Archives for September 2009

Sarah Prag, head of audio services for BBC Audio & Music, has led the project to chop radio programmes up into 'chapters' to make it easier to find what you missed. The first live use of 'chapterisation' is on 5 live. She wrote about it for the BBC Internet blog:

A couple of weeks ago we took a first tentative step on what will hopefully be a significant journey. We started to identify 'chapters' within programmes. Chapters is the term we're using to describe sections of a programme, rather like the chapters of a DVD. In some cases a programme might have back to back chapters, like a book, but in other cases producers might just identify key moments in the programme e.g. the big interviews.

We're excited about chapters for several reasons...

Read the rest of Sarah's post and leave comments on the BBC Internet blog where it first appeared. And you can try out chapters on most of 5 live's programmes now.

Can you remember the world, pre-expenses, of 12 months ago? Think back to last year's party conferences... The bizarre 'announcement' in the early of hours of the morning by one Damian McBride in a luxurious Manchester hotel that Ruth Kelly was to step down from the Cabinet to spend more time with her family. It was a big story then but seems small beer compared to the week in June this year when Jacqui Smith, Hazel Blears and Caroline Flint all quit the cabinet.

The atmosphere at Labour's conference was febrile - everyone was talking about Gordon Brown's leadership (again). It was only his second conference as PM and David Miliband wanted his job apparently (then he was papped with a banana and that was the end of that). During my live radio programme involving Labour politicians and two hundred voters in a Jehovah's Witness church in central Manchester a couple of unlikely bedfellows found themselves sitting alongside each other - and in agreement on one issue: Charles Clarke and Graham Stringer both wanted Brown out and a leadership election to follow. They made rather a charming couple I seem to remember.

A week later in Birmingham a bemused Michael Heseltine found himself mobbed by sixth form politics students at the end of our show. Everyone wanted a picture taken with him on their mobile phone. I genuinely think after about 7 minutes of this he was worried about his security, as he requested my then Assistant Editor, a powerful woman who takes no stick, to escort him out of the building. His exact words were, "Can you please get me out of here now?".

Party conference radio programmes are some of the liveliest I've presented in 15 years of broadcasting. The politicians are up for it, the audience is up for it. Rarely do voters come face to face with those who affect their lives and wallets, let alone get to question them face-to-face. My over-riding thought from last year is how much MPs themselves relished the opportunity to debate with listeners the merits or otherwise of their proposals for the country and it's certainly a joy (and a challenge) to conduct a good old-fashioned debate. The aforementioned Charles Clarke was in his element, Iain Duncan Smith won over the Birmingham audience with his research into the links between antisocial behaviour and family breakdown.

Andrew Lansley found he had time to go into detail about how the Tories would change the NHS. One chap from Stockport asked Ed Miliband if Gordon ever smiled - maybe Ed fed it back to his good friend prompting the YouTube grin months later? David Blunkett and Jacqui Smith were like a double act and Michal Ancram seemed slightly overwhelmed. Prospective parliamentary candidates came to cut their teeth (one left when I raised my eyebrows at one of his scripted answers) and everyone enjoyed the croissants, pastries and coffee.

It's like Question Time but better: there's no top table - the politicians are sitting in amongst the audience, we've got three hours to get tucked into the details of education, health and crime policies and not every conversation has to go via the host: radio magic occurs when I can step back because a listener is confident about questioning a politician directly. Plus this year of course we have the backdrop of the expenses scandal.

Having 'done' the Liberal Democrat conference on Monday it was fascinating to hear that voters appeared to be angrier about banks that taxpayers now effectively own not lending money to small businesses who are struggling. There was plenty of heat and because we had the time, there was plenty of light. Nick Clegg explained his so-called mansion tax and it was pretty popular with the crowd. By the way each audience is made up of a balance of Lib Dem, Conservative and Labour voters, as well as swing voters and those who haven't yet made up their minds. Most but not all are 5 live listeners.

Next it's Brighton and Manchester. Labour has a lot to lose and the Tories won't want to put a foot wrong. On Monday in Bournemouth, we launched something new. MPs are given a copy of the Green Book - their guide to the allowances and expenses they can claim. 5 live listeners are going to write the Little Black Book*. This will be a guidebook for every MP voted in at the next election. It will be a checklist of what voters want and expect from them. It won't be War and Peace, but it will be a common-sense booklet which we'll publish on behalf of our listeners and send to all MPs.

