• New venue, new hosts, new CRCA chairman
• Notable wins for Newcomer of the Year: Lauren Laverne and Station of the Year: Wave 105

NTL's broadcast division and the Commercial Radio Companies Association (CRCA) are proud to announce the winners of this year's NTL Commercial Radio Awards.  The awards, presented today at a lunchtime ceremony in central London, reward talented individuals and stations in the commercial radio industry.  This year the event was bigger, better and brighter than ever with a new venue at the Hotel Intercontinental on Park Lane, new Chairman for the CRCA and new hosts in Heart 102.6 Breakfast duo Jono and Harriet.

For 2004, the awards received well over 340 entries from stations providing a wide diversity of pop, chill-out, country and rock music, rolling news and even the spoken word.  Popular categories included the NTL Commercial Radio Station of the Year; the NTL Commercial Radio Presenter of the year; and the NTL/Skillset Commercial Radio Presentation Newcomer of the Year, with the former awarded to 97.3 Forth One's Boogie & Vicky Pitchers, and the latter won by XFM's new face Lauren Laverne.  The NTL/IRN Newslink Commercial Radio Special Award went to [Dr] Neil Fox in recognition of his outstanding contribution to commercial radio made during a long and successful career.

Alison Winter, Research and Communications Manager at the CRCA, commented: "The commercial radio industry goes from strength to strength and, as usual, the NTL Commercial Radio Awards recognise and reward the exceptionally gifted people working at radio stations across the UK.  A host of hotly contested categories, a brand-new central London venue, new hosts and a new chairman for the CRCA in David Elstein all ensured that 2004 was no exception: it really is an event that is not to be missed."

Paul Eaton, head of broadcast radio at NTL, added: "We are extremely proud of our long and strong association with commercial radio behind-the-scenes, and our sponsorship of the awards offers us a tangible opportunity to reward the talents and successes of a thriving industry.  On behalf of all at NTL, I would like to congratulate today's award winners and wish them every success in the future."

The full list of awards winners is detailed below:

• The NTL Commercial Radio Programmer of the Year
  Neil Greenslade - Galaxy 102.2
  
  
• NTL Commercial Radio Awards for Marketing Excellence
  Sunrise Radio 1458
  
  
• NTL Social Action Initiative Award
  West Sound - A77 Campiagn
  
  
• NTL Commercial Radio News Award
  Radio City News Team
  
  
• NTL Commercial Radio Station of the Year (<300,000 TSA)
  Rutland Radio
  
  
• NTL Commercial Radio Station of the Year (300,000 to 1 million TSA)
  Mercia FM
  
  
• NTL Commercial Radio Station of the Year (>1 million TSA)
  Wave 105
  
  
• NTL/Skillset Commercial Radio Presentation Newcomer of the Year
  Lauren Laverne - XFM
  
  
• The NTL/IRN Newslink Commercial Radio Special Award
  Neil Fox
  
  
• NTL Commercial Radio Presenter of the Year
  Boogie & Vicky Pitchers - 97.3 Forth One
  
  
• NTL Commercial Radio Programme [or Feature of the Year]
  Exam Slam - Galaxy 105, Galaxy 102, Galaxy 105-106
  
  
• Neil Robinson Memorial Award
  Lisa Higgins - Marketing Director of the Century FM Network
  
  
• NTL Gold Award
  Chrysalis Radio
  
  
• NTL National Sales Team of the Year
  Classic FM Sales Team
  
  
• NTL Local Sales Team of the Year
  107.4 The Quay
  
  
• NTL/British Heart Foundation Action on Health Award
  West Action - West Sound
  
  
• NTL Commercial Radio ID Liner, Jingle, Sting or Sweeper of the Year
  Tim Lihoreau & Paul Kelly - Classic FM
  
  
• NTL Commercial Radio Digital Station of the Year
  Capital Disney
  
  
• NTL Technical Innovation Award
  Creation New Platforms
  

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