Jayne Dowle: In a world of spin, radio is a reliable voice of reason

In an uncertain world there is one thing we can rely on. And that is BBC Radio 4. When all around us is descending into chaos, with post-Brexit controversy and reports of the latest terrorist atrocity coming through, we can always tune in to the sonorous tones of presenter John Humphrys and wait for him to make sense of it all.
Staple listening: BBC Radio 4s Today presenters John Humphrys and Mishal Husain provide authority and intelligence. Picture: PA.Staple listening: BBC Radio 4s Today presenters John Humphrys and Mishal Husain provide authority and intelligence. Picture: PA.
Staple listening: BBC Radio 4s Today presenters John Humphrys and Mishal Husain provide authority and intelligence. Picture: PA.

This is not to single out this veteran Welsh broadcaster for special praise. The Today programme’s presenters come and go, but the one thing – sorry, make that two things – they have in common is both authority and intelligence. That’s why this programme has been a staple of my life for almost 20 years now.

Radio has been my constant companion though. I grew up with
Dave Lee Travis at home, BBC Radio Sheffield at grandparents – my grandad regarded the hourly news bulletins as nothing less than the sermon on the mount – and Terry Wogan at my auntie’s house, because he played a lot of Cliff Richard.

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But when I worked as a news editor on a national newspaper, I was basically told to listen to Radio 4 in order to arrive at my desk fully-briefed. Reluctantly, I shelved my mid-twenties early morning habit – the incessantly cheerful Capital Radio – and found the “clever channel” instead. It took some getting used to, but once this erudite and informative worm got into my brain, I couldn’t shake it off. It hooked me in, and the next thing I knew I was listening to programmes about nature, afternoon plays and of course,
the incomparable Gardeners’ Question Time.

I’m not surprised then that once again Radio 4 is soaring ahead in the radio ratings. The latest official RAJAR figures show that Radio 4 has now hit a highest-ever audience of 11.5 million, up from 10.6 million the year before. That’s a million listeners in a year. I’d wager that like me, a significant proportion of these new devotees have been brought in through the breakfast show. There is a school of thought in radio which says that once a listener is hooked in early morning, they are more likely to stick with the station for the rest of the day.

That’s why we hear radio insiders talk so much about “flagship breakfast shows”. And that’s why the bosses of BBC Radio 2 must be wringing their hands over their choice of Chris Evans to wake their listeners up. Since his hasty exit from Top Gear, his star has become somewhat tarnished. And this is not good for a station which can claim the crown as the nation’s most-listened to – around 15.5 million people name Radio 2 as their station of choice.

Overall though, these new RAJAR figures do show a distinct turning towards a demand for something more serious than inane celebrity ramblings, rubbish competitions and the cacophonous nightmare that is “zoo radio”.

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The big loser here is BBC Radio 1, which has lost a whopping one million listeners in a year. The audience has dropped to its lowest level for more than a decade. The big challenge is to pull in listeners from the youngest age group and keep them entertained. The number of hours a year that 15-24-year-olds listen to radio has dropped from 29 million in 2010 to 16 million in 2016 – that’s heading towards a 50 per cent fall.

What is significant here is the rise of social media. When I was a teenager like my son, who is almost 14, the first thing I did on a morning was to switch on Radio 1. The first thing he does is roll over and check his Facebook account. If he wants to listen to music, he checks out YouTube. For this demographic, what they listen to and where is almost academic. The challenge is to turn young people on to radio in the first place, and to form the habits which will turn them into lifetime listeners.

Look at the bigger picture though and what is emerges is a trend which no one would have predicted even a few years ago. For such a long time, radio was the poor relation of television. Commercial stations were struggling and merging or going bust, and whenever discussions over the BBC licence fee took place, everyone always forgot to mention the sterling work Auntie’s radio channels do, not just in the UK but thanks to the World Service, across the globe.

Could it be that we have begun to see through the smoke and mirrors of the small screen? What would you rather witness: a line of politicians having a scripted televised “debate” or James Naughtie slicing straight to the heart of the matter at just after 8 o’clock on a morning? In a world so full of spin and hype, we’ve become seekers after truth, and our changing listening habits reflect this. I bet the beleaguered producers of BBC Two’s Newsnight wish they could feel as cheerful.

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That’s why radio is on the rise. It’s not just the voice of reassuring reason – as in the case of BBC Radio 4 – but a reliable and entertaining friend we can listen to whereever we want. Long may its ascendancy rise.