Bauer Radio's stations have received 13 nominations for this year's Arqiva commercial radio awards, more than any other group.
The UK's second biggest commercial operator are followed by the biggest – Global – who have eight nods, and GMG and Absolute who have seven nominations each.
The nominations were announced tonight in central London at a party in association with NDL and hosted by Capital FM's Roberto.
There are also nominations for stations operated by smaller groups including ARI, Town and Country, Orion, Lincs, CN Group and Quidem – as well as nominations for six independent stations.
30 awards will be presented in total at the awards ceremony on 6th July, although there are no nominations in 9 of the categories as these will just be announced on the night. This year's awards include 5 new categories for radio advertising.
As in this year's Sony Awards, Absolute Radio's Rolling Stones star Ronnie Wood is nominated twice – including for Newcomer of the Year where he goes up against another fellow Sony Rising Star nominee in Metro's Simon Conway.
The Programmer of the Year category is between three people running stations in the North of England – Key 103's Gary Stein and North East rivals Jon Kirby from Real and Chris Pegg from Metro. The category for large Station of the Year pits Classic FM against Bauer's Wave 105 on the South Coast and GMG's Real Radio in the North West.
The Breakfast Show award is between Key 103's Mike and Chelsea, Capital London's Johnny and Lisa, and Absolute's Christian O'Connell – who will be hosting the awards ceremony in July.
Andrew Harrison, chief executive of RadioCentre said: "The Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards are a great opportunity for our radio stations to showcase their work, whether big household names, or small, local stations. This year’s nominations reflect the breadth and diversity of commercial radio as well as some brilliant, innovative advertising and marketing campaigns."
Paul Eaton, Director of Radio at Arqiva added: "This year’s awards look set to be the best yet – commercial radio offers something for everyone and we are proud to once again be associated with the awards."
The 2011 Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards – Nominations in full
[b]Presenter of the Year < 300,000 TSA[/b]
Robbie Dee – CFM
Pete Moss – CFM
Tommo – 97.1 Radio Carmarthenshire
[b]Presenter of the Year 300,000 to 1 Million TSA[/b]
Greig Easton and Yasmin Zemmoura – Northsound 1
Trevor Marshall – 106 JACKfm Oxfordshire
Rich Williams – 96.3 Radio Aire
[b]Presenter of the Year 1 Million + TSA[/b]
Toby Anstis – Heart Network
Dixie and Gayle – Real Radio Yorkshire
Ewen and Roughy – Real Radio Scotland
[b]RCS Programmer of the Year[/b]
Jon Kirby – Real Radio North East
Chris Pegg – Metro Radio
Gary Stein – Key 103
[b]Skillset Newcomer(s) of the Year[/b]
Simon Conway – Metro Radio
Sam and Mark – BRMB, Beacon, Wyvern, Mercia
Ronnie Wood – Absolute Radio/Absolute Classic Rock
[b]Ali Booker Memorial Award for Journalist/Newsteam of the Year[/b]
Absolute Radio Newsteam
Bauer Radio North East and Cumbria
Real Radio North East Newsteam
[b]Station of the Year < 300,000 TSA[/b]
Isle of Wight Radio
Mansfield 103.2
96.2 Touch FM
[b]Station of the Year 300,000 to 1 Million TSA[/b]
106 JACKfm Oxfordshire
Lincs FM
Mercia
[b]Station of the Year 1 Million + TSA[/b]
Classic FM
105.4 Real Radio
Wave 105
[b]Digital Station of the Year[/b]
Fun Kids
Planet Rock
Yorkshire Radio
[b]Triple A Media Breakfast Show of the Year[/b]
The Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show – Absolute Radio
Capital Breakfast with Johnny Vaughan and Lisa Snowdon – 95.8 Capital FM
Mike and Chelsea in the Morning – Key 103
[b]Feature(s) of the Year[/b]
Baddiel and Skinner – Absolute Radio
JACK in Afghanistan – 106 JACKfm Oxfordshire
The Lyric Theatre – Planet Rock
[b]Specialist Programme of the Year[/b]
The Ronnie Wood Show – Absolute Radio/Absolute Classic Rock
Andi Durrant – All Capital FM Network Stations
The Classic FM Interview – Classic FM
[b]Social Action Initiative of the Year[/b]
Bauer Radio's Cash for Kids – Bauer Radio
Classic FM Foundation Christmas Appeal – Classic FM
JACK in Afghanistan – 106 JACKfm Oxfordshire
[b]Station Imaging Award[/b]
106 JACKfm Bristol – 106 JACKfm Bristol
106 JACKfm Oxfordshire Station Imaging – 106 JACKfm Oxfordshire
Real Radio North East Sport – Real Radio North East
[b]Marketing Award[/b]
Clare Baker – Faces for Radio – Absolute Radio
Fresh and You – Beacon
Capital FM Team – Capital FM
[b]Local Sales Team of the Year[/b]
The Bay Local Sales Team
MFR Local Sales Team
Real Radio North West Local Sales Team
[b]Best Branded Content[/b]
SKY 3D – The Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show – Absolute Radio
Alex Masterley on Classic FM – Classic FM
Blackberry Partnership with the Kiss Breakfast Show – Starcom, Bauer
[b]Best Creative Campaign[/b]
Met Police, Anti Knife Crime – AMVBBDO
Snickers – AMVBBDO
Tango Praiserama – Bartle Bogle Hegarty
[b]Most Effective Campaign[/b]
Barclays Business Take One Small Step Competition – Walker Media
Cancer Research UK – AMVBBDO
Windows 7 and the Jingle Bell Ball – Making New Things Possible – UM London
[b]Advertiser of the Year [/b]
British Gas
Lloyds TSB
Mars
[i]Other awards that will be announced on 6th July are:[/i]
Media Agency of the Year
The RadioCentre Chairman's Award
The Special Award
The Lifetime Achievement Award
The Schools Radio Award sponsored by The Vision Charity
The PPL Most Played UK Artist on Commercial Radio
The PPL Breakthrough UK Artist on Commercial Radio
The Arqiva Gold Award
National Sales Team of the Year