When it comes to music, variety is the spice of life at BBC Radio 2. Its database of tracks carries some 14,000 hits from every decade since the 40s. But it's the network's much vaunted playlist that every band and musician is itching to get on. This list of around 30 songs guarantees regular plays on the BBC's most popular radio station. Every week the great and the good of BBC Radio 2 gather for the playlist meeting, and this week Roger gets in on the action. Will it be the end for The Beach B...
Sep 07, 2012•28 min
Is BBC radio suffering from an increase in technical problems? Many listeners think so, and over the last few months have sent in a flood of examples as part of Feedback's Operation Drop Out. Dropped lines, disappearing interviewees and correspondents who sound like Daleks. Roger asks technology controller Peter Coles what is going on. And the Today programme's Foreign Affairs Correspondent Mike Thomson reveals how a dropped line left him AWOL in North Korea. History was made this week when Radi...
Aug 31, 2012•28 min
Do you know which Hitchcock film features a scene set at the very top of the statue of Liberty? No? Well, according to several listeners the producers of Radio 4's landmark series The New Elizabethans don't either. Listeners think they have spotted a clutch of factual inaccuracies in the series. In the first of the new series of Feedback, Roger asks the editor Andrew Smith if they are right. He also discusses the reservations of one listener who actually featured in the series, the New Elizabeth...
Aug 24, 2012•28 min
Are sensational storylines ruining The Archers? Some listeners think familiar characters are acting out of character, simply to crank up the tension. Roger Bolton meets Acting Editor John Yorke and longstanding Archers' writer Keri Davies, to ask at what point does the dramatic veer into the unbelievable? With only three weeks to go until the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Roger talks to 5 Live's Controller Adrian Van Klaveren about the network's preparations for covering the world's biggest spor...
Jul 06, 2012•28 min
The History of an Epic Struggle: last week marked the end of Richard Holloway's 20-part Honest Doubt series, which explored 3,000 years of faith jostling with doubt. It had a profound effect on many Radio 4 listeners. A one-sided attack on Christianity, or an insightful exploration of an often controversial subject? Roger talks to Richard Holloway, and the editor behind the commission, Radio 4's Jane Ellison. From the spiritual to the virtual, big changes to all 55 of the BBC Radio websites are ...
Jun 29, 2012•28 min
Does Radio 1 have too many celebrity presenters? Are they too old? And is Chris Moyles going to leave the Breakfast Show? In this week's Feedback two listeners meet controller Ben Cooper and quiz him about his station. Plus, as Radio 1's Hackney Weekend music festival comes to East London, Roger finds out what Radio and 1Xtra are doing to encourage new radio talent. Presenter Chantelle Jones tells him why she thought someone from her background could never be on the radio. Last weekend Radio 4 h...
Jun 22, 2012•28 min
Do you ever sing along to the radio? Many listeners to BBC Radio 3's Choral evensong confess they love to join in with the hymns - but recently they have suddenly found themselves singing solo. The programme has disappeared off the air without warning on no less than four occasions. Roger Bolton asks Christine Morgan, Head of Radio for Religion and Ethics, to explain what went wrong. Could it happen again? Roger is granted an audience with the golden-throated denizens of Continuity, and puts you...
Jun 15, 2012•28 min
A right Royal let down? In this week's Feedback, listeners get the chance to express their views on the BBC coverage of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. We hear from many of you who got in touch with the Feedback team to comment on the BBC's handling of the event across the main radio networks. Roger Bolton looks for answers from Alan Yentob, Creative Director of the BBC, and speaks to Kevin Marsh, a former Editor of Today, about how coverage of major events like this are planned. Is Albert Square r...
Jun 08, 2012•28 min
Have you ever listened to the radio and felt that what you were hearing was too private for broadcast? In the first of the new series of Feedback, Roger is joined by a group of programme makers to discuss how they tread the line between gripping radio - and exploitation. Editor Philip Sellars discusses Radio 4's recent series The Trouble with Kane, which follows the treatment of a twelve year old boy arrested for cannabis possession. Editor Louisa Compton talks about Victoria Derbyshire's 5Live ...
Jun 01, 2012•27 min
Radio 4's forum for comments, queries, criticisms and congratulations. Presented by Roger Bolton, this is the place to air your views on the things you hear on BBC Radio. The extension of World at One, changes to Saturday morning programmes and thoughts on the next Director General of the BBC - Gwyneth Williams, the controller of Radio 4 takes listeners' questions and gives her thoughts on what this summer holds for her network. Making the unmissable... er... missable. Why were so many programme...
