The media industry rallied around the BBC Asian Network and 6 Music yesterday by nominating them for a large clutch of awards.

The Sony Radio Academy Awards announced yesterday that Asian Network had been nominated for best speech programme and best news special.

Also nominated was relative newcomer Waqas Saeed who presents the Early Breakfast show for a ‘Rising Star’ Award. Prior to the show he supported Adil Ray on his then afternoon Drivetime show.

6 Music got nominations for: best music programme, music radio personality of the year, music broadcaster of the year, best comedy, specialist contributor and station imaging.

The Sony Awards will be presented on Monday 10 May at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel.

The Asian Network also got another boost from internal BBC figures, AIM magazine has learnt.

BBC figures show that the digital station got over 750,000 unique viewers last week on its Interactive Red-Button site. For context, that is the same number that BBC Proms gets on its Red-button site.

An insider told AIM magazine that Asian Network still had tremendous pull, and not just with Asian listeners. “It shows that if you make something national, on an Asian level, by the bbc, the viewers will come.”