BBC Radio Ulster, Northern Ireland's most listened to radio station, is celebrating winning four awards at this year's Phonographic Performance Ireland (PPI) Radio Awards.

Radio Ulster won four awards at the ceremony which took place at Lyrath Estate Hotel, Kilkenny on Friday night (7 October).

The Nolan Show picked up a Gold Award for the Current Affairs Programme of the Year.

Stephen Nolan said: "This is a great honour. It's been an amazing year for stories and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my teams who work so hard behind the scenes to get some incredible content on air. And, of course, I want to say a special thanks to all the people who call in to the programmes and who continue to listen. Without them, we wouldn't be here."

The station also won three other awards, the comedy series Great Unanswered Questions picked up a Bronze Award in the Specialist Speech category; the music documentary Rathlin's Black History, in which the Irish musical family, including Frances and Mary Black, talk about their relationship with Rathlin Island, won a Silver Award in the Music Special category and Irish language programme Blas also won a Silver Award in the Craoltóireacht le Gaelige category

Fergus Keeling, Head of Radio, BBC Northern Ireland, said: "We're delighted with our success at the PPI Radio Awards and it's always wonderful to be recognised by our peers in such a way. I think the catgories in which we were recognised this year show the strength, diversity and uniqueness of our schedule and this success is testament to the thought, commitment and dedication which go into making our programmes."

This is the fifth year that Northern Ireland radio stations were eligible to enter the PPI Radio Awards in its 11 year history.

New York : Merlin Media, a new multiplatform, multimedia company, has launched FM News 101.9 as New York's only 24-hour FM all-news station.

The station has committed to highly engaging content that will serve the real-life information needs of on-the-go adults and working parents whenever they tune in to New York's FM News 101.9. Listeners will be captivated by credible and relatable news, along with easy-to-understand traffic reports and accurate weather. Complementing that core content will be information on subjects such as health, family, career, money, entertainment, and more. FM News 101.9 will be interactive across platforms with personalized online and mobile content that promotes audience participation through social media, digital video, and other outlets.

Advertisers on FM News 101.9 will be part of a brand-friendly environment that includes sponsorships, billboards, endorsements, Internet, mobile, tablets, and live reads from some of the most dynamic, creative, and trusted personalities in New York.

"As music moves to the mobile device, now is the time to put spoken word on the band most people use. Our content will target the people who already use FM radio, but will focus on interesting, real-time information," said Randy Michaels, CEO, Merlin Media. "Our one-to-many broadcasts will be supplemented by personalized, one-to-one interactive content so that instead of commercials that interrupt a tired music playlist, we offer our marketing partners multiplatform solutions that build brands and move product in the best possible environment."

"Spoken word, since the beginning of radio, has consistently been the top billing format in the world. The one-on-one relationship with the radio is an active, impactful, natural and entirely compelling experience," said Walter Sabo, COO, Merlin Media. "FM News 101.9 is offering a format that's truly one-of-a-kind, and by broadcasting on the FM band, we'll reach a large demographic that's hungry for this type of content."

"No one gets their news from a singular source in today's fragmented media world. In developing our strategy for FM News 101.9, we really wanted to create a unique environment that presents inspiring, relatable, pleasant and fun content that comes to you just as it would from a friend," said Liz Aiello, VP of Programming, Merlin Media. "That's how our listeners want to share and consume news and information because that's how it actually happens in our daily lives."

Merlin Media's team of veteran executives have decades' worth of experience working with major companies like Sirius XM, Clear Channel, ABC, NBC, Harpo Productions, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, and others. To deliver the content for FM News 101.9, the company has invested in an equally impressive roster of talent that includes:

Alice Stockton-Rossini will be FM News 101.9's morning drive co-anchor and is known as one of the biggest names in New York radio. She has spent the last 24 years at 1010 WINS where she reported on special features and series on everything from China's emerging economic presence to what working moms need to succeed at home and in the office. Stockton-Rossini's popularity was cemented as a top anchor known for breaking news stories.

Dave Packer will be FM News 101.9's morning drive co-host. Packer was most recently at WCBS-FM and is a seasoned morning radio personality with major market, multi-format experience creating intensive, entertaining, and interactive radio. New York listeners will be familiar with Packer for his time as the original morning host and news anchor at Fresh 102.7.

