Jazz FM, 6Music and Radio 7 are bright spots amid digital radio's gloom

BBC 6Music, BBC Radio 7 and Jazz FM were among the few digital radio winners as many digital-only stations saw a big drop in audience in the final three months of 2009. During the period BBC6 Music, home to Shaun Keaveny, Lauren Laverne and George Lamb, had 695,000 listeners, up 11.4% on the previous quarter and 12.3% year on year, according to the latest official Rajar audience figures. The BBC's archive comedy and drama station, Radio 7, had 931,000 listeners, up 5.3% on the previous quarter and 9.5% year on year. Commercial station Jazz FM, headed by Richard Wheatly, had 446,000 listeners, up 7.2% on the previous quarter. It was launched in August 2008, so a year-on-year comparison is not yet available. But as total digital listening took an unexpected downturn in the last three months of 2009, audiences fell for many other digital-only stations. Bauer Radio's Heat suffered the biggest quarterly fall, down 28.3% to 447,000. The station was also down 3.9% year on year. Other stations owned by Bauer, which has dominated the commercial digital landscape, also fell. The most popular digital-only network, Bauer's The Hits, was down 12.2% on the previous quarter and 23.9% year on year to 1.01 million listeners. Bauer's Q fell 18.9% on the quarter and 10.6% year on year to 219,000. Smash Hits, another Bauer station, was down 10.7% on the previous quarter and 6.9% year on year to 858,000. Indie music magazine spin-off NME Radio was down 18.8% on the previous quarter but up 16.4% year on year to 177,000. It was a pattern reflected at Planet Rock – if not quite so dramatically – which was down 1.4% on the previous quarter but up 2.6% year on year to 698,000 listeners. There was also a mixed picture for Absolute Radio's digital sister station, Absolute Classic Rock. The station was up 21.2% on the previous quarter to 217,000 but down 11.4% year on year. After a record third quarter 2009 audience boosted by Ashes Test cricket, there was a big drop for BBC Radio 5 Live's sister station, 5 Live Sports Extra, which fell 31.2% on the previous three months to 663,000. 5 Live Sports Extra was steady year on year. BBC 1Xtra fell marginally – 2.9% on the previous quarter and 0.4% year on year – to 531,000. The BBC's Asian Network, which could be axed as part of the corporation's review of its digital TV and radio output , was up 0.8% on the previous quarter but down 5% year on year to an average weekly reach of 360,000. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".