Kermode, Mayo 5 Live film show moves to indie

Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo's film show on BBC Radio 5 Live is to be made by an independent producer for the first time in its 10-year history.

Independent production company Somethin' Else, whose credits include BBC Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time and The Ronnie Wood Show on Absolute Radio, is to take over Kermode and Mayo's Film Review from September.

Kermode and Mayo, who last week celebrated ten years on air with a live show from the Phoenix Cinema in North London, will remain with the show, reports The Guardian.

Somethin' Else plans to introduce more digital spinoffs for the programme, which recently won two Gold Awards at the Sony Radio Academy Awards.

The BBC put Kermode and Mayo's Film Review out to tender as part of its drive to increase the amount of BBC Radio output produced by independent suppliers. Somethin' Else won the competitive pitch and will now produce the programme for the next two years.

"We're delighted to be producing Kermode and Mayo's Film Review, one of the BBC's iconic film programmes and the UK's most popular film podcasts," said Somethin' Else managing director Steve Ackerman.

"We've combined our digital expertise with our radio production heritage to great effect for other BBC radio shows and we're aiming to do the same for Kermode and Mayo's Film Review."

Kermode and Mayo's Film Review, aired on Friday afternoons, helped Radio 5 Live pile on nearly 1m listeners over 2010 to reach a record 7.09m in the final three-month of the year, according to figures supplied by RAJAR.

Kermode was last year named the UK's most trusted professional film critic in a survey of British moviegoers, beating movie magazines Empire and Total Film.