http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/programmes/schedules/fmWhen to stay with the story and when to leave it and get back to business as usual? This is the question we have been asking quite a lot at Radio 4 over the past few days. And as many of you will know, on a number of occasions we have stayed with the story, extending news coverage and displacing scheduled programmes.
We do not do this lightly. Part of Radio 4's appeal is that, while complex, its schedule does not change shape very often. If you want to you can plan your listening for just those slots or programmes that you know will be there, according to the radio listings or as part of your regular habits. So finding that a news programme has been extended and what you thought you were about to hear has disappeared can be an upsetting experience.
But providing quality, distinctive news and current affairs coverage is a key part of what Radio 4 does. If the 'current affair' is as historic and unique as that which has evolved in Westminster since last Friday, it's expected that Radio 4 will be sharing and examining it with its listeners.
Yes there are rolling live news services available, and it is right that they stay with the big stories continuously. And yes we have a number of news sequences and other programmes on Radio 4 where we can look back at what happened an hour or two prior to coming on-air. Sometimes this is not quite enough.
We do our best to keep the key planks in place - though even The Archers might one day have to be delayed if there is something seismic launching at 1400 or 1900!
It won't happen very often, and we hope that most of the election-linked disruption to the schedule is behind us for the time being. Much of what we have displaced in the past weeks has had an airing elsewhere in the schedule, and is available on the iPlayer.
But we are a UK-wide, mass audience station. Just occasionally it will be right to bust the schedule, to help our listeners to "the moment I heard the news that...", and to help them do that together as one.
Tony Pilgrim is Head of Planning and Scheduling at BBC Radio 4
- The Radio 4 schedules for FM and LW are on the Radio 4 web site. Changes to the schedule are always highlighted on the web site.
- You'll also find a useful online radio schedule on the Radio Times web site.
