Yesterday's Rajar quarterly audience figures once again showed an increase in the number of people listening to radio. Hooray. For Radio 5 Live and TalkSport the results were especially cheering: both had record audiences in the final months of 2010.
This tells us a couple of things. While there are stations playing undemanding music fodder with little chat to connect to, people treasure stations that build a sense of community, interaction and an ongoing conversation. People like talk radio: the chance to hear diverse and sometimes strong opinions, and to chip in by calling, texting, tweeting or shouting at the radio.
The 5 Live Breakfast show recorded an impressive surge in audience figures, passing three million for the first time, and adding more than 600,000 listeners. It's easy to hear why: Shelagh Fogarty and Nicky Campbell are warm and funny as a duo but glide through the serious news too.
So, dramatic overnight reports from Cairo were given time and proper scrutiny, but they switched to lighter topics without it feeling bumpy. "I had a crush on Cliff Barnes," Fogarty admitted, talking about the Dallas remake. Finding a strong replacement for her to work alongside Campbell is going to be akin to pairing wine with a hugely tricky dish – say, a savagely hot curry or lavender ice-cream.
