Radio 5 live at 20: How did we ever live without it?

The world was a very different place in 1994. There were no webcams, podcasts or message boards. There were no emails, blogs or tweets. There wasn’t even an internet to speak of. Or texts. NO TEXTS! Good grief. Yet BBC Radio 5 live came on air even then determined to lead the way in its relationship with its audience. We wanted to matter. We wanted to be relevant. We wanted to engage.

And so in those early days we had to rely on listeners getting in touch by more conventional means: by phone, fax (yes, really) and by post (stop it). We were proud that from day-one we were the home of national radio's only daily phone-in.

After a few years the faxes slowly became emails, and the letters texts. One day Victoria Derbyshire laughed out loud on air as Julian Worricker dared to suggest a 5 live first: "We wondered if you'd like to use text-messaging to have your say on what happens in today's programme." Oh, such heady days.

But we really were the audience pioneers. I remember our childish satisfaction as we jumped on the breakfast@bbc.co.uk email address, much to the later annoyance of our television colleagues on BBC One. We appointed the BBC's first ever audience editor - with the sole task of following up listener-generated stories. And our presenters developed an ability to weave in listener contributions with such effortless ease they were soon being envied across broadcast news.

In more recent years we've gone even further. Victoria Derbyshire has presented big audience programmes on everything from unemployment to the Scottish independence referendum - in front of hundreds of listeners. Fighting Talk brought 5,000 people to the Liverpool Echo Arena for its Big Day Out. And we've joined forces with Question Time to give viewers and listeners the chance to debate the programme afterwards in Question Time Extra Time.

So far, so smug. But now our rivals are catching up fast and audience behaviour is changing as never before - not just in the way people interact with us but in the very way they listen to and access our content. So we're far from complacent and are right now busy working out how we’ll continue to keep up with the pack in a truly multimedia world. The radio output of 5 live will of course continue to be at our core, but we’ll also be working harder than ever to make greater impact with our content on other platforms, as well keeping up with the latest ways for our audience to interact.

As 5 live and its longest serving producers and presenters reflect on the past 20 years, I think we've every reason to feel quite proud. We've gone to the heart of the biggest stories, delivered world-class sports commentaries, heard the widest range of voices, and reached almost every corner of the UK.

On our very first day in 1994, BBC director-general Tony Hall, then managing director of BBC News and Current Affairs, predicted 5 live was a station that would grow on its audience. He said they'd soon wonder how on earth they'd lived without it. With 6.3 million weekly listeners, and record reaches on our digital platforms, we think he's been proved right.

Jonathan Crawford was one of the founding members of BBC Radio 5 live.

Radio phone-ins

Hosting a radio programme

Presenting skills

Reporting for radio

Victoria Derbyshire: Getting interviewees to open up

More interviewing skills, including BBC radio presenter tips

Special Radio 5 live output anniversary week

Has 5 live changed your life?