Absolute Radio leads Arqiva Awards

Absolute Radio has secured six nominations at the Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards, including nods for DJs Dave Gorman, Geoff Lloyd and Christian O'Connell.

Lloyd and Gorman will compete for 'Best Presenter' award for stations with over 1 million listeners, along with Real Radio Scotland's Ewen Cameron and Alan Rough.

The 'Breakfast Show' award will see O'Connell up against LBC 97.3's Nick Ferrari and the Steve And Karen Breakfast Show on Galaxy North East.

The Absolute Radio group secured 13 nominations in total, including nods for its two local stations in Oxford, digital service Dabbl and Absolute Radio At The BAFTAs specialist programme.

The 'Digital Station' award will be contested by Planet Rock, Fun Kids, and Gaydar Radio.

Heart FM's Emma Bunton is up for the 'Newcomer' prize, alongside 107.6 Banbury Sound's Lucy Jones and Real Radio's Eleanor Noakes.

Bauer Media secured the most nominations for a radio group with 14, while Heart-owner Global Radio earned ten and GMG Radio scored nine. Lincs FM Group received three nominations, while Town And Country Broadcasting and the CN Group got two each.

Speaking to Radio Today, Arqiva's director of radio Paul Eaton said: "This year's awards look set to be the best yet - commercial radio offers something for everyone and we are proud to once again be associated with the awards."

The nominations were announced last night at a ceremony in central London, with winners to be revealed on June 17 at the Westminster Bridge Park Plaza.