BBC Radio Blog

Today we announced a series of new programmes which will be appearing on our digital radio stations. Also, we confirmed that we are changing the name of BBC Radio 7 to BBC Radio 4 Extra in April. You can find all the details in the press release.

Some people have questioned why we are altering a much-loved service: is this just unnecessary management tinkering? Firstly, let me offer a few words of reassurance. Radio 4 Extra will not be fundamentally different to Radio 7. The vast majority of the programming will remain much-loved archive productions, and we will continue to focus on comedy, drama and entertainment rather than offering news or current affairs. The primary reason for change is not to sell digital radios but to ensure more Radio 4 listeners are aware that we offer more of what they love. We'll be offering a more direct link between Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra. For example, we have confirmed that The Now Show and The News Quiz will offer extended versions on Radio 4 Extra featuring some of the bits that we have had to edit out to fit the programmes into their 30-minute slot on Radio 4.

As you can see we do not intend to take away people's favourite programmes from Radio 4. Perhaps the best example of how we see Radio 4 Extra working, as well as how we can see the digital world as offering a better service to listeners, is our plan for Desert Island Discs. On top of the ongoing Radio 4 programme, we will offer extended programmes on Radio 4 Extra as well as old editions. Meanwhile online we'll launch an amazing archive of 500 programmes that listeners can explore and download.

I hope that even if you have not caught Radio 7 yet, you do take the chance to take a listen to Radio 4 Extra when it launches in April.

Tim Davie is Director of Audio & Music

• The picture shows Roy Plomley and his guest Noel Coward on the occasion of the twenty-first anniversary of Desert Island Discs in 1963. Coward had been on the list of guests drawn up by Plomley when he devised the programme in 1941.

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Ever since 2002, when we started offering listeners the chance to hear radio programmes on demand via the original Radio Player, listeners have consistently asked to be able to catch up on all the episodes of series whilst that series is on air. There is nothing more frustrating, they told us, than getting interested in a serial in the third week and not being able to catch up on the first two parts which disappear after 7 days. In fact we became quite concerned that people might not even start listening to a serial if they felt they would not be able to keep up.

Well, today we have had good news. The BBC Trust has approved plans to introduce 'series catch-up' for radio and we will introduce it over the coming weeks. This means all episodes of a selected range of series will be available on our websites and via the BBC iPlayer until 7 days after the final instalment has gone out. The first series to offer this is the magnificent Classic Chandler on Radio 4.

Series catch-up covers speech-based programmes where we have the rights in place and where there is a clear narrative that progresses from one episode to the next. On Radio 4 look out in particular for future Classic Serial dramas such as Patrick O'Brien's The Mauritius Command and The History of Titus Groan as well as Agatha Christie dramatisations. Some of our big factual series such as The Reith Lectures or The Story of Economics or other long-running history series will benefit too as will comedy serials such as Ed Reardon and Clare in the Community. Series catch-up will be possible for landmark series on all of the BBC's radio networks.

We conducted a trial of this offer last year. One of the projects featured was the Complete Smiley. The results from the audience were very encouraging. 7000 people responded to our survey and the headlines were:

• 90% of users surveyed claimed they listened to more radio online as a consequence of series catch-up being available.
• More than half listened to programmes they otherwise wouldn't have listened to.
• More than half listened to more BBC radio online due to series catch-up.
• 37% said they had listened to episodes of series they would otherwise have missed without series catch-up.

We are working hard to make it easier for our audiences to hear more of our programmes online and this has been a good couple of weeks. The Series Catch up approval comes hot on the heels of the Radio 3 and Radio 4 service licence reviews in which the BBC Trust encouraged us to increase the amount of archive content we make available on our sites. As an example of this we have just launched a collection of interviews with the authors whose books are being featured on World Book Night on March 5th. There will be much more of this kind of activity and I will update you on our progress in the coming months.

Andrew Caspari is Head of Speech Radio and Classical Music, Interactive at the BBC

• Read the BBC Trust's decision on series catch-up here.
• Radio 4 Controller Gwyneth Williams wrote about the Trust's review of service licences here on the blog and Director of Audio & Music Tim Davie responded in The Radio Times.
• The illustration was created for the Classic Chandler season, one of those now available until seven days after the final transmission on the Radio 4 web site.

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It is rare that passionate radio listeners overwhelmingly and immediately support the scheduling changes that we make to a well-loved BBC radio station. However, having just announced that Radio 3 will broadcast live concerts every weekday at 7.30 p.m. for 46 weeks of the year, the reaction has been almost universally positive. It is welcome news for UK performing groups and listeners who will enjoy an invitation to so many outstanding classical performances. What is perhaps less apparent is that it represents a deliberate move across BBC radio to keep building the percentage of live output that we air on our stations. For some, this approach may well seem counter-cultural as it comes at a time when digital evangelists continue to predict the media will move inexorably to time-shifted, on-demand content. This is true but, paradoxically, this very trend is driving the value of live experience.

Of course, on-demand does offer benefits, such as making available valuable archives like the In Our Time back catalogue, or a chance to catch-up on recent programmes, but surely it is time to declare that the appeal of live radio is not only here to stay but is going to grow. Even beyond radio, live seems to be where the action is. Whether we are watching an X-Factor final, the One Show or attending a concert, live seems to be a common factor in so many recent triumphs in areas that have been consigned by many to a future of inevitable decline. Radio is particularly advantaged by this trend as so much of what makes it successful is the drama and immediacy of live broadcast.

In what some see as a gravity-defying performance, radio listening remains buoyant and in the latest listening figures, it was 5 live that hit new record numbers. The thrill of England keeping the Ashes combined with a busy news agenda provided a steady flow of compelling live stories. Also, over Christmas we deliberately focused on ensuring many of our broadcasts remained live rather than playing pre-recorded programming while the nation indulged itself.

Behind these successes, there may lie a deeper and more enduring need for wider communal experiences. The explosive growth of computers, tablets and smartphones has lead to a huge amount of solo activity with either no interaction, or communication being restricted to a small group of friends. Live broadcast experiences, although not offering the visceral experience of a live event, still offer a chance to be connected to something much bigger than a social network.

You may be listening alone but you know that thousands of people are connected together in one story. This is nothing new. I remember hearing my neighbours screaming with joy when Dennis Taylor sank that black in 1985, or looking into another car as I saw someone as emotionally moved as I was by the story of the collapse of the Berlin Wall on the radio news. For programme makers and presenters, live tends to bring out the very best.

It is interesting that while BBC executives like myself are often thought to be intent on limiting risk and prefer the control of pre-recorded output, the truth tends to be the opposite. This is not to say that the art of pre-built radio in genres such as current affairs and drama is not to be nurtured as a precious skill, but even in these areas, live output can play an exciting and growing part. So while you will see the radio industry ensuring that it is part of the on-demand revolution, we remain champions of the wonders of live. On May 3rd, we begin our Radio 3 broadcasts. As the musicians begin to play, I hope that you will be there, at home, next to them.

Tim Davie is Director of Audio & Music at the BBC

• The picture shows I AM KLOOT performing live on Steve Lamacq's 6 Music show at the Lowry Centre in Salford in October 2010.
• Edward Blakeman, an Editor at Radio 3, wrote about the station's new committment to live performance on the Radio 3 blog.
• BBC media correspondent Torin Douglas interviewed 5 live Controller Adrian Van Klaveren about his station's improved RAJAR figures on the 5 live blog.
• Tim responded to the public reaction to the BBC Trust's recent report about Radio 3, Radio 4 and Radio 7 in The Radio Times yesterday.

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