The obvious joys of Radio 5
The controller of Radio 5 was grilled recently on Radio 5 and defended his station against accusations that it was ‘Radio bloke’ by pointing out that it has a lot of female presenters. It certainly does, and very pretty they sound too. The genius of Radio 5 is threefold. Firstly, where a Radio 4 interview with a politician may last two minutes, on radio 5 they have nothing but time, and so interviews turn into conversations. It’s fantastic to hear people whose media training means they have developed the skills to put their point in ninety seconds have to discuss matters in depth and, in truth, one gets the sense they actually enjoy it. Secondly, as mentioned in a previous blog, it keeps middle-aged men off the streets, in this case the sheepskin-swaddled commentators that sit in media boxes at football grounds around the country, reporting into the mother ship back at Broadcasting House. And of course, thirdly, still with middle aged me, gives purpose to those that call in to share their thoughts with their presenters and, quite incidentally, with the nation. One thing I have noticed is that Radio 5 sports presenters treat their listeners with respect, and if you mention that you’re a season ticket holder, you can espouse whatever view you want, no matter how unconventional, no matter what subject.
What radio 5 has done is build a community. If Radio 5 were a village, it would probably be the sort you only stop in long enough to realise you should be getting along, but for the people that live there, they wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.
And it’s worth mentioning that Radio 5 Extra is, of course, the home of Test Match Special. Not for nothing was the original inscription above the door of Broadcasting House intended to be ‘Nation shall speak cricket commentary and remark about cake unto nation’ before somebody realised that wouldn’t fit and that cricket commentary and cake can be summarised simply as ‘peace’.
I am increasingly drawn to Radio 5. I even occasionally listen to shows about soccer, a sport I know nothing, and care even less, about. But it’s lovely to hear the presenters and the fans get excited about it, and heartwarming when some poor sod whose team has just had a six nothing thrashing starts by congratulating the opposing team before going on to describe how his team’s manager really does need to be beheaded, ‘Game of Thrones’ stylee, on the centre spot at the start of the next home game.
What radio 5 has done is build a community. If Radio 5 were a village, it would probably be the sort you only stop in long enough to realise you should be getting along, but for the people that live there, they wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.
And it’s worth mentioning that Radio 5 Extra is, of course, the home of Test Match Special. Not for nothing was the original inscription above the door of Broadcasting House intended to be ‘Nation shall speak cricket commentary and remark about cake unto nation’ before somebody realised that wouldn’t fit and that cricket commentary and cake can be summarised simply as ‘peace’.
I am increasingly drawn to Radio 5. I even occasionally listen to shows about soccer, a sport I know nothing, and care even less, about. But it’s lovely to hear the presenters and the fans get excited about it, and heartwarming when some poor sod whose team has just had a six nothing thrashing starts by congratulating the opposing team before going on to describe how his team’s manager really does need to be beheaded, ‘Game of Thrones’ stylee, on the centre spot at the start of the next home game.
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