and we're looking forward to seeing this growth continue as more and more people discover the station across the UK. We firmly believe Smooth has the potential to become the UK's biggest national commercial station and these figures show it's heading in the right direction!" During the final quarter of 2010the station's first as a national broadcasterlistening figures rose to 3.08 million, which remained unchanged in the first quarter of 2011, although listenership in London increased by 29%, largely because of the arrival of Simon Bates on the breakfast show in January 2011. Smooth continued to increase its audience share in the second quarter of 2011, with an average weekly total of 3.2 million, which rose once again in the third quarter to 3.328 million, meaning that for the first time Smooth's figures overtook those of one of its national rivals, Talksport. The station had an audience of 3.3 million in the final quarter of 2011, making it the second most listened to national commercial radio station in the UK. 3,317,000 listeners were tuning in during the first quarter of 2012, which dropped slightly in the second quarter to 3.2 million. The third quarter of 2012 saw another small drop to 3.19 million, but in the same period Smooth 70s recorded its first audience figures of 749,000. Collectively 3.7 million listeners were tuning into Smooth-branded stations. That figure rose to 3.8 million in the final quarter of the year. The first quarter of 2013 saw an average weekly audience of 3.6 million, which fell to 3.1 million for the second quarter. However, figures rose again through the second half of the year, with 3.26 million in the third quarter of 2013, and 3.38 million in the fourth. Marketing and sponsorship When Smooth Radio launched as a national network, GMG launched a hoarding and television advertising campaign featuring eight "Smooth Ambassadors"listeners chosen to represent the station's "zest for life". Each advertisement included a piece of information about one of the ambassadors, and something they were currently doing. The campaign ran throughout October and November 2010. A later campaign featured Simon Bates, whose breakfast show attracted increased listening figures in London in early 2011. The station signed a number of sponsorship deals with advertisers, often for a particular show or for competitions associated with the advertiser. Its first major sponsorship deal was with Honda, which sponsored the drivetime show upon the station's