Radio
Getting hitched
Michael Vestey
Many of us will have been impressed by the versatility of Tony Benn in his new role as a Mongolian throat singer on the Today programme recently. When he was introduced by the presenter, we heard a deep moan like a cow in labour before it was made clear that the wrong tape was being played. Sometimes, though, it seems as if, technically, Radio Four has become Radio Ulan Bator.
I am not that familiar with Mongolia and I am assuming there is such a radio station. It might be, for all I know, technically more proficient than BBC radio. Mongolians would certainly be up in arms if their radio station blundered off the air as frequently as Radio Four these days. I have written before of the astonishing growth of the technical hitches that we are hearing but it seems to be getting worse. In public, at least, the BBC displays its usual compla- cency. Richard Ayre, the executive respon- sible for the technology, brushes it aside as one of the usual pitfalls of live broadcast- ing, as if the BBC had always been so utter- ly incompetent in its transmission.
Appearing on a recent Feedback on Radio Four, however, Ayre did admit that mistakes had been made and they were being put right. He was responding to com- plaints from listeners. I've lost count of the number of irritating technical cock-ups both on Radios Four and Five. Today, which has successfully covered party con- ferences for years, suddenly lost its line to Sue MacGregor at the Lib-Dems in Brighton last week; an edition of Front Row vanished soon after its start and music had to be played before it could be recovered. This Radio Four arts programme has seen several of its interviews 'down the line' from other studios disappear mid-sentence.
The situation is so bad that BBC staff have been threatening industrial action. The BBC has a serious problem which it is finding almost impossible to solve. When it moved its radio news and current affairs output to a building at White City called Stage Six, it also introduced new technolo- gy all at once, a sort of Big Bang which cer- tainly lived up to its name. It has also cut vital technical staff in the process. I'm told that staff are now so worried about whether or not an item will get on the air that they're not concentrating on its quali- ty. At first, those in charge took to blaming the people operating the equipment, but then it soon became obvious that the tech- nology itself was either flawed or couldn't cope with the demands on it. Of course, one expects the odd technical mistake, par- ticularly with live broadcasting, but there is now an avalanche. The new technology was only introduced to encourage multi-skilling and to reduce technical staff, not because it was considered to be better than the old systems. If it had to bring it in at all, the BBC should at least have done so gradual- ly, making sure that it would work.
Wherever I go I meet people complain- ing about Radio Four and the changes introduced by its controller James Boyle. Some of the new programmes have, howev- er, worked very well — The Archive Hour on Saturday evenings is excellent — others not. But what really seems to annoy people is the pointless changes in the timings of familiar programmes. I suppose one could argue that listeners should have the daily or weekly listings to hand so that they can check the times of their favourite pro- grammes, but many people aren't in the habit or they can't find them when they need to; the magazine or newspaper con- taining them might be in another room or have been thrown out.
A friend told me that he'd only just got to grips with the new time of Alistair Cooke's Letter From America, having missed it on several occasions. Another friend, Jilly, announced she'd given up Radio Four completely and now listened to Radio Three most of the time. She is not some old fogey who the BBC imagines to be the typical Radio Four listener but a tal- ented, highly intelligent woman who is younger than Boyle himself, the sort of person any network should be delighted to count among its listeners. It's just that she can't remember where the programmes she liked are now positioned. However, since telling me she had stopped listening, she now says she has crept back for the return of the News Quiz but not much else. I won- der how many there are like her as the audience figures for Radio Four suggest that the changes have not been an overall success. Perhaps they should try Radio Ulan Bator.
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