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Lockdown FM – radio is my new friend
October 26, 2020
Lockdown does funny things to your morning routine. As we approach eight (EIGHT!) months of restrictions, I’ve tried more approaches to starting my day than the government has to controlling the virus.
At the start, I was a new man. Thrilled by no longer having to commute, I put my newfound energy into running. I downloaded the Nike Run app, bought an extremely colourful pair of trainers (they would be too lurid to ignore on lazy days) and sped around the block, smugly improving my 5k time.
That lasted about a month. Then, I realised that I could sleep in instead. Lie-ins became very appealing. As did loungewear. My girlfriend coined the term WFB (Working From Bed) and over summer our hazy routine revolved around drinking too much in the long summer evenings and speedy showers the next morning.
Like everyone else, I’ve had to find balance in lockdown. Now, my favourite mornings are the ones where I wake up early enough to lie in bed and listen the Today programme on Radio 4. In my half-awake state the reporters make even the worst COVID headlines sound reassuring and gentle. Once I’m up, Alexa makes sure it follows me into the kitchen, and I eat toast and smirk as they grill politicians. By the time I’ve started my day I feel not only more awake, but more informed.
Lockdown has made me realise just how much I love the radio and podcasts. I’ve always listened a lot but never really thought about it. As part of my old commute I’d religiously listen to The Guardian’s Football Weekly shows, interspersing them with James Acaster and Ed Gamble’s ‘Off Menu’ podcast or a few pop and soul classics on Absolute or Magic. In the evenings, I’d cook while listening to the football on Radio 5 Live. For anyone who cares, I bloody love John Murray. I’d gladly listen to him read me the back of a cereal box.
It’s a connection with the outside world that previously I took for granted. In the first few months of working from home I didn’t listen to anything at all. The silence was a nice change and I found writing copy or organising my time became easier. But once I’d formed those new habits, the quiet seemed a bit lonely.
At some point, a colleague texted me to say that they were loving The Craig Charles’s Funk And Soul Show. Tuning in gave me some much-needed motivation. After that, I started listening to 6 Music a lot more, mostly in the mornings to get me going.
It seems that my pattern of tuning out and then back in again is something lots of us have done.
Writing in Campaign recently, Emmet McGonagle mentioned the concept of ‘social listening’ – listening to the radio as a form of social interaction.
Thinking back to the early part of lockdown, instead of listening to the radio or podcasts, I was ploughing through hours of TV. I was obsessed with Normal People, Glasto coverage, and This Is Us. But after a while, I enjoyed having something on that felt more interactive. Plus, with a bazillion hours on Zoom each week, it was nice to disengage from a screen for a while.
In Emmet’s piece he writes that ‘in terms of advertising, Covid-19 “was like a tap being turned off”, according to Simon Kilby, chief revenue officer at Bauer. Advertisers pulled the plug because they weren’t sure anyone would be listening. And, as predicted, they lost huge swathes of their audiences because people weren’t listening on the way to work or in the car anymore.
But now, even though it’s hard to gauge figures for Q3, I’d bet that people are coming back. It’s surprising how much of a place these shows have in people’s lives.
One night a few weeks ago I was really struggling to sleep. I ended up texting a good friend I hadn’t spoken to in a while. At school, he was a talented rugby player with a chest so big it earned him the affectionate nickname of Barrel or even ‘Big Baz’.
Much to my surprise, ‘Big Baz’ told me that in recent years he’d really struggled with anxiety and it often kept him awake at night. “When I get like that,” he said, “I get my headphones and just sit in bed and listen. Anything on the BBC World Service or a show called From Our Own Correspondent.”
He sent me a link to a 25-minute programme on Japan’s Second World War legacy. “Listen to that and eventually you’ll drift off.”
It worked.
In a world dominated by social media channels, Netflix, and Amazon Prime, it’s easy to think that radio is outdated and outmuscled my new mediums. Similarly, it’s easy to think that the podcast market is saturated. But, even with all that competition, there will always be a place for the airwaves.
The huge audiences will always be a draw for brands. And, as we continue to spend more time working from home and figuring out our daily routines, those audiences will make space for programmes they enjoy.
Anyway, I should stop typing and go for a run. The lurid trainers are glaring at me from the corner of the room again…
Jack Ross