Hilarie Barsky will be FM News 101.9's afternoon drive co-anchor. Barsky brings over 20 years of experience as a producer, talk-show host and on-air anchor on notable stations such as ABC News Radio, WABC-AM New York, Good Morning America New York, CFUN 1410AM and the Fox News Channel. Barsky was also the afternoon drive co-host on the most successful FM talk station, New Jersey 101.5. Much more than just a skilled news anchor, Barsky is a voice-over artist with the unique ability to do straight reads as well as characters and dialects for radio and television commercials, broadcast station promos, and industrial narrations.

Steve Langford, formerly the lead reporter for Howard Stern's Howard 100 News, is an industry veteran and has been reporting and producing for over three decades on both radio and television across the U.S., as well as in Canada and France. A true legend in the industry with remarkable range, Langford has also reported for A Current Affair, The Insider, Court TV, Celebrity Justice, and MSNBC.

Daniela Bilotta recently reported as an anchor at ABC News Radio where she had spent the last 6 years. Bilotta is well known for her exceptional style and for breaking in-depth news reports on Hurricane Katrina, President Obama's election, and Michael Jackson's death. A Toronto native, Bilotta was an anchor for Canada's number one news station, 680 News, and its award-winning morning show from 2000 to 2004.

Victoria Keelan has been the morning star talent on Sirius XM's Cosmo Radio, bringing audiences the latest and hottest trends in the world of fashion, beauty, lifestyle, and food on "Cosmo Life with Victoria." Keelan is a principal source for entertainment and beauty-related news, and has interviewed numerous A-list Hollywood celebrities, covered various red carpet events and has kept her audience up-to-date with the foremost reviews in the space.

Brett Larson is an Emmy Award winning reporter and one of the most familiar faces in technology and environmental coverage in the nation having anchored on 1010 WINS. Larson has anchored the news on radio, television and the Internet from coast-to-coast and is loved by audiences for his affable style, friendly personality and distinct comfort in front of the camera and behind the microphone. Larson offers an extraordinary versatility that's rarely seen in today's specialized media world.

Catherine Smith has spent nearly 13 years on 1010 WINS and has also been heard nationally in newscasts on the NBC, ABC and RKO radio networks. Smith is a brilliant and seasoned broadcaster who has worked at many of the most renowned stations in the New York area. She has a true craft for conducting five-minute network newscasts as a result of her long-standing experience in the industry and was recently honored with a NY Edward R. Murrow award for her talents.

On July 31, Merlin Media announced Chicago's only 24-hour all-news station with FM News 101.1.

The BBC has announced the launch of World Service content on FM radio in the Libyan cities of Benghazi and Misrata.

The BBC World Service exists to provide accurate, impartial and trusted news around the world – balanced and reliable news and information plays a particularly important role for audiences during times and in areas of conflict.

BBC Arabic has an established audience in Libya on TV as well as SW and MW radio and we are pleased to be extending our availability to FM radio. The programming is principally in Arabic radio, with the addition of the World Service English Newshour programme once a day.

Liliane Landor, BBC Controller of Languages, said: "This year has been a very difficult one for Libyans. It is important for local people to have access to news and information that they can trust, and the BBC has experience of delivering that.

"We know the people of Libya are keen listeners of BBC Arabic and they regularly participate in our interactive programmes, use our Arabic web service and watch BBC Arabic TV. The new FMs will give the people of Benghazi and Misrata somewhere to turn to for news they can trust and know is accurate."

The Arab Spring and events in Libya have been comprehensively covered by BBC Arabic on radio, TV and online.

The new FM radio services are now live at Benghazi : FM frequency – 91.5 MHz .Output is predominantly the live stream of BBC Arabic radio with the WS English Newshour 13:00 GMT edition incorporated and at Misrata : FM frequency – 91.5 MHz .Output is predominantly the live stream of BBC Arabic radio with the WS English Newshour 13:00 GMT edition incorporated

This article titled "BBC radio car torched in Salford riots" was written by James Robinson, Tara Conlan and Mark Sweney, for guardian.co.uk on Wednesday 10th August 2011 11.54 UTC

A BBC radio car was set on fire in Salford on Tuesday night as broadcasters and other media organisations struggled to keep up with the looting and disorder spreading across the Midlands, the north-west and the west of England. 

The dangers of covering such a fast-moving, volatile and dangerous story were underlined once again when the BBC Radio Manchester car and another vehicle belonging to a reporter were set on fire in Salford, according to the corporation. 