*working title until our listeners decide what it should be called.

Victoria Derbyshire presents her 5 live programme weekdays between 1000 and 1300

• Listen again to Victoria's programme from Bournemouth. The programme has been divided into 'chapters' so you can easily choose which part to listen to: like Nick Clegg's grilling from the 5 live audience.
• Victoria's blog picks up on the big stories from her show - the sacked dinner lady from Essex and bereaved mother Jeanette Gilderdale this morning, for instance.

Thanks to everyone for your comments about the new 5 live website. You'll have noticed that we're continuing to make changes and to add new elements. Next week will see a significant new development: the launch of a service called 5 live Now (editor's note: initially for one programme - the Breakfast Show phone-in - SB). This will give you the chance to make comments online - and hear them within 5 live programmes.

5 live Now makes the whole network more responsive to listener comment and puts your views closer to producers and presenters - for use on-air and on the web site. We'll pull together online comment, contributions from social networks, texts and emails and feed them directly to programme editors and the radio station as a whole. Your contributions will also be much more visible on the new site. 5 live Now will operate in real-time and give more prominence to the contributions selected.

So we're closing the existing 5 live messageboards when 5 live Now goes live.

We've already closed our Station messageboard: users who want to offer feedback about the station in a public forum can still do so - via the 5 live blog which provides an opportunity to engage with senior figures from the radio station.

We hope you'll make use of these new opportunities to interact with 5 Live and we welcome your reaction to these changes. I'm out of the office this week. I'll read and respond to queries on my return and, in the meantime, my colleague Jem Stone, who looks after messageboards and blogs for the BBC radio networks, will do so while I'm away.

Brett Spencer is Interactive Editor at BBC Radio 5 live

• Brett described 5 live Now in an earlier blog post on the BBC Internet blog.
• Jem Stone announced the closure on the 5 live messageboards.

There is not even one small part of me that doesn't hurt today and, according to Andy Roberts, my physio, everything is going to hurt even more tomorrow. You know what, though? I don't actually care. The sense of achievement is huge, and I'm feeling a teensy bit smug about it all.

I did the Great North Run!

Even though I did walk most of it, and it took me the same time that it takes slow coaches to do a marathon, I did it and I have a medal to prove it.

What a great day it was, too. We arrived on the start line at just before 9am and it was absolutely freezing. The 5 live team stood around moaning about how cold it was, and how it was going to be slightly miserable if it stayed that cold. I had to wander away for a while to do a television interview with Jonathan Edwards and then met up with the three lovely ladies who were going to chaperone me around the course. Being a slow coach, and starting at the front is a slightly scary thing with all the barging and pushing that goes on but Sue, Christine and Sarah stood round me like minders and we were well on the way.

The sun came out just before the gun went, and I did manage to jog the first 500 yards or so before settling in to a fairly even pace. I could not stop smiling. The atmosphere surrounding the Great North Run is like nothing you'll ever experience. 54,000 runners being cheered on by probably just as many spectators, it was completely unbelievable.

We'd just seen the Red Arrows fly overhead when I heard a shout of "Blabers" and there, standing on the central reservation was my friend Sue's husband, Richard. I shot across the carriageway (with apologies to the lady I bumped in to) grabbed a hug from him and carried on. About 20 minutes later, having been grabbed for a hug by Sue as she ran past me, I got a text from Richard saying I was doing ok because there were still thousands of people behind me.

Most of those thousands ran past me, it has to be said, and I did nearly pull out at 8 miles when my right leg cramped up more than I ever thought possible. At 11 miles I nearly pulled out again, but some quick emotional blackmail from one of my companions and we were on our way again!

On to South Shields seafront, and I could see the 'mile to go' marker in front of me and also Kate Williams and Sue Dougan running towards me to help me make it to the finish. I'm not ashamed to say I cried my eyes out when we got there. It had been physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting. I have blisters the size of Wales, I am walking not unlike a sunburnt monkey, but I've raised nearly £2000 for Pancreatic Cancer UK and that's all that ultimately matters.

• 5 live's coverage of the 2009 Great North Run will be available for another six days.
• Helen wrote about her preparation for the run here on the blog last week.

