Magic's share of listening has had a massive boost according to the latest Rajar figures, from 5.8% in the first quarter to 7.4% in the second quarter.
Heart, with which it tied last quarter, was left trailing after its share fell from 5.8% to 5.7%.
The gap has opened up after a long period in which each of the two stations took turns in holding a narrow lead over the other.
Magic's reach climbed 4.5% from 1.92m to 2m, while Heart's dropped 4% from 1.85m to 1.77m.
In another blow to Heart, its 6am-9am breakfast show with Jamie Theakston and Harriet Scott, was supplanted by Magic's 6am-9am Neil Fox show.
The Heart DJs had a weekly reach of 844,000 listeners, down by 49,000, while Magic's host added 37,000 listeners to reach 868,000.
Capital Radio's breakfast show with Johnny Vaughan and Denise van Outen has a weekly reach of 944,000 for its 6-10am span, but just 772,000 in the hours covered by the Magic and Heart shows.
In overall listening, Capital is hanging on to third place after its share stayed unchanged at 4.6%. Fourth-placed Kiss, owned by Bauer Radio, grew its share from 4.3% to 4.5%.
Global's LBC lurched down from 4.5% last quarter to 2.7% this quarter, although its change in reach was less violent, down 15% to 594,000.
The dramatic drop follows a big rise between the fourth quarter of 2007 and the first quarter of 2008 from 3.8% to 4.5%, perhaps showing the tendency of Rajar's diary methodology to be influenced by the presence or absence of heavy listeners.
Virgin Radio took fifth place with a 3.2% share, down from 3.3%, while Choice FM dropped from 2% to 1.9%.
Xfm London's share grew from 0.9% to 1.1%. The station's reach also recovered after a nightmare first quarter in which it fell 26% to 379,000. It is now up 47% to 558,000.
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