The BBC is to introduce a new podcast of its long running radio serial The Archers. Dubbed “an everyday podcast of country folk” the first broadcast of the popular Radio 4 programme will be made available from Sunday October 14. The Archers already receives over one million requests per month to hear the programme online as part of the BBC’s Listen Again facility.
Agreements with the actor’s union Equity have in recent weeks enabled the introduction of a podcast of the popular Friday night comedy The News Quiz and the return of The Now Show that takes the same Friday evening slot later in October. Previously only news and current affairs programmes have been included in the Radio 4 podcasts that began in November 2004 with Melvyn Bragg’s In Our Time.
Previous editions of The Now Show have had musical elements deleted due to rights issues and the whole of the last series was missing. In typical Radio 4 style a ‘continuity announcement’ was downloaded to those who had subscribed to the podcast.