BBC North West Tonight's political correspondent Arif Ansari also reported that a cameraman was set upon in Salford. This followed numerous incidents of broadcast journalists and photographers being attacked during the London riots on the previous three nights. 

Both the BBC and Sky News used pictures from Sangat TV, a satellite and web TV channel set up by a Sikh charity, for pictures of events in Birmingham last night, where dozens of police fought with several hundred looters. 

The BBC has studios and a regional newsroom in the Mailbox building in Birmingham city centre where its nightly local news programme Midlands Today is filmed. 

In Salford, where violence broke out in the early evening on Tuesday, Sky News and the BBC appeared for several hours to rely to a large extent on content provided by members of the public, mainly footage taken on mobile phones. 

Kevin Bakhurst, the controller of the BBC News channel, defended its coverage on Twitter last night after being challenged about the apparent lack of cameras on the streets. 

In response to a journalist's Twitter query about why the BBC did not appear to have more reporters in the north-west, Bakhurst pointed out the BBC and other media organisations had "had vehicles and people attacked", which made "working there very hard". 

He added that many BBC staff were on holiday and a good number of journalists were in London, which was relatively quiet on Tuesday following three consecutive nights of rioting. 

"It's august" Bakhurst wrote on Twitter. "Some of team in London; and it's difficult but yes i'm frustrated (and in newsroom making it clear)." 

The BBC was not the only media organisation caught out by the relatively quiet night in London as trouble flared in areas including Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, Manchester, Salford, Liverpool, Gloucester, Bristol, Leicester and Nottingham. 

However, while newspapers can react more quickly by dispatching reporters to cover the disorder, broadcasters face extra logistical problems in getting camera crews and satellite trucks to the trouble spots. 

The BBC is also under extra scrutiny in the north-west as it recently began moving staff into in its much-heralded new broadcasting facility in Salford, MediaCityUK, which will eventually house several departments including parts of Radio 5 Live, BBC Sport and BBC Children's. 

Bakhurst also used Twitter to say the lack of pictures from Salford in the late evening on Tuesday was partly due to the fact BBC reporters were "out newsgathering – having done a live hit earlier". Bakhurst added: "though i [sic] would like some pictures on soonish!!".

Sky News said it had two satellite trucks and two reporters in Manchester and one of each in Birmingham. The broadcaster added the Sangat TV coverage was used principally to cover the disorder in Wolverhampton. 

A BBC spokesman said: "We had a number of people on the ground bringing the latest developments in this fast-moving story to our audiences. As with any story of this kind, we also had to consider the protection of our staff and equipment as well as reporting the story as it unfolded. Events in Manchester, Birmingham and Nottingham last night were covered with live pictures. We had appropriately trained teams out in all three places with live reports from BBC Birmingham, BBC Manchester, BBC Nottingham, 5 Live, and of course the News Channel." 

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Sunnyvale: Yahoo!, the premier digital media company, and Gow Broadcasting, LLC (formerly Mission Media Group, LLC), today announced the launch of Yahoo! Sports Radio. The new, national sports radio network can be heard on over 180 affiliate radio stations across the country, Sirius Satellite Radio, and a number of digital and mobile partners. This partnership enables Yahoo! Sports — the No. 1 destination for online sports with more than 50 million monthly unique users — to reach its avid fans in the largest local sports markets across the country.

"Yahoo! Sports Radio builds on our leadership as the No. 1 sports site online and creates a national and local outlet for our brand and talent," said Ken Fuchs, VP Yahoo! Media Network. "As Yahoo! Sports covers the biggest events, stories and athletes on and off the field, our partnership with Gow Broadcasting will provide more access to our users and solutions to our advertising partners that want to connect with them wherever they consume sports."

"We are delighted to enter this relationship with Yahoo! Sports," said David Gow, CEO of Gow Broadcasting, LLC. "We have long enjoyed Yahoo! Sports' content. We believe strongly that the resources at Yahoo! Sports combined with our on-air talent create the strongest sports roster in the industry. For our affiliates and our listeners, we can deliver top-shelf reporting, analysis and commentary."

In this relationship, Yahoo Sports! and Gow Broadcasting will share content, develop new content together and engage audiences and advertisers across multiple platforms. The result is that Yahoo! Sports and Yahoo! Sports Radio are designed to be the first stop for news, information and sports commentary. Key features of the new Yahoo Sports Radio include:

Yahoo! Sports Radio's popular shows, such as the Steve Czaban show and the Tim Brando show, will feature experts from Yahoo! Sports. Dan Wetzel, Mike Silver, Adrian Wojnarowski, Charles Robinson and others will be regular participants on Yahoo! Sports Radio.

