It's a pity that this show is pretty much underrated. And it can't be overrated because the radio show is not the best way to communicate with fans these days... Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour started in the times we had no HD videos even, radio was a good spot to be in. Nowadays, having a radio show is a bit like using a rotary telephone — may do the job, but ridiculously old-fashioned. This may add to Mark's old-school view of the world but won't benefit us fans as I think.
Mark's show begs to be in the form of a podcast, preferably with video portions as well, especially since British Grove Studios is such a marvellously beautiful place, not only "great place to enjoy music". He could do much better, but this format seems to please him and that's fine. It's fine for me too, but in order to listen to it, I must be a die-hard fan who uses fan forums and stuff like that and can't listen to the show officially at all.
With that said, I feel extremely privileged to enjoy music recommended not by anyone, but by Mark Knopfler. I dreamed about it ever since I've read an article where he said he loves playing Oscar Peterson records at home. And now you have basically the handpicked playlist filled by brilliant stories, begging to be in the form of a book. But certainly not in the form of the elusive radio show you can barely find.
I understand that radio provides the absence of licensing issues, but to be completely honest listening to music is not the most important part of the show. The best part is the stories. If I had all the time in the world, I'd create a website with all the episodes transcribed, with just names of the songs. I mean who wants, he will find all the songs. But you won't find the stories, and that's my point.
