BBC radio beats commercial rivals at Sony Awards

by Mark Banham, Brand Republic 09-May-06, 09:00

LONDON - The BBC walked away with the most high-profile gongs at the Sony Radio Academy Awards at London's Grosvenor House last night with Radio 2 drivetime presenter Chris Evans picking up a Gold award, along with breakfast show host and self-proclaimed 'saviour of Radio 1', Chris Moyles.

Moyles beat fellow breakfast show hosts Virgin Radio's Christian O'Connell and Xfm's Lauren Laverne to take his first Gold gong.

Radio 1 took a total of five Golds, including UK Station of the Year, beating last year's winner Radio 2 and GCap Media's Xfm to the award -- the first time the station has won this award in the 24-year history of the Sony Radio Academy Awards.

Radio 1 stablemate and indie music champion Zane Lowe repeated his double win of last year, again taking the Gold award for Specialist Music Programme Award and Music Broadcaster of the Year.

Commercial radio as a whole achieved a resurgence, winning four of the five UK Station of the Year Awards for North Wales' Coast 96.3, Cornwall's Pirate FM, GCap Media's digital station Planet Rock, winner of the digital station gong, and Emap's Kerrang! 105.2 in the West Midlands. The rock format station was one of the big winners of the night, carrying off four Sony Golds with the judges citing the station as "a genuinely distinctive station, witty, edgy and full of innovation".

The winner of The Breakfast Show Award was LBC 97.3's Nick Ferrari for his morning show. The Chrysalis Radio-owned station also triumphed in its first year of broadcasting the Boat Race, taking Gold in the Live Event Coverage Award.

The UK's most popular breakfast DJ, Radio 2's breakfast host Terry Wogan, who attracts 8m listeners, was also honoured with a lifetime achievement award, while Radio 3's 'Beethoven Experience' won a special award for encouraging a record 1.4m listeners to download the composer's symphonies from its website.

Tim Blackmore, chairman of the Sony Radio Awards Committee, said: "I'm thrilled that our now multi-platform radio industry has once again demonstrated that the intimacy of audio communication remains as potent a force as ever.

"Entertaining, informing and educating of course, but just as importantly doing all those things through an ever-increasing multitude of creative initiatives. Ours is indeed an industry in pursuit of excellence and that's exactly what the Radio Academy and their Sony Awards are all about."

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