Yahoo! Sports investigative stories and breaking news will be delivered simultaneously on both platforms.
Yahoo! Sports Radio's audio content will be featured on Yahoo Sports!, including Peter Gammon's daily feature, and top interviews from Yahoo! Sports Radio's shows.

Yahoo! Sports Radio will also add shows such as Fantasy Freaks with experts Brandon Funston, Brad Evans and Andy Behrens and Rivals Radio with host Chris Childers, where fans can listen to college football and basketball programming with Rivals.com experts.

Yahoo! Sports Radio continues Yahoo!'s commitment to provide sports fans with personally relevant sporting content across all media where fans gather — including online, mobile, tablets, connected television, AT&T U-verse and multiple publications such as Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football and Rivals College preview magazines.

BBC Radio 5 Live is seeking new travel reporters when it moves to its new home at MediaCityUK in Salford.

Radio listening has reached record levels in the UK, with more people than ever tuning into BBC radio stations, according to data published today by RAJAR. (Radio Joint Audience Research Ltd).

The figures show that more than 35 million people tuned in to BBC Radio per week during the measurement period (January 3 to March 27) – the biggest total since new research methodology was introduced in January 1999.

The total was boosted by record performances from Radio 1 and Radio 4, and digital-only networks Radio 6 Music, Radio 1Xtra and Radio 7 (now Radio 4 Extra).

RAJAR statistics also show that 47.3 million people tuned into their favourite radio stations every week – 91.6% of the country's population aged 15+.

Tim Davie, Director BBC Audio & Music, said: "It is quite brilliant to see radio reaching a record number of listeners in the digital age. These results speak to the unique quality of radio in the UK and reflect our work as an industry to keep innovating to attract new listeners. From a BBC perspective, the record results reflect the unique strength of our programme makers and the growing value of distinctive radio stations."

All BBC Radio has a weekly reach of 35.07 million, up from 34.88m last year and 34.51m last quarter, and a share of 55%, down from 56.5% last year and 55.3% last quarter.

BBC Radio 1 attracted a record 11.83 million listeners per week in the quarter, compared to 11.42m last quarter and 11.74m last year. Its share – at 8.7% – is down on last quarter (8.8%) and last year (9.5%). The Chris Moyles Show now has 7.52 million listeners every week – from 7.45m last quarter and 7.88m last year.

BBC Radio 2 has 14.54 million listeners – from last quarter's 13.94m and last year's 14.57m. It has a share of 16% compared to 16.2% last quarter and 17.2% last year. The Chris Evans Breakfast Show attracted 9.18 million listeners every week, up from 8.72m last quarter and the record 9.74m last year.

BBC Radio 3 recorded its highest listening figures for seven years, with a weekly audience of 2.26 million listeners – up from last year's 2.03m and last quarter's 2.22m. The network’s share is 1.3% – up from 1.2% last year and last quarter.

BBC Radio 4 has its biggest audience under current methodology, boosted by record performance from the Today programme. The station has 10.83 million weekly listeners (from 10.03m last year, 10.32m last quarter and a previous record high of 10.4m) and a 12.3% share of all listening (12.2% last year, 12.1% last quarter). The Today programme now has 7.03 million listeners per week – up from 6.44m last year and 6.63m last quarter.

BBC Radio 5 Live has a reach of 6.65 million listeners – its ninth consecutive total (over three years) above six million and up on last year’s 6.48m, but down on last quarter's record 7.09m. Combined with sister station 5 Live Sports Extra, the networks reach 6.75 million listeners (from 6.56m last year and 7.21m last quarter) and have a share of 4.7% (from 5.5% last quarter and 4.7% last year).

In digital-only services, BBC 6 Music cemented its place as the UK's biggest digital-only station with a record 1.3 million listeners – up from 1.02m last year and 1.14m last quarter – while Radio 1Xtra continued to grow with its biggest ever audience of 892,000 weekly listeners – up on last year's 663,000 and last quarter's 816,000.

BBC Radio 7 – the network recently rebranded as BBC Radio 4 Extra – also posted a record reach (1.16 million listeners – from 1.05m last year and 941,000 last quarter) and the BBC Asian Network's weekly reach rose to half a million – up from 357,000 last year and 477,000 last quarter.