Apr 13, 2012•28 min
Presented by Roger Bolton Can anything be done to make Radio 4 comedy appeal to a wider audience? The writers of Ed Reardon's Week and North by Northamptonshire, along with Radio 4's comedy commissioning editor, discuss. The BBC's Complaints system is being overhauled. Find out more about how you can have your say on what needs to be done to make it better. It's been five months since BBC local radio listeners first complained about the strange clicks, crackle and pops they hear when listening o...
Apr 10, 2012•28 min
Last week critics of Radio 4's Count Arthur Strong aired their views - and outraged his many fans. They contacted the programme in droves, demanding satisfaction. So, in this week's programme the Count's supporters meet his detractors for a fight to the comedy death - well nearly. Which side will win? Is the programme Strong or weak? Roger Bolton officiates and there is a special appearance from Count Arthur himself. Roger meets Today presenter Justin Webb and 5Live's Victoria Derbyshire to disc...
Mar 30, 2012•28 min
Who are all those people laughing on Count Arthur Strong's Radio 4 comedy show? Not Feedback listeners who want to know why he's still on air after seven series. Listeners find all the spin and speculation ahead of Wednesday's budget a turn-off. Can't we just wait until we actually know what the Chancellor is going to say they wonder? Paddy O'Connell opens the doors of Broadcasting House during a special recording of the programme at the More Than Words Festival in Bristol. But does anyone want ...
Mar 23, 2012•28 min
After The Now Show this week tackled gay marriage, child abuse and the Catholic church some Feedback listeners contacted us with concerns. Roger asks Jane Berthoud, BBC Radio's head of comedy, how her team assesses controversial material and whether in this case the right decisions were made. Robust and challenging - or simply a slanging match? When presenter Justin Webb first joined the Today programme he said he'd be gentle and let politicians have their say. Then he changed his mind. In this ...
Mar 16, 2012•28 min
This week the news carried tough stories about the situation in Syria, and about the death of 15 year old Kristy Bamu, at the hands of his sister and her partner. Too much information said some listeners, especially as some reports did not include a warning about the graphic content. Several other reports did carry a warning - which other listeners found patronising. Richard Clark, head of the BBC Radio Newsroom, tells Roger why a warning may or may not be added, and why he feels it can be the r...
Mar 09, 2012•28 min
The fate of BBC local radio is once more under the microscope this week, as independent media consultant John Myers publishes his report on the best way to cut costs and keep quality. He recommends scrapping the plan to share afternoon programmes across regions, and suggests that cutting back on management could save two million pounds. Roger meets David Holdsworth, the controller of English Regions, to find out what this will mean for listeners. As the BBC World Service turns 80, it has thrown ...
Mar 02, 2012•28 min
Radio 4's forum for comments, queries, criticisms and congratulations. Presented by Roger Bolton, this is the place to air your views on the things you hear on BBC Radio. This programme's content is entirely directed by you. Producer: Karen Pirie A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
Feb 24, 2012•28 min
Did the death of singer Whitney Houston and the acquittal of football manager Harry Redknapp deserve to top the news bulletins? Many listeners feel that important events at home and abroad were shunted aside unjustifiably. In this week's Feedback Roger asks Mary Hockaday, head of the BBC's newsroom, whether the right decisions were made. During a particularly robust episode of the Moral Maze, many listeners felt debate gave way to a dust-up. Michael Buerk tells Roger how he tries - and sometimes...
Feb 17, 2012•28 min
Have you ever settled down to listen to a programme on iPlayer - only to find that the last two minutes have been chopped off? Or had to wade through several minutes of unrelated content before your chosen programme begins? In this week's Feedback Roger Bolton asks Andrew Scott, Head of Radio and Music for Future Media, why iPlayer editing is letting listeners down. There are five months still to go until the Olympics, but have Radio 4 listeners already had enough of sport? Following Clare Baldi...
Feb 10, 2012•28 min
A clearer focus on news and more coverage of minority sports. That's the order from the BBC Trust, which has just completed its review of 5Live. Do you agree? The recent audience research RAJAR report shows a drop in the station's listening figures. So we find out if listeners think the Trust has got the answer. Are you experiencing a sense of deja entendu? When it comes to radio dramas, many listeners feel the rate of repeats has increased. Roger asks Jeremy Howe, commissioning editor of Radio ...
