Russell Brand is also a familiar face on television

The station now attracts a weekly audience of 400,000, according to industry ratings body Rajar.

"It has been good for digital radio to have a star like Russell presenting on 6 Music. He really is at the top of his form," said controller Lesley Douglas.

Radio 2 has also added listeners, with drivetime host Chris Evans gaining ground after an initial dip.

Most popular

Ms Douglas said: "I'm really pleased that Chris Evans has fitted in at Radio 2. He's a great personality, a great broadcaster and I always hoped he would appeal to the audience."

UK'S MOST POPULAR NATIONAL RADIO STATIONS BBC Radio 2 - 12.7m BBC Radio 1 - 10.5m BBC Radio 4 - 9.4m Classic FM - 5.8m BBC Radio Five Live - 5.7m Heart - 3.09m Magic - 3.03m Kiss - 2.8m Galaxy - 2.58m Virgin - 2.3m Weekly figures for past three months of 2006. Source: Rajar

Radio 2 remains the UK's most popular station, slightly down on its reach of 12.86 million last year.

Radio 1 breakfast host Chris Moyles continued to attract more listeners, with a rise of 290,000 compared with last year.

But Sir Terry Wogan's morning show on Radio 2 remains the most popular, registering weekly audiences of more than 7.6 million in the past three months.

Radio 4's flagship morning current affairs programme Today has seen its listenership rise to 6.1 million, while the network as a whole attracts more than nine million people.

Radio Five Live's audience has been overtaken by Classic FM in the past three months, while commercial networks Virgin and Galaxy have been leapfrogged by Kiss.

Brand, who also fronted Big Brother's Big Mouth on E4, joined 6 Music in March, fronting a Sunday morning show.