BBC Asian Network saw a massive jump in listeners over the last three months, figures released by the industry body Rajar showed this week.

In contrast Sunrise Radio, Kismat and Club Asia radio did not do so well.

For the quarter ending March 2008, Asian Network managed to pull in 535,000 listeners – its highest ever numbers. This was a 21% jump since the previous quarter.

While its February marketing campaign, promoting Asian Network as the ‘The New Sound of Asian Britain’, may have succeeded in boosting numbers, it remains unclear whether listeners will remain with the station. Its listening figures have been highly erratic – falling and rising every quarter by big percentages.

Sunrise Radio in contrast maintained a steady ship, increasing its weekly audience from 510,000 to 514,000 nationally. Its listeners also tune in for longer over the week compared to Asian Network.

Sunrise Radio’s sister station Kismat also saw a modest increase in from 58,000 to 68,000.

But the station has under-performed generally. Senior executives at Sunrise expected it to draw between 100,000 – 200,000 listeners after a few years, absorbing Sunrise’s older listenership and allowing it to focus more aggressively at a younger audience. Kismat’s lacklustre numbers put this strategy in doubt.

Youth station Club Asia Radio also saw a drop in audience over the past 6 months. Its reach fell to 197,000, a slight fall from the 206,000 listeners it first posted a year ago.