Fun with numbers

I wonder if the Office for National Statistics might have a word.

The BBC is becoming a mighty gunslinger in the Wild West that is podcast charts.

Without publishing a single chart, the BBC Media Centre yesterday issued a release headed "Peter Crouch tops the latest BBC Sounds podcast chart". No cumulative or individual figures, for the 57 episodes available online during the period covered, January to March.  There is, apparently, a Top Ten, which includes the new Manhunt: Finding Kevin Parle, but again, there are no figures. There are 12 episodes of Manhunt online, but 21 episodes of Beyond Reasonable Doubt have been spookily rebranded 'Manhunt' on the website.

The big numbers on BBC Sounds are still for live listening, at 55%. There's no indication of the balance of listening between on-demand (time-shifted listening to existing radio programmes) and podcasts (made principally and first as such). There is apparently an on-demand chart - The Archers still tops it, and "All of the top ten is made up of Radio 4 and 4 Extra programmes". But until James Purnell comes clean about the split, in real numbers, between on-demand and podcasts, neither the BBC or the licence-fee payer can make a judgement on whether on not the shift in investment is worth it.

By the way, there are no absolute figures for the Gemma Collins podcast, save the assertion that it has the highest proportion of under-35 listeners. The next editor of Today will now presumably have to carry regular features on aliens, angels, the Illuminati, lizard people and vaginas to attract the audience that Purnell clearly seeks.