Explaining 'the Rajars'

Editor's note: Feedback is Radio 4's weekly accountability programme, presented by Roger Bolton. The programme covers all of the BBC's radio stations and each week, while it's on-air, an item from the programme is published on the Radio 4 blog. This week's is about measuring the radio audience. Visit the Radio 4 blog to read the rest of this post and to leave a comment - SB

I always thought that the average Feedback listener was younger than I am, better dressed and more intelligent, and now I know it's true. I also now know that 1.4 million of you tune in to the programme every week.

Well I'm guessing about the intelligence and the quality of clothes, but the audience figures are certainly kosher. How do I know? Because RAJAR told me so. RAJAR stands for the Radio Joint Audience Research, and is jointly owned by the BBC and its commercial rivals.

Every year 100,000 RAJAR surveys are completed, detailing what people listen to and when. Up to now they have used paper diaries, but this month listeners are able to switch to filling in their listening diaries online if they want to do so.