I Just Called to Say...
What do you think of radio phone-in shows? I ask because I recently had coffee with Jim Traynor. ( He told me it was the first time anyone from the Ö÷²¥´óÐã had ever bought him a coffee.) We got to talking about his phone-in show Your Call. Jim suggested it was time we had a good think about the phone-in format. As it happens this is a subject very close to the heart of the Ö÷²¥´óÐã's Director of Nations & Regions, Pat Loughrey, who believes the radio phone-in is at its best when it allows people the time to share their own experiences and tell personal stories.
This year on Radio Scotland we launched . Some people told me that 0900 might be too early for a topical phone-in, because the audience needs time to think about the news agenda and formulate an opinion. As it happens, Morning Extra has turned out to be one of our most popular programmes, with no shortage of calls. Not every call is a personal experience. Many callers seem to welcome the chance to comment on events.
But I'm interested to know what listeners think about phone-in shows. We're discussing this at our Creative Management Meeting on Tuesday. That's a fortnightly meeting in which producers and programme editors from across Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio Scotland gather to talk about the output. I'd like to use this diary to alert listeners to the topics we discuss there and take any comments to the meeting.
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