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Magic's overall reach increased from 1,672,000 last quarter to 1,865,000 and Neil Fox's breakfast show increased its listeners by 122,000 compared to the last quarter. Fox joined Magic last September after leaving Capital Radio's drivetime slot.

Andria Vidler, managing director at Magic, said: "The product has a clear and consistent music proposition and people like it. We've had some great feedback."

GCap's Capital Radio fell to third place in London, down 82,000 listeners on the last quarter and taking a 5.5% share of the market. However, it retained second place on the measure of weekly reach.

Despite Johnny Vaughan's show losing 24,000 listeners, he retained the number one spot in the coveted breakfast show slot, ahead of Heart's Jamie Theakston and Magic's Fox.

Chrysalis' Heart, which had held the number one position in London for the last two Rajar quarters, took second place in London with a 5.7% share of the market, but lost 67,000 listeners compared to the last quarter. Breakfast show host Theakston lost 63,000 listeners from last quarter with 855,000 tuning in.

Paul Jackson, programme director at Virgin Radio, said the top three London stations have jumped around a lot. "The three stations are quite similar, but Magic just does it better. I expect it to be the top station for a while."

Barnaby Dawe, managing director of Heart 106.2, said Magic is attracting an older audience. "Potentially this could mean less convergence in the London market and clearer appeal to different audiences. A third of listening hours are from over-55s."

Virgin's breakfast show did well year on year, adding 46,000 listeners. Christian O'Connell, who started mid-way through the Rajar period on 23 January, lost 2,000 listeners in the handover from Pete and Jeff. Overall Virgin London lost 40,000 listeners compared to the last quarter.

Chrysalis' LBC 97.3FM saw its weekly reach up 25% on the back of its new programme line-up.

The BBC's share was up, taking 55.4% as compared to commercial radio, which was down from 42.8% to 42.6% in the last quarter.

Digital platforms, including DAB, DTV and the internet, reported growth with 13.6% of UK adults now living in DAB households compared to 11.1% at the end of 2005.