I’ve just spotted that the Five Live Breakfast programme now has its own blog. It’s been running for a couple of weeks, yet I don’t remember it ever getting mentioned on-air.
But I’m wondering if it’s maybe ‘a blog too far’. I wake up to the show every single morning. By any metric, I must count as one of its most dedicated listeners. But much as I hate to say this… I just don’t buy into the ‘brand’. I just don’t care about Five Live Breakfast. And I don’t feel any need or inclination to sign up to its specific blog.
The problem with continuous news channels is that there is no programme identity. Don’t get me wrong: the programmes do their utmost to create one. Sky News keeps trying it, but its most recent attempts at ‘appointment to view’ television – the Sky Report at 7pm, the James Rubin Carcrash at 8pm – just got canned. (And rightly so.)
But I do care about Sky News as a 24-hour output, and likewise, I do buy into the brand of Five Live itself. I don’t wake up consciously at 6am so I can listen to Nicky Campbell. (In fact, being honest, I listen to the programme despite Nicky Campbell.) But I do ensure that every radio in the house is tuned to Five Live (car and bathroom included). And I probably switch it on, as soon as I walk through the door.
So give me a blog from Five Live as a whole, with high-quality input from everyone involved, and I will subscribe to it. But giving blogs to individual shows on the station? No, sorry. You’re just getting carried away with this now, Beeb.