BBC World Service recorded its largest UK audience to date, with a reach of 1.79 million – a rise of 39% from 1.29m last year and up on 1.46m last quarter, while BBC Local/Regional radio reached 10.2 million listeners per week – up from 9.99m last year and 9.84m last quarter.

The cover of today's Radio Times features a drawing of the royal wedding carriage by seven-year-old London schoolgirl Darcey Gurner, winner of the magazine's royal wedding picture competition.

The picture was chosen from over 10, 500 entries and was praised by the judges for its charm and beauty, with Sir Peter Blake describing it as "a thoroughly memorable image."

The competition invited children of all ages to create a magazine cover that celebrated the forthcoming wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

Describing her winning picture, Darcey Gurner said: "It took a long time to draw because I had to practise doing the carriage in pencil and my mum showed me how to draw block figures. One day I would like to get married in a carriage and live happily ever after like William and Kate. I would also like to ask them a question: what will your baby’s name be?"

Runners-up in the other age categories are Aisha Asghar, age 10, from South Lanarkshire and Phoebe Edwards, age 13, from Yorkshire. A further 24 children are highly commended and all of their pictures appear inside this week's Radio Times' souvenir Royal Wedding Issue.

Describing the thousands of entries, Radio Times' art director, Shem Law, said: "For the most part, you could tell the difference between boys' entries and girls' entries with boys going 'off brief'. We had several Doctor Whos and a couple of wrestlers. And some people thought Westminster Abbey wasn't grand enough for the wedding and relocated it to Downton Abbey instead!"

The winning entry was chosen by an esteemed panel of judges: artist Sir Peter Blake; The Secretary of State for Education, Rt Hon Michael Gove MP; Children's Laureate Anthony Browne; Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton; Radio Times Art Director, Shem Law and Radio Times Editor, Ben Preston.

There were three age categories within the competition: under 8s, 9-12s and 13-18s.

The BBC Trust has launched a service review of Radio 5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra today, as part of its rolling programme of service reviews.

A public consultation has launched today seeking views on the quality, distinctiveness and value for money of the services, against the terms of their current service licences.

The Trust has a duty from the Charter to review each BBC service at least once every five years. This is the first time the Trust has carried out a service review of 5 Live/5 Live Sports Extra.

Alison Hastings, lead Trustee on the review, said: "Between them, 5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra reach nearly 8 million people every week. We want to know how well those listeners – and others with an interest in the two stations – think they’re doing, and how well they’re performing against their service licences. The service reviews we’ve carried out so far have led to increasing quality and distinctiveness across the board."

The service licence review is a routine part of the Trust’s work and is separate to the BBC Executive’s Delivering Quality First process, on which the Executive is due to submit formal proposals to the Trust in the summer. The service review will look at performance to date against the existing service licence.

The public consultation will run until 13 July. It is available on the Trust’s website or by calling 0800 0680 116 (textphone 0800 0153 350).

Chantilly : Over-the-air local radio station revenues hit $14.1 billion in 2010, a 5.4 percent increase over 2009, according to this year's first edition of BIA/Kelsey's quarterly "Investing In Radio Market Report." BIA/Kelsey, adviser to companies in the local media industry, expects 2011 radio industry revenues to rise a moderate 3.7 percent, and 2012's election year to bump up revenues 4.5 percent. The firm also projects online/digital revenues for radio will experience a 14.1 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in the five-year period beginning 2011. Revenues from online/digital provided $405 million to the industry in 2010 and are expected to rise from $494 million this year to $783 million by 2015.

"The higher than expected radio revenues in 2010 reflected the return of national advertisers to the airwaves and some political battles that made an impact in certain markets," said Mark Fratrik, vice president, BIA/Kelsey. "Radio, however, still continues to face a lot of competition in the local and online advertising marketplace. Stations are responding by becoming more aggressive with their digital and online strategies, which are driving measurable revenue."

To closely report on the growth of online and digital activities across the industry, the "Investing In Radio" reports for 2011 include individual market level online advertising revenue estimates based on BIA/Kelsey's work with broadcasters and industry resources.

In further analysis of market activities, Fratrik points out that 26.9 percent of 2010's radio industry revenue went to stations in the top 10 markets, and those markets saw over-the-air revenue increases of 6.9 percent. Radio stations in markets 11 through 25 saw a 5.7 percent increase, while the other markets experienced positive but lesser changes in income.