Hitchhikers attracts 1m online

A million people have heard the new Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy radio series over the internet, making the BBC’s most popular online show.

Douglas Adams' comedy attracts up to twice as many listeners as top-rated soap The Archers when it comes to web figures.

Through the BBC’s Listen Again service, repeats for programmes from the past seven days can be heard at any time, as a form or radio on demand.

BBC radio chief Jenny Abramsky say the figures, accumulated over six weeks, vindicate the corporation's investment in the internet.

She told MediaGuardian: "We are completely amazed by the impact of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

"It's important to listeners. We have to continue making these kind of programmes to make people go to the web."

Other popular Listen Again shows are the  Today programme and Just a Minute,.

Adams’ last three Hitchhiker books - Life, The Universe And Everything; So Long and Thanks For All The Fish; and Mostly Harmless - have been made as two new series, starring the original radio cast.

The second will be broadcast in May.

Published: 29 Oct 2004