Ian Burrell: The natural home for film? Radio 5 Live’s 'Kermode & Mayo'

Mark Kermode discusses the latest film releases on his Friday film show ‘Kermode & Mayo’ on Radio 5 Live (Mark Pringle)

How could something as visual as film end up being most effectively championed by a show that primarily exists in audio, let alone one that goes out on a Friday lunchtime?

Somehow Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo have managed to do that with Radio 5 Live’s Kermode & Mayo which has become the most important broadcast outlet for movie buffs. The 585,000 average audience who tune in on Fridays is only half of it. The programme picks up 241,000 extra listeners on podcast and a further 230,000 via its YouTube channel, which is where the show turns visual.

The 106,000 followers of the show’s @wittertainment Twitter account are testimony to the importance of social media in spreading the fame of the show, which is made by independent production company Somethin’ Else (which also did the online coverage of the Brits and helped generate four million tweets, the most-ever for a non-sports show).