Media Guardian reports that Radio 4 is to stage roadshows at three universities – Cardiff, Derby and Bedfordshire (sic) in order to reach out to younger listeners.
Each tour will last a few five days and will offer students ‘a range of workshops’ covering areas such as stand-up comedy, writing and journalism. Does Radio 4 really think that will improve listener figures?

Sure a bit of experiential activity such as roadshows will help engage a small number of students and such an extended presence on campus will enable the channel to give those reached a good opportunity to interact with the channel from an educational perspective. But if the channel is really serious about reaching out to younger listeners – apparently almost 90% of the station’s 9.98 million weekly listeners are 35 or older – shouldn’t it really start thinking about programming and other methods to achieve their goal?

So why not take a look at the station’s programming for a start? A quick scan of today’s schedules highlights the home of the shipping forecast isn’t providing much in the way of content for the younger listener. Today – still far and away the benchmark of quality news reporting is followed by The Long View – a show that ‘looks for the past behind the present’. Music Migrants – a 15 minute show sounds promising but is followed by shows including ‘the Royal Show in Crisis’, a show about William Morris, The Archers and Law in Action. Sure, there are some shows that could and may appeal to this younger target audience – but they are few and far between.

But it’s not just a new look at programming the Beeb should consider. Engaging audiences through social media channels, encouraging listener generated content, a dedicated programme of outside broadcasting and PR activity targeting youth media are all tools at their disposal. How about Radio 4 teaming up with the Student Radio Authority in a job swap programme for student radio stations?

So whilst the 3-Uni roadshow is a start – there’s a LONG way for the Beeb to go before they start reducing those average listening ages.