A revival of religion in the programming of the BBC: that’s the objective of Michael Wakelin, the new head of the department dedicated to God by state television in the UK. Appointed in June, Wakelin is a 45-year-old Methodist preacher who produced the extremely popular BBC series “Songs of Praise”, a programme of religious choral singing and hymns transmitted every Sunday from different churches in the UK. Wakelin explained that he would make use of academics and experts for religious programmes in the months ahead. “Religion is a crucial part of our culture”, said Wakelin, who added: “Religious broadcasting has always been a fundamental part of the BBC, but tends to be devoted to more traditional themes”. However, the fact is that well-made religious programmes succeed in attracting hundreds of thousands of listeners, such as “Good Morning Sunday”, a series that interviews famous personalities about their faith and discusses the most important religious news stories of the week with the leaders of the various faiths; broadcast on BBC Radio 2, it has enabled the station to win over a hundred thousand new listeners.
