Arena in Leeds saw podcasters picking up three of the big awards on the night, with Best New Show going to You, Me & the Big C; Best Specialist Music Show was won by Edith Bowman with her podcast, Soundtracking and Best Sports Show was...