Johnny Vaughan, Christian O'Connell up for Arqivas

Bauer Radio leads the pack in the Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards nominations, which were announced on Wednesday night.

The broadcasting group - the second-largest commercial operator in the UK - received 13 nods, beating its bigger rival Global, which scored eight nominations for the honours.

A total of 30 awards will be presented in the ceremony, to be held on July 6, with 21 categories coming from the shortlisted shows and stations.

The 'Triple A Media Breakfast Show Of The Year' award will be contested by Absolute Radio's The Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show, Capital FM's Capital Breakfast with Johnny Vaughan and Lisa Snowdon and Mike and Chelsea in the Morning for Key 103.

Northern regional stations have a strong showing in the awards, with 'Programmer Of The Year' seeing Real Radio North East's Jon Kirby, Metro Radio's Chris Pegg and Key 103's Gary Stein competing for the honour.

Last year, Bauer picked up 14 nominations prior to the awards, while Absolute Radio secured nods for DJs Dave Gorman, Geoff Lloyd and O'Connell.

Commenting on the nominations, 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."

> Read the full list of nominations for the Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards