There was a rise of more than 50,000 listeners on the last quarter

The Radio Joint Audience Research (Rajar) report for the final quarter of 2005 showed the station attracted 1,017,000 listeners.

This represented an increase of 51,000 on the previous quarter.

Live streaming of the station over the internet attracted 358,000 requests. Jeff Zycinski, Head of Radio at BBC Scotland, hailed the figures.

The streaming figure for the year rose to 1.14 million and requests to listen to live Scottish Premier League football commentaries also proved popular, totalling 323,000 in the last quarter alone.

The Edinburgh derby on 29 October got 13,889 listeners on the internet.

The top-of-the-table clash between Celtic and Hearts in mid-October received 11,276 listeners.

Mr Zycinski said: "We're obviously delighted to be the only station in Scotland with more than a million listeners a week.

"It's a real tribute to our programme makers across Scotland."