In two years time much will have happened - a General Election in the UK and the World Cup in South Africa to name but two. Also by then 5 live will have moved to Salford and next month we reach a really important landmark in the planning of that move. The BBC will take possession of what is currently known as Building C at Mediacity in Salford Quays and the first floor of that building will be 5 live's new home in 2011 (by which time I promise we'll have come up with a better name for the building). But for now we'll begin fitting it out, putting in all the wiring, technology and furnishing which a radio station needs in the 21st century. Things were so much simpler in Marconi's time.

The whole development is striking - ambitious in scale and completely transforming the area around Salford Quays. It's designed to create a new hub for the entire media industry which can be a magnet for talent from all over the world. From the BBC's point of view it's a chance to redefine our connections with the north of England, ensuring we spend the licence fee more equitably across the UK. The 1500 jobs we move - from areas including Sport, Childrens, Future Media and Technology and Learning - will be part of a seismic shift in how the BBC thinks and operates.

From 5 live's point of view it plays to our core aims of reflecting events, stories and voices from every part of the UK. If we were launching the station today, I've no doubt we'd decide that basing it outside London would make it easier to achieve our aims of having a distinctive non-metropolitan sound and agenda.

Moving an already successful national radio station 200 miles is no small task - that's probably why no one has ever done it before. But last week as I wandered round the space where we'll be working, the advantages are already clear. It's not just a shiny new state of the art building but a place where we can create a radio station for the internet age, bringing together everything we do on-air and online and ensuring the best possible coverage of live news and live sport. We'll be part of something which is closer and better connected to audiences and which is a place where innovation and great ideas can thrive.

5 live must continue to be a UK wide service as relevant in Peterhead as it is in Plymouth. To do that we need the best people working on the station both on air and off air. Already presenters including Nicky Campbell, Peter Allen and Colin Murray have signed up to being part of the move and nearly half of 5 live's current staff are likely to make the move. We will be bringing in new people as well and I've no doubt that the talent is there for us right across the north of England as well as with other people who are keen to make the move to the region. On-air the changes will be subtle rather than dramatic but we are determined to end up as an even better radio station. Starting something new in broadcasting is always an exciting moment - frustrating at times, terrifying momentarily but ultimately exhilarating. This has the feeling of a pioneering start-up and there'll be many stories to tell along the way. I want to use this blog to share them in a way which has never been possible before.

Adrian Van Klaveren is Controller of BBC Radio 5 live

• The picture shows 5 live staff Katya Willems, Rhian Roberts, Richard Bacon and Adrian Van Klaveren looking out over the Mediacity piazza from what will be 5 live's office. It was taken by Steve Bowbrick on a tour of the new buildings earlier this month. There are more pictures here.
• The Mediacity web site has information about the project, including a plan of the development (PDF).

"White Air Festival in Brighton," they said, "Europe's largest Extreme Sports event." "Oh fine," I replied, without really thinking about it...

But now I do come to think about it - what exactly is an extreme sport anyway?

There are, apparently, 30 vying for our attention as 5 live makes its extreme sports debut on Saturday. These include kitesurfing, street boarding and capoiera (your guess is as good as mine).

According to the official website, the White Air sports and music festival in Brighton is "back for another year of hardcore action" from September 18th to 20th. They invite us to come and watch high divers throw themselves off a 90-foot platform, enjoy all manner of fast and noisy activity on the sea, and look upwards for Red Arrows and Chinook helicopter displays.

Originally, an extreme sport was one deemed too dangerous for the mainstream, but lately others have come under the umbrella - even some you'll find at London 2012 (BMX racing, windsurfing).

So I'm heading down with two experts - Luke Wilkins and Christian Stevenson - and reporter Charlie Watson, and we'll try to bring you some of the flavour and colour of the event - as well as trying a few of these sports for ourselves.

On Friday afternoon, for instance, I'm off Thundercat Racing, which is a kind of claustrophobic powerboating (you should have seen the health and safety forms...). I'm only a little bit nervous.

And I just looked up capoiera, by the way... It's "the dynamic art form that incorporates dancing, martial arts and acrobatics". Come along and have a go...

Vassos Alexander is a sports reporter on BBC Radio 5 live

• 5 live Sports Extra will be covering the White Air festival on Sunday between 1100 and 1445.
• The picture, by Seamoor, shows capoiera and is used under licence.

Tamsin Curnow - who produced this morning's 5 live breakfast - and I have just had the following conversation on our way into the studio:

"Nearly there, bird"

"Yeah, seemed a good idea at the time..."

