The show's current six week run ends on July 2, but Xfm has announced that all the programmes will now be made available for download via its website.
The shows have previously been available via streaming media, but the downloads have been created because it is hoped they will be forwarded on by listeners in a bid to attract new listeners to the indie music station, according to Xfm business development director Graham Hodge.
"There's a lot of excitement about podcasting at the moment and we're offering this highly desirable content for free in a form that's even quicker and easier to get hold of," Hodge said.
The MP3 clips will only contain the speech element of the shows, and not the copyright protected music, and are available without digital rights management to make it easier to email and burn on to CD. According to Xfm, its website attracts 300,000 unique users each month.
Prior to this latest run, Gervais and Merchant had taken a break from radio broadcasting to write new BBC sitcom 'Extras', the much-anticipated follow-up to their hit 'The Office'.
Last month, Xfm launched a campaign to promote Gervais's return to the weekend airwaves.
It featured Gervais alongside his 'The Office' co-writer Merchant and Xfm producer Karl Pilkington starring as animated teddy bears in a viral campaign while using excerpts from previous shows.
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the
.jpg)
.jpg)