Record audience for Moyles

Capital Radio has suffered yet another disastrous slump in the ratings, new figures showed today.

The troubled London station's audience has plummeted by 15 per cent in a year, down from nearly two million listeners a week to 1.64 million, according to figures released by radio audience researchers Rajar.

For the second quarter running, Capital sits heavy in third place in London behind the "more music, less talk" Magic 105.4 in the number one spot and Heart at number two.

Its market share - the key statistic for commercial stations - has also dropped, to five per cent against Magic's 6.5 per cent and Heart's 6.1 per cent.

Meanwhile, Johnny Vaughan has recorded the station's worst ever breakfast show results - falling to just 852,000 listeners, down 225,000 in a year.

He is still number one commercial breakfast host in London - but Heart 's Jamie Theakston and Magic's Neil Fox are closing the gap.

Capital bosses today insisted they were sticking by Vaughan and that the station was in the midst of an overhaul that would "take time" to reap rewards. Initiatives include a pledge to run no more than two adverts in a row and toning down Vaughan's laddish style.

But one radio insider said: "Capital's had yet another turkey. It's nothing to do with the advertising, it's to do with the content."

The latest round of radio ratings also reveal wildly differing fortunes for Vaughan's longtime Radio 1 rival Chris Moyles.

Moyles - who has dubbed Vaughan "Johnny Yawn" - can rest easy, secure in the knowledge that he is indeed the selfstated "saviour of Radio 1".

He has piled on listeners, up an impressive 530,000 in a year to 6.79 million nationwide. And in London he has risen from fourth place in the mainstream music breakfast shows to number one, boasting a listenership of 857,000 and leap-frogging Vaughan, Theakston on 820,000 listeners and Fox on 803,000.

It is a record figure for the loud-mouthed DJ, easily beating predecessor Sara Cox, scoring the highest breakfast results for the station since 1999.