BEHIND the deluge of tributes to John Peel lies a phenomenon not entirely explained by Peel’s charm and talent. It was previously apparent when the Today programme presenter, Brian Redhead, died in 1993.

Both men were proof of the incomparable intimacy of radio broadcasting. Millions of Britons sincerely believe that they knew Redhead and Peel. That is because radio streams into their homes, cars and workplaces untrammelled by the requirement to sit before a screen. It is a companion that stays with us while we do other things. We adore its constant presence as well as its capacity to stimulate and inform.

Now this relationship is threatened. The Culture Secretary is considering switching off analogue radio. Driven by the same fiscal imperatives that have persuaded it to promote gambling, the Government wants to convert Britain to exclusively digital listening.

This should not be perceived, as manufacturers of radio sets want it to be, as a laudable commitment to modernity. Nor should the excellent sound quality and enhanced range of stations made available by digital audio broadcasting persuade us that the future of radio must be entirely digital.

As long wave survived the arrival of medium wave and medium wave lived through the birth of FM, analogue radio must continue alongside digital. If it does not, 150 million analogue sets will be rendered useless. The cheap technology that allows us to have a separate set in each room and to avoid retuning by keeping a dedicated receiver for each of our favourite channels will be made obsolete.

Digital radios will become less costly, but they will never be as cheap as basic trannies. Digital sets are too complex and expensive for traditional early adopters. There will not be digital radios in every room. It will be reduced to the “appointment to view” status that renders television less popular than radio.

Switching off analogue radio would be like murdering a friend. The average of 22 hours listening a week by British adults would fall and advertising revenues with it. Let digital radio thrive, Secretary of State, but not by assassinating analogue. That will deprive us of new John Peels and provoke fury throughout the land.

Tim Luckhurst is the author of This is Today, a Biography of the Today Programme