Capital Radio on the move

Rajars: Capital Radio is the standout performer among London’s commercial radio stations in the latest Rajar results and has leapfrogged Heart 106.2 to become London’s second most listened to commercial station.

The station’s breakfast show, presented by Johnny Vaughan and Lisa Snowdon (pictured), remains the number one commercial radio breakfast show in the capital, registering 1.15m listeners, up from 944,000 in the second quarter last year.

The Global Radio-owned station saw its reach increase to 1.95m, a 21.5% bump year-on-year and 4.5% increase on last quarter, according to Rajar data for the three months to the end of June.

The station also increased its share of the London market, from 4.7% in quarter one to 6.2% last quarter, the second largest share in the capital behind Bauer Radio’s Magic 105.4 on 6.5%.

Global has been pushing the station this year, launching a marketing campaign earlier this year to promote June pop concert The Summertime Ball, its first major summer event since dropping Party in the Park five years ago. The radio group plans to run a further campaign for the station later this year.

Elsewhere in London, Magic retained its position as the capital’s most listened to station with a weekly reach of 2.05m, up 0.1% on last quarter and 2.4% on last year.

Absolute Radio, formally Virgin Radio, registered a dip in share and reach across all platforms in London. The station’s share dropped slightly from 2.6 to 2.5 while reach decreased 4% quarter on quarter to 882,000.

The station’s flagship breakfast show, presented by Christian O’Connell also registered a drop in the capital, from 463,000 in quarter one to 449,000 in the three months to June.