BBC 6 Music doubles listeners year on year
An alternative radio station once threatened with closure can, ironically, thank its brush with death for contributing to a revival in its fortunes.
The radio channel broadcasts a range of up and coming and niche acts which struggle to obtain playtime on the larger commercial networks.
A well publicised campaign to keep the station on air saw growth in its average weekly audience to 1.2m in the three months to the end of June.
This represents a 17% increase on the previous quarter and a 100% surge over the year.
BBC Asian Network meanwhile, which still faces closure, increased its audience share by 22% year on year to reach 437k.
The latest RAJAR figures evealed radio had surged to its highest listening figures in more than a decade for the three months until the end of June.
According to the new figures, published today, 46.8 million adults, or 90.6% of the UK population (15+), tuned in to their favourite radio stations each week.
Election coverage and the World Cup helped BBC Radio 4, 5 Live and TalkSport to record audiences.
And the figures show a welcome boost for commercial radio. Overall, the BBC's share of the audience declined from 56.5% to 54.6%; commercial radio increased its share from 41.3% to 43.2%.