"Actually, I'm not sure it did..."

You see, we're both doing the Great North Run on Sunday, along with a few other 5 livers. She signed up to it during a night shift, and I was talked in to it by Kate Williams, who reads the news. She caught me unawares one morning in April and convinced me it'd be a good idea.

I've needed to do something to get fit for a long time. At school I was in the netball, hockey, tennis and swimming teams but since university, and getting a job which involves sitting on my bum for most of the day and getting up at ridiculous O'Clock, my weight has crept up and up and my fitness levels have gone way down.

Kate's been brilliant, she lives not far from me in Northamptonshire so has been my training partner, making sure I do actually go out and do stuff. Sure, there have been times when I could have cheerfully strangled her, but we've had a lot of fun as well.

So to the big day, I'm doing this on behalf of Pancreatic Cancer UK after losing my Dad to this miserable disease in 2002. It's one of the lesser known forms of cancer, although with Patrick Swayze having died from it last week that might change. Of the 7000 people diagnosed with it last year, only 300 of them are with us this and anything we can do to raise awareness and help fund research is a good thing. Well, I'm trying to tell myself it is anyway.

I've met some amazing people in the last 4 months, one of them, Trace Allen, is running his 25th Great North Run - but it's his 3rd since surgery and chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer. He's one of the lucky ones.

The other man, and my new running buddy, is Mike Hare, or as he's known to many 'The Incredible Shrinking Man' he's written a book about his amazing weight loss story called 'From Sofa to Start Line' and he's promised to be the perfect gentleman and escort me around the 13.1 mile course from Newcastle to South Shields.

So, my target time for the Great North Run is 'Sunday' and the only person who can actually beat me in that field of 50-odd thousand is me. I'm sort of looking forward to the day, but I'm particularly looking forward to the pint of cider on the finish line. Whatever happens, the challenge for me has been actually getting to the start line. I'm fitter than I have been for a very long time, and it's been four months of my life that I'll never forget.

Helen Blaby presents the travel news on BBC Radio 5 live

• Helen will be back to tell us how it went next week.
• The Great North Run is the largest sports participation event in Britain. 5 live's coverage of the run starts at 0930 Sunday. Other 5 live people running include Donal McIntyre, Kate Williams, Rachael Hodges, Luke Harvey, Sarah Ransome, Rachel Burden and Andy Bate.
• Presenter (and runner) Rachel Burden asked listeners to suggest tracks to listen to on the course. Her playlist is on the 5 live Breakfast blog.

I thought you'd like to see as well as hear Simon's announcement that he's taking over the Radio 2 drivetime slot later in the year. Mark Kermode came over to the 5 live studios to join Simon for the announcement. It is, after all, a big day for them both. Reactions on the blogs, messageboards and Twitter have been coming thick and fast - and have been overwhelmingly positive about Simon's contribution to the 5 live mix. A small sample from Twitter:

Chris_Alfred I am sad to hear Simon Mayo is leaving Radio 5 Live for radio 2 but at least wittertainment will still happen.

ian9outof10 Simon Mayo is an excellent choice for Radio 2 drive and I'm thrilled that Mayo/Kermode gets an extended Friday show on 5Live. Well done BBC!

ashawsk Simon Mayo is leaving 5 live. End of an era? - Yes. But the film reviews will continue. Black armband required for a short time only then.

clarissa79 Simon Mayo to present Radio 2 Drivetime > more air time for @wittertainment, that makes me happy.

ninadouglas What will we do without Simon Mayo and his brilliant books programme on 5 live?

I'll round up further reactions to Simon's move in a later post. In the meantime, the comments on Adrian Van Klaveren's post from earlier this afternoon make for a good read.

Steve Bowbrick is editor of the 5 live blog

As the echoes reverberate from last week's announcement of Terry Wogan's departure from the Radio 2 breakfast show, there's another piece of news likely to be of huge interest to 5 live listeners. I know there's been a lot of speculation over the last few days but I can now confirm that Simon Mayo is to take over from Chris Evans in the Radio 2 Drivetime slot from January. Very sadly of course this means his Monday-Friday 5 live afternoon show will come to an end at the end of the year.

