Despite a decline in
record sales over the years, there remains a very
substantial interest among listeners in the national charts. It had been
known for some time that a sizeable proportion of the audience for BBC Radio
One's Sunday afternoon chart show consisted of otherwise loyal ILR
listeners.
In October 1984, ILR met the challenge and scheduled its first
simultaneously broadcast music programme directly against the BBC's chart.
The Network Chart Show is presented by David 'Kid' Jensen, of Capital Radio,
and taken by virtually all the Independent Local Radio stations in the UK.
In its first six months on air it virtually doubled ILR's Sunday afternoon
audience.
Record sales data are drawn from a panel of 300 record retailers throughout
the UK, and compiled by MRIB. The Network Chart is processed rapidly - much
faster than most other national charts. The final positions are available to
the show's producers at Capital Radio early Friday afternoon and ready for
Sunday transmission at 5 p.m. The information is also immediately available
, by teleprinter, to all the other stations.
David 'Kid' Jensen got his nickname when he joined Radio Luxembourg and
became that station's youngest presenter. It stuck through his Radio Trent
and Radio One days and is still with him at Capital Radio where he also
hosts a daily show. The moment he opens his programme on Sunday afternoons
his voice is fed all over the country, through complex technical
arrangements including independent Radio News' contribution line circuits.
His enthusiasm, pace and style of presentation, combined with up-to-date
information has created a winning formula for The Network Chart Show. So
much so that not only can ILR boast to be the first with new chart
positions, but David Jensen won a nomination for `UK Personality of the
Year' in the 1985 Sony Radio Awards.
Kevin.Sykes@kps.org.uk 
Page updated
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