Feb 03, 2012•28 min
The decision to end Radio 4's Home Planet has dismayed many listeners. The programme has been answering listeners' environmental science questions for the last 10 years. This week two listeners meet commissioning editor Mohit Bakaya to ask - what on earth is going on? They also talk to the newly appointed science editor David Shukman about his plans for science on BBC radio. And Happy 70th Birthday Desert Island Discs. Executive producer Cathy Drysdale tells Roger how this weekend - each BBC loc...
Jan 27, 2012•28 min
The Radio 2 breakfast show is normally captained by Chris Evans. But, during a recent absence, Richard Madeley filled the presenter chair instead - and many listeners wish he hadn't. In the first programme of the new series, Roger Bolton talks to Lewis Carnie, head of programmes at Radio 2, about the delicate business of finding suitable stand-in presenters. After countless tales of woe from listeners trying to contact programmes, Roger issues a challenge to Radio 4's network manager Denis Nowla...
Jan 20, 2012•28 min
Less than two years ago the BBC Asian Network faced extinction. It was spared, but now its budget is set to be cut by almost half. What will this mean for the station, and for its audience? Listener Ravinder Sondh relies on the Tommy Sandhu breakfast show to get her family out of bed in the morning, so Roger goes behind the scenes to meet Tommy and his team in the studio. Roger also talks to Husain Husaini, the Asian Network's head of programmes, about how the station will manage the cuts. Are y...
Nov 25, 2011•28 min
In her first year in the job, Radio 4 controller Gwyneth Williams has instigated the biggest shake-up of the Radio 4 schedule for more than 10 years. She has cut Americana, commissioned The Life Scientific and most recently extended The World at One by 15 minutes - to the delight of some listeners and the dismay of others. She has also steered the station through the proposed Delivering Quality First cuts relatively unscathed. In this week's programme Roger asks her to explain her choices, and t...
Nov 18, 2011•28 min
The World at One now has 15 extra minutes to fill, following the shake-up of the afternoon schedule on Radio 4. Some listeners are delighted - others less so. Roger asks Nick Sutton, the programme's editor, what he plans to do with the time and how much investigation he has done into what the audience really wants to hear. Feedback itself will be staying the same length, but the Friday edition moves to 4:30 in the afternoon. The BBC Trust has launched a review into the impartiality of the BBC's ...
Nov 11, 2011•28 min
This week Feedback drops into the Radio Academy Radio Festival in Salford. There Radio Shropshire listener Andy Boddington asks David Holdsworth, controller of English Regions, if BBC local radio can really survive the 12 per cent savings it's being asked to make under the Delivering Quality First scheme. Meanwhile in London, listener John Kennedy leads a protest outside Broadcasting House against the cuts to his beloved BBC London. Next week sees the start of the new afternoon schedule on Radio...
Nov 04, 2011•28 min
Why were listeners' views on the two biggest news stories of last week not covered in Any Answers? Roger Bolton asks the programme's editor Clare McGinn why calls on the row over the St Paul's protest, school results and downsizing of homes left no room for listeners' views on Gaddafi's death and the proposed EU referendum. It's the beginning of the end for long wave. Tens of thousands of small-time mariners, who can't afford expensive equipment and currently rely on hearing the Shipping Forecas...
Oct 28, 2011•28 min
As the BBC's 40 local radio stations confront spending cuts, Roger hears your views about the impact on local democracy and community interaction. Listeners face having to share some programmes with neighbouring stations during off-peak times, and will see specialist evening programmes replaced with one England-wide show. No bad thing, say some of you. But others agree with the listener who described the plan as "destroying quality first". Roger drops into the offices of The Last Word, Radio 4's...
Oct 21, 2011•28 min
Did Radio 4 really get off that lightly in last week's BBC cuts? Roger Bolton talks to Tim Davie, the BBC's head of radio about the true impact of those Delivering Quality First proposals on news programmes in particular. The BBC has also signalled the death of longwave. Roger asks Denis Nolan, Radio 4's network manager, why alternatives can't be found, and how much will be saved by the axing of this service which is still crucial to so many listeners. Plus Feedback's Glasswatchers find another ...
Oct 14, 2011•28 min
"Inane", "patronising" and "cultural vandalism" are just a few of the comments you have made about the recent changes to the BBC Radio 3 schedule. This week Roger puts your concerns to controller Roger Wright, discussing new programmes including Essential Classics, and listener criticism that breakfast is sounding more like Classic FM. As the results of the "Delivering Quality First" consultation are finally announced, we'll be finding out what this cost-cutting strategy is going to mean for lis...
Oct 07, 2011•28 min
