CURIOSITIES:LIKE MOST listeners, I found Birdsong, by chance. On moving to London, I also migrated from analogue radio to digital (in Ireland, digital or DAB is still on trial, but RTÉ hopes to roll it out during 2009).
My delightful new mint-green Roberts digital set offers me more than 50 channels, but, shame to say, the dial seldom budged off Radio 4 until the night I idly scrolled past Panjab, Kerrang! and Chill and saw the admirably succinct, Birdsong.
On pressing the button, my late-night bedroom filled with the glorious chaos of the dawn chorus. No presenter, no ad breaks, just coos, whirrs, twitters and tweets; you'd call it a cacophony were it not so deeply soothing.
A quick internet search turned up a story as charming as the station itself. Birdsong goes out on a frequency previously used by Oneword, a talk station which folded due to plummeting listener numbers. Casting around for something to keep the slot open, the techies at Digital One (the company behind commercial digital radio in the UK) came up with a 20-minute loop of birdsong recorded in 1991 by the company's chairman, Quentin Howard, for use in a local amateur dramatics production.
Birdsong went on the air in January 2008, and rather gallingly for Digital One, soon attracted the kind of listener figures they'd hoped for with Oneword. Up to half a million people a week now tune in, having found the station by serendipity or word of mouth, and the station has acquired a variegated and besotted listenership.
To insomniacs, Birdsong promises daylight. For London's urbanites, it's a wormhole through the city's grime and growl to a prelapserian rural idyll. Guests of Her Majesty's Prison Service are particular fans, while members of birding websites compete to identify the birds in Howard's Wiltshire garden. Some 12 species, including pied wagtails and spotted flycatchers, are so far confirmed.
But despite Birdsong's unexpected success, its fate is uncertain. Broadcasting the small talk of finches generates no income and without ad breaks, advertising revenue is impossible. Two campaigns have been set up on Facebook, one of which is hunting for a generous millionaire to fund the station. Digital One insists Birdsong is a temporary measure, yet recently upgraded the station to stereo.
Every time I tune in, I expect to hear the braying of a shock-jock rather than the coo-ing of a collared dove and in a way, that's half of Birdsong's appeal. It's transitory, it's unreliable and every time you hear it, it's a tiny piece of luck. Louise East