Simon's programme has been one of 5 live's greatest successes over the last nine years, steadily building a reputation as a home of intelligent conversation and entertainment as well as the afternoon's news and sport. It's won many awards and even more plaudits for both the team as a whole and for Simon in particular. He's established himself as one of the very best radio interviewers - a tribute to his skills at asking the right questions and his always immaculate preparation and research. Almost everyone remembers his deft coverage of the events of 9/11, which unfolded while he was on air. But there are many other items such as the beautifully-managed collision of Ricky Gervais and the Archbishop of Canterbury, which is one of my all-time favourite moments from Simon's show. Few presenters can match his ability to switch seamlessly from subject to subject or his natural warmth and modesty.

The opportunity to move to a daytime music-based show on Radio 2 is another change of direction for Simon but I'm really pleased to say that he won't be leaving 5 live - even after 5 live's move to Salford in 2011. Every Friday afternoon Simon will continue to present a live film programme with Mark Kermode - it'll be an even bigger version of the existing Mayo and Kermode film show.

Of course Simon's departure will mean other changes to the 5 live schedule. I'm working on some exciting plans so please keep reading this blog over the next few weeks and I'll share all the details as decisions are finalised.

Adrian Van Klaveren is Controller of BBC Radio 5 live

• Simon trailed his announcement on Twitter this morning.
• Listen live to today's Simon Mayo show on the programme's home page.
• Wittertainment defined on the Mayo and Kermode film show. Follow Wittertainment on Twitter.
• The BBC's press release about Simon's move.

We've had a number of emails from you about the absence of the news and sport headlines from the new homepage. We launched the new site without them, because the site is tuned to focus on 5 live content rather than being a general web portal.

However, many of you appreciate being able to glance at the headlines on the home page. So, in response to your feedback, we've decided to bring them back and add the latest news headlines to the news home page too. We'll maintain the links to recent 5 live news stories, which are often referred to on-air, but can be hard to find.

News and sport headlines will reappear on the 5 live home page within two weeks. Watch this space and thanks for all your feedback so far.

Jags Parbha is senior content producer at BBC Radio 5 live and is responsible for the site redesign

• Jags' previous 5 live blog posts.

I'm sitting in our studio 15 minutes before the first Danny Baker Show of the new season - and there's no sign of Danny. Now Dan likes to surprise his audience. In fact he believes it's his duty. But surprising his producer like this is a new and unwelcome development. The production crew are poised, the theme tunes are loaded, the phones are manned, the Red Button studio cameras are on, his favourite pirate hat with dangling dreadlocks is ready to be worn... but still there's no Danny.

So why not phone him? Well Danny is that rare thing in the 21st Century, a media man with no phone. It's not a tech aversion. He's taken a stand against joining the ranks of the constantly bothered. So now it's 12 minutes to showtime and we haven't a clue where he is. In the producer's seat, I've passed through the anxious phase and have entered the super-calm you feel before something very bad is about to happen.

I formulate a Plan B. Co-presenter Issy Clarke can open the show with a sound effect of tumbleweed before inviting the nation to create the brand new sport of 'Danny Spotting'. Broadcasting history will be made as we become the first 5 live show named after a star who didn't turn up on day one. Then - behold! At precisely 10 minutes to transmission the door bursts open and there's Danny in a flurry of chatter and silly hats.

Having battled with trains (both cancelled and late) and two taxis. He was then held in BBC reception for twenty minutes as he didn't have a security pass. Finally he was able to strike a deal with the door staff. If they agreed to let him into the building on a visitor pass to do the Danny Baker Show which was starting in 10 minutes, and it was later discovered that he wasn't really Danny Baker, they could come up to the studio and physically remove him from behind the mic. And with negotiations over, he was freed to put on his hat and headphones while I packed away the tumbleweed.

Clare Davison is Producer of the Danny Baker Show

• Listen again to Saturday's Danny Baker Show, the first in the new series (and you've got until January 2010 to listen because the show is part of BBC Audio & Music's 'series catchup trial').
• Subscribe to the Danny Baker Show podcast (the whole show, in two parts).

A new website and now a new weekend line-up from this weekend here on 5 live (September 5 and 6). It's a busy week behind the scenes here as our production teams gear up for the changes. Ian Broudie from the Lightning Seeds and long throw specialist Rory Delap are the guests on Danny Baker's first Saturday morning programme. The main thrust of the show, though, is the quirky stories Danny will be looking for from phone callers the length and breadth of the UK.

