YES Birdsong, coffee, sunlight streaming through the windows: these are all good things to wake up to in the morning. The Today programme on Radio 4, sadly, is not. I’m not the only one who thinks so. In the last year, Today has lost 800,000 listeners—over 10 per cent of its total. BBC bosses have attributed the ratings fall to a “stabilising period” after a hectic news year in 2017. But the problem goes deeper than that.
The Today programme used to be an essential part of the morning routine in any household keeping abreast of current affairs. Ten years ago, Today didn’t just report the news, it created it. The main interview slot at 8.10am was a place for political heavyweights, often including the prime minister, to face rigorous questioning on a key issue and set the tone for the day’s events.