• Magic's Andria Vidler wins The Arqiva/IRN Newslink Special Award
• talkSPORT takes 4 Awards - including Arqiva Gold Award
• The Saint's Tom Braham awarded Arqiva/Skillset Presentation Newcomer of the Year

National speech station talkSPORT was celebrating today after winning 4 gongs at this year's Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards.   The lunchtime ceremony was hosted by Virgin Radio's Christian O'Connell at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in central London.  Guest presenters at the event included radio veteran Tony Blackburn, newscaster Katie Derham, Heart 106.2's Jamie Theakston and Classic FM's Jamie Crick.  Live entertainment was provided by new act Chungking and Commercial Radio favourites Travis.

The awards are organised by the RadioCentre, the industry body that represents UK Commercial Radio, and sponsored by the broadcasting transmission group Arqiva. They recognise excellence and talent in all aspects of Commercial Radio from sales and marketing to technical innovation and presenting.

talkSPORT walked away with Station of the Year Award (> 1 million TSA), the Technical Innovation Award for their World Cup 2006 coverage, the prestigious Gold Award, and their own Bill Ridley scooped the Programmer of the Year accolade.  Judges said that the station was a shining example of how Commercial Radio can invest in a speech format to compete effectively with the BBC.   Their success at the Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards comes on the back of a successful set of RAJAR results earlier in the year.

Station of the Year (< 300,000 TSA) went to Portsmouth's 107.4 The Quay - judges commented on how the station had successfully found a niche and exploited it.   Belfast's Citybeat took the mid-sized station of the year (300,000 - 1 million TSA) for a businesslike approach that sounded great fun to be part of.

Among the sales categories, which are bread and butter to the industry, Virgin Radio was awarded the national gong, beating off competition from national rivals Classic FM and talkSPORT, while Bournemouth's Wave 105 FM took the local prize.

With many of today's household radio names starting out in Commercial Radio, the industry's commitment to finding and nurturing new talent was highlighted when Tom Braham from The Saint was presented with the Arqiva/Skillset Presentation Newcomer of the Year Award.  Judges said that Braham had bags of personality and a fresh and original approach; they also said how gratifying it was to see someone successfully progressing from hospital radio to a professional radio station. 

Adam Catterall of 97.4 Rock Radio took the Arqiva/RCS Commercial Radio Presenter of the Year fighting off strong competition from Virgin Radio's Christian O'Connell and Trent FM's Jo & Twiggy.

The Station Sound Award went to 96.4 Radio Aire, and EMAP's Key 103 took the Arqiva Commercial Radio News Award for its immediate, on-the-spot coverage.  Judges said that their journalists put themselves in the story as it was happening and gave first person accounts that put them ahead of the pack as this year's winners.

Feature of the Year went to RadioCity for its compelling retelling of the Toxteth riots while 100.7 Heart FM was awarded the Commercial Radio Marketing Award with promotions that judges said cut through a crowded market.

Following their success at this year's Sony Radio Academy Awards, Gaydar Radio was awarded the Arqiva Digital Station of the Year for knowing its audience inside out and delivering exactly what they want.

UKRD's Star Radio in Cambridge was awarded the Social Action Initiative Award for ‘Liam's Mile'.  Judges said this was an outstanding example of a local station that responded to a specific request from a young listener to help raise funds for Clic Sargeant, a charity that had supported the listener whilst he was undergoing treatment for cancer.  The on-air content was engaging, entertaining and moving - a shining example of how a local station can motivate and inspire listeners.

A new category this year, the Station Creative Award (designed to recognize the contribution that in-house creative employees make to the livelihood of Commercial Radio) was won by 106-108 Real Radio Creative Team for WYCR ‘GPS' - a satellite navigation commercial.  Judges said that the commercial exploited the popularity of satellite navigation but with an interesting twist.   The commercial was part of a larger strategy implemented by WYCR and, although it used humour, the serious message of the campaign was not lost with the average number of road casualties on a single day cut from 24 to 0.

The Arqiva/IRN Newslink Special Award (presented to a person who the judging committee believe merits the recognition of the Commercial Radio industry over the last 12 months or longer) was awarded to Magic 105.4's managing director, Andria Vidler.   Andria joined Magic in June 2005 and has steered the station to become the No. 1 Commercial Radio station in London.

The prestigious Neil Robinson Memorial Award was won by young marketeer, Nikki Murray of 97.4 Rock FM in Lancashire.  After stints as an air hostess and in fashion, Nikki is now a highly-valued member of the station, seemingly tireless in her efforts to maximise PR!

To mark the first year that RadioCentre has taken charge of the Awards, a new accolade, the RadioCentre Chairman's Award was introduced and awarded to GCap's new digital station, theJazz which launched on Christmas day with a mission to make the genre accessible to a UK-wide audience.

Said Paul Eaton, head of radio at Arqiva,  "Yet again, the Arqiva Awards have emphasised the scale of talent across the UK and we are delighted with the results.  It is also good to see the introduction of the Station Creative Award as this recognises a contribution which should not be ignored.  The ongoing success of the awards year after year justifies Arqiva's commitment to them and we would like to congratulate all of this year's deserving winners."

Said Andrew Harrison, CEO, RadioCentre, "This is RadioCentre's first year at the helm of the Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards and it is remarkable that we have had a record number of entries - over 470.  The list of entrants this year truly reflects the diversity and creativity of the people and stations that make up today's UK Commercial Radio industry.  Congratulations to all the winners."

The Winners

The Arqiva Commercial Radio Marketing Award
100.7 Heart FM - Station Marketing

The Arqiva Local Sales Team of the Year
Wave 105

The Arqiva National Sales Team of the Year
Virgin Radio

The Arqiva Commercial Radio Station of the Year < 300,000 TSA
107.4 The Quay

The Arqiva Commercial Radio Station of the Year 300,000 - 1 million TSA
Citybeat

The Arqiva Commercial Station of the Year > 1 million TSA
talkSPORT

The Arqiva Commercial Radio Programmer of the Year
Bill Ridley, talkSPORT

The Arqiva/Skillset Commercial Radio Presentation Newcomer(s) of the Year
Tom Braham, The Saint

The Arqiva/RCS Commercial Radio Presenter(s) of the Year
Adam Catterall, 97.4 Rock FM

The Arqiva Commercial Radio Station Sound
96.3 Radio Aire

The Arqiva Commercial Radio News Award
Key 103

The Arqiva Commercial Radio Programme or Feature of the Year
Welcome to Liverpool 8 - Radio City

The Arqiva Commercial Radio Station Creative Award
WYCR ‘GPS' (106-108 Real Radio Creative Team)

The Arqiva Commercial Radio Technical Innovation Award
talkSPORT

The Arqiva Commercial Radio Digital Station of the Year
Gaydar

The Arqiva Commercial Radio Social Action Award
Star Cambridge ‘Liam's Mile'

The Neil Robinson Memorial Award
Nikki Murray, 97.4 Rock FM

The Arqiva/IRN Newslink Special Award
Andria Vidler, Magic

The Arqiva Gold Award
talkSPORT

The RadioCentre Chairman's Award
theJazz