He wants help this Saturday writing some new lyrics to a famous track, but his production team won't tell me which one yet! That's followed at 1100 by the return of Fighting Talk with Colin Murray. I know many of you have been texting and emailing us to ask us when it is going to reappear. Now you know.

We think Danny will give us something a bit different and original to kick off our Saturday morning, and Fighting Talk remains a key programme for us with a big following.

As for Sundays, there's a lot to tell you. We are moving Garry Richardson's Sportsweek forward half an hour to 0830-0930. Gabby Logan's show has a new slot of 0930-1100 and will have more focus on the political events of each week, as well as a look at the Sunday papers, and special guest interviews. At 1100, we have a new show running between now and the end of the year called The Christian O'Connell Solution. Christian and a panel of guests spend an hour live in the studio trying to find solutions to the week's big news issues. David Tennant is a guest on the opening show.

That is followed at midday by Colin Murray guiding you through an afternoon of sport. Then at 1800, for a longer slot of 90 minutes, we have teamed up Spoony and Gabrielle Marcotti for 606. From this Sunday, Donal MacIntyre is back for a new series of his news investigations show at the new time of 1930. So, there is a lot going on. Why so much change on a Sunday?

Well, we think there is a place for a topical news comedy show to do the job on a Sunday that Fighting Talk does on a Saturday and Christian is a first rate presenter to help pull this show off. We also wanted to create more of an event around the Sunday evening 606 with new features and the new presenting partnership. We like the line-up and know it will provoke lots of debate. Let us know what you think.

Jonathan Wall is Commissioning Editor, BBC Radio 5 live

• The picture shows Christian O'Connell in a feature from Radio Times about his new programme. There are some great photos and an audio teaser from the new programme on the programme's web page.
• Fighting Talk and Danny Baker are both part of a 'series catch-up' trial. This means that you can listen again to every episode in the series until one week after the series has finished.
• During the Danny Baker programme, switch your digital TV to BBC1 and press the red button for live video from the studio. Brett Spencer explains it all here.

The new Danny Baker Show begins on Saturday morning, you may have heard the on-air trails or read about it in the press. It will be the usual anarchic mix that Danny always brings with him. Last season Danny was presenting 606 on Tuesday nights and you may have heard that live or via the podcast. Or you may have watched it. That's right, watched it. 606 was available under the red button on digital television. We've been visualising our content for some time now, starting with Mark Kermode, through to our live football and cricket coverage and 606. In June we visualised the whole of the Simon Mayo Show as part of a wider BBC Radio visualisation trial.

But why do this? I believe it adds a new dimension to the radio programme. I understand the argument that it spoils the magic but in a multimedia environment, visualising our radio content provides us with an exciting opportunity. Some of the people who tune in to our 'visual audio' may never have listened to 5 live before. Its also helping us attract a younger listener who doesn't have a DAB or even medium wave on their radios.

We're particular excited about this venture as we've not done anything before that's this long-running: the two-hour show airs weekly until the end of the football season. As with all red button ventures, the new programme requires a lot of departments to come together Tomorrow's broadcast will involve people from 5 live, from the independent companies Campbell Davison, who make the show, and from Delta Tre who help us do all the graphics. BBC Sport's Interactive department are also partners in this and help us get this to air behind the red button and on Sport Online

So by all means listen to the show tomorrow, but if you get the chance flip on BBC1 and press the red button and watch the radio instead. Or go online on this site or on Sport Online where the show will also be available in full colour.

Brett Spencer is Interactive Editor at BBC Radio 5 live

The new 5 live website is finally visible to the world. This first phase sees the launch of a new look and feel, chapter points, better navigation, a new archive for Mark Kermode's film reviews and full use of the programme brand pages. See my previous post for more information. It's early days for the new site and experience tells us that some of the new features won't be 100% operational for a day or two. If you see anything that's not working as you'd expect it to, please leave a comment to let us know.

The second phase will see the launch of 5 live Now pulling together the best comments sent via text messages, email and online onto a single page, in real-time, alongside the on-air discussion. We'll also be launching new presenter videos from across our network.

Keep your eyes on bbc.co.uk/5live - there's more to come.

Please let us know what you think of the new site - leave a comment here and if you refer to a specific page, it would be helpful if you could provide the page's URL.

Jags Parbha is senior content producer at BBC Radio 5 live and is responsible for the site redesign

• Brett Spencer, who is in charge of 5 live Interactive, wrote about 5 live Now on the BBC Internet blog.