Hot 100 2012 RADIO


Brand leader: Rihanna performs at Radio 1’s Hackney Weekend


1 Tim Davie


BBC director of audio and music


Having recently been shortlisted for the BBC director general job, Tim Davie is a wanted man. With overall responsibility for BBC Radios 1, 2, 3, 4 and digital-only stations 6 Music, 1Xtra, Radio 4 Extra and the Asian Network, he oversees a part of the BBC that is a brand leader in an increasingly popular medium. He has had his controversies, not least clashing with 6 Music supporters when he threatened the axe, but is a keen supporter of multiplatform, with a strong commercial back- ground, including a stint as vice- president of marketing at Pepsi. Davie is keen to push radio towards an audio-visual, rather than just a sound-based, future. He’d be a very different appoint- ment for Auntie, but one that would be welcomed by those who believe the BBC needs to reinvent itself in the age of the tablet computer.


and now oversees 40% of com- mercial radio listening (and roughly 16% of all radio) in Britain via Heart, Galaxy and LBC, plus Classic FM, Capital FM, XFM and Gold. With Capital now a national station, Tabor has won praise for rejuvenating the brand and helping to steady advertising revenues. In London, the fiercest of listener battle- grounds, Capital’s Breakfast Show is up year on year while its rivals toil. He may not be long out of short trousers, but he’s clearly doing something right.


time, BBC Radio 6 Music, a digital station that was only recently saved from closure thanks to huge public support, has solidified its excellent reputa- tion with record audience figures, reaching 1.45 million people each week, up from 1.3 million last year. Sony judges said 2012 “is the year that 6 Music has come of age [and] this was reflected in the quality of the output”. As its boss, Shennan can take a lot of credit.


director Moz Dee is the man responsible. Before his arrival in 2008, Talksport had 2.45 million listeners; earlier this year, it had 3.13 million. As Gray himself would say, take a bow son, take a bow.


5 Clive Dickens


Chief operating officer, Absolute Radio


4 Ashley Tabor


Executive president, Global Group


3 Moz Dee


Programme director, Talksport


2 Bob Shennan


Controller, BBC Radio 2/ 6 Music


With his stations coming first and second in the UK Station of the Year category at the Sony Radio Academy Awards, you could say that Bob Shennan’s only real competitor is himself. Radio 2 is the biggest radio station in Europe and is only getting stronger, as the latest Rajar figures show. At the same


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Once the enfant terrible of speech radio, Talksport has undergone a rehabilitation that would shame Tony Adams. Having acquired broadcasting rights for the Rugby World Cup and the Premier League, the UTV-owned station has helped its parent company to increase both operating profits and revenues by 6% year on year to £12.4m and £52.8m respec- tively. But it’s not just about money. With a string of high- profile signings such as Andy Gray and Richard Keys, the station is not just vital listening but has attained a credibility that was previously lacking. Programme


Hot 100 | Broadcast | 23


Global Group founder Ashley Tabor proves the theory that “if you’re good enough, you’re old enough”. At 34, and the youngest radio owner in Europe, Tabor was behind the biggest consolidation in UK commercial radio history


With Johnny Vaughan lined up to do a drivetime show during the Olympics and live commentary rights snared for Euro 2012, it’s proving to be a big year for Abso- lute Radio and its era-based DAB music stations. So much so that a host of silvers and a gold at this year’s Sony Radio Academy Awards were capped with a Station Programmer of the Year nomination for chief operating officer Clive Dickens (below). The former Capital Radio Group head of programmes has been at the rudder of Absolute through a major rebrand and has overseen the signings of Frank Skinner, Ronnie Wood and Christian O’Connell. As a result, Absolute Radio has 599,000 more listeners year on year, according to the latest Rajar figures, taking it to almost 3 million. No hard times, just great expectations, for this particular Dickens.


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