Radio Exe has its biggest ever audience

70,000+ listeners a month tune in

Official listening figures show Radio Exe is reaching more people than ever before.

Industry research body Rajar reveals around 70,000 adults now tune into the station every month.

It's a rise of 65 per cent in the past year.

The amount of time people spend listening to the station has also increased since the last set of figures.

In the past two years, the station has introduced a new breakfast show presented by Matt Rogers, and a daytime show hosted by Neil Walker. Both slots have increased their audiences significantly, as have shows presented by Ashley Jeary, Jamie Taylor, Dean Brame, Ollie Heptinstall and Colin Slade.

The figures don't include people listening in Plymouth, West Devon and East Cornwall, which isn't measured by the official statistics. Radio Exe's own figures show listening in that area is estimated at around 25,000 adults.

The station, which is one of the few remaining independent commercial broadcasters in the UK, launched in 2012 after taking control of a failing company owned by a firm based in London.

Devon used to have six local stations, but all have sold out to national broadcasters and closed their studios.

By contrast, Radio Exe is growing, and is a lead investor through its parent company in developing new digital radio networks in the county. The first, called ExeDab, operates in the Exeter area and currently has nine radio services on air, including Radio Exe. Torbay's service, TorDab, is expected to launch this summer, followed by a service in Plymouth called PlymDab.

Radio Exe plans to launch two new stations, including a speech service, on the DAB network, in the coming months.

The station also provides news stories about local politics to other media organisations in the south west, in an initiative called the Local Democracy Reporting Service, funded by the BBC.

Programme manager Ashley Jeary says: "It's an exciting period for Radio Exe. The economy continues to be tough for small broadcasters like us - but thanks to our loyal listeners and advertisers, we're building on the strong foundations we've put in place."