Yesterday marked the first year anniversary for the BBC Asian Network, which launched on October 28th last year in a blaze of publicity with Sonia Deol as it's flagship presenter.

For its anniversary the station was handed an unexpected birthday present earlier this week when the RAJAR figures for radio listening came out. Although they didn't make happy news for Sunrise radio, the statistics confirmed that the BBC's investment into Asian Network was paying off.

Adding 74,000 listeners in the last 3 months, the BBC Asian Network as taken its total listeners across the country to nearly half a million, which means that one in 5 Asians in the UK now listen to the station. Although still the most popular Asian radio station, Sunrise on the other hand showed a drop of 60,000 listeners over the same 3-month period.

Commenting on the figures and the recent award at the AMAs, Vijay Sharma, Head of the BBC Asian Network says, "The award and the latest audience figures are the best birthday present the station could ever receive. The Asian Network is now very definitely the number one for the Asian community and that is because we are as serious about news and current affairs as we are about music and entertainment. We are truly the sounding board for UK-wide Asian opinion."

Jenny Abramsky, the BBC’s Director of Radio and Music adds: “These are very encouraging figures. I’m very pleased that the Asian Network appears to be reaching sections of the community who have previously felt underserved by the BBC.”

The station's core audience remains in the Midlands where it broadcasts on medium wave as well as DAB. In London, where approximately 40% of the British Asian community resides, it's gained 120,000 listeners since launch.

Although Sonia Deol's show is based in London, the rest of the station's operations are primarily based up north in Birmingham and Leicester. It's likely the station will want to gain further inroads into the London audience, although it will come up against tough competition in the form of Sunrise and Club Asia radio.

Since it's unlikely to gain a local radio license for London due to existing stations already serving the market, there is little doubt the BBC hopes that take up of DAB radio accelerates.