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Rajar exposes imagination gulf

Posted in Media, Oliver Milman, Latest reporters' blogs August 17th, 2007 by Oliver Milman

One of the most telling differences between commercial radio and its BBC counterpart was highlighted yesterday by questions asked at the Rajar press conference.

A selection of bored-looking national newspaper journalists, frantically jabbing themselves with pens to stay awake through the deluge of listener figures, proceeded to interrupt with the odd blunt question every few minutes.

“Er, how many people listen to the Archers?”

“What audience does Russell Brand have this quarter?”

“How’s Desert Island Discs doing?”

All the questions were based on BBC radio shows or the talent the corporation manages to lure with tasty wage packets. This underlines a two-fold problem for commercial radio – no-one enquired about one of the many generic request shows cluttering up the ad-carrying airwaves, or what kind of following Tony Blackburn has nowadays.

Commercial radio may not be able to do much about the BBC’s abundance of cash, but the lack of anything to rival the Archers or the Today programme is glaring.

Channel 4, due to arrive on the radio scene next summer, has promised oodles of new shows. But, until then, what can commercial radio do to buck up its ideas – is it a question of money, imagination or both?