"Both the Awards and the weekly show draw an audience but they don't seem to be aimed at serious enthusiasts for folk."

Maybe that's true of the awards, but I'm not sure that's entirely fair on the Radio 2 Folk Show.

The acts being played on the R2 Folk Show are the same acts playing Cambridge and Sidmouth and the other large festivals.

I would agree that the Folk Show's playlist is often quite middle-of-the-road, but I'd say that's more of an inditement of the UK folk scene in general. The R2 folk show does play, and host live sessions from, the likes of Stick in the Wheel and Lynched. You don't hear much unaccompanied singing on the Folk Show, it is true, but then again there aren't that many contemporary folk acts who release albums of unaccompanied singing.