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Late Night Woman's Hour: Home, Woman's Hour - BBC Radio 4

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Lauren Laverne and guests talk hygge, home and the new domesticity.

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The programme that offers a female perspective on the world

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For one week in April 2014, the programme was guest edited by J. K. Rowling, Kelly Holmes, Naomi Alderman, Doreen Lawrence and Lauren Laverne. It was the first time the programme had a guest editor since its initial decade of broadcast.

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The history and development of radio in the UK

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The UK radio market today is a product of over 90 years of radio broadcasting in the UK and 40 years of commercial radio broadcasting.

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Public service broadcasting is performing well for TV viewers

But growth in watching online is creating challenges for broadcasters

Concerns about some genres and representation around the UK

Ofcom has today published the conclusions of its third review of public service TV broadcasting, the first review since 2008.

The review examines how the BBC, ITV, STV, UTV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and S4C have fulfilled the purposes of public service broadcasting (PSB), and identifies options for how the system could be maintained and strengthened. Ofcom is required by Parliament periodically to review how PSB is performing.

Ofcom's review finds that the public service broadcasters continue to make a significant contribution to UK broadcasting.

Viewers value PSB programmes, and audience satisfaction is high. Close to eight in ten viewers (79%) believe PSB is delivering on its purposes - such as trustworthy news and high quality programmes that reflect the UK - a notable increase from 69% in 2008.

Over half of all TV viewing is to the main PSB channels - BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, UTV, STV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 - rising to over 70% when all the channels broadcast by PSBs, such as time-shifted '+1' channels, are taken into account.

The PSBs make a significant contribution to content creation in the UK. In 2013, they invested just over £2bn in new UK programmes, not including sports content, compared to around £350m from non-PSB sources1.

Evolving public service broadcasting in an online world

Watching online, on demand and across a range of devices are increasingly important to viewers, especially to younger people. Among 16-24 year olds, only 50% of viewing is through live TV as new online services such as Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, BBC iPlayer and All4 give people greater choice of what, and when, to watch.

Public service broadcasters are well placed to take advantage of increased connectivity to engage with audiences in innovative ways. The growth of online viewing also provides opportunities for PSB-like content to be delivered by non-PSB sources. For example, companies such as Vice Media are providing news content to younger people, local content is coming from hyperlocal websites and universities are putting their lectures online.

But challenges are emerging, and PSB needs to respond to changes in technology and viewer behaviour.

Since 2008, investment in new UK content, including sports content, from the PSBs has fallen by around £440m in real terms, a decline of 15% between 2008 and 2014.

Broadcasters have met this challenge through a mixture of savings and changes to the types of programmes they make. As a result, the volume of new content remains high, with 32,491 hours of new UK programmes from the PSBs in 2014, compared to 33,981 hours in 2008.

Audience satisfaction has increased since 2008, up from 69% to 79% in 2014.

But Ofcom believes that broadcasters need to adapt their models to maximise commercial revenues and efficiencies, and the PSB system needs to evolve as the trend towards online viewing grows. Otherwise, PSBs are likely to face difficult choices about which content and services they are able to fund.

Options for maintaining and strengthening public service broadcasting

PSB is supported by certain benefits such as access to valuable digital TV spectrum, prominence on electronic programme guides and, in the BBC's case, the licence fee.

Policy makers will need to consider whether the benefits designed to enable PSB will remain effective in the internet age.

The BBC is the cornerstone of PSB, so Charter Review will be critical. Ofcom has not, in the course of this review, conducted a detailed analysis of the BBC's ability to maximise its commercial revenues, realise further efficiencies or refocus its activity to provide greater value for money. These are matters for the forthcoming Charter Review process rather than Ofcom's PSB Review.

Consideration should be given to updating the framework under which Channel 4 Corporation delivers its PSB remit to ensure that it can meet the needs of younger audiences, whose media consumption habits are changing quickly. This could include allowing Channel 4 Corporation to deliver some of its PSB obligations across all its channels and services, not just focusing on its main channel, Channel 4.

As more people watch programmes online and on demand, the rules that guarantee access to public service content and PSB prominence on linear TV are likely to need reforming to match changes in technology.

Some PSBs want subscription TV services to pay to carry their channels - so called 'retransmission fees'. These fees could bring additional funding for PSBs, but resolving any possible disagreements would probably require complicated and lengthy regulatory intervention. There is currently no guarantee that all fees would be spent on public service programmes. The Government has consulted on the question of retransmission fees.

Sharon White, Ofcom Chief Executive, said: "Public service broadcasting continues to deliver TV that is enjoyed and valued by millions of viewers across the UK.

"More people are watching online or on demand, and this presents challenges as well as opportunities for public service broadcasters. They must continue to find new ways of connecting with audiences, and the PSB system needs to evolve to ensure it remains effective in the digital age."

Current challenges for public service broadcasting

Ofcom's review identified some immediate concerns: news consumption and the provision of news for young people; drama that reflects and portrays British society back to a British audience; content tailored to the specific needs of the UK Nations and their regions; religious programmes; children's programmes; and investment in music and arts.

Representing different audiences

There are very different sets of challenges in each Nation of the UK. Viewers in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England and their regions feel the provision of news is one of the most important of the PSB purposes and, overall, viewers are satisfied with news for their local area.

Audiences across the UK also attach a high degree of importance to the portrayal of their Nation or region but one in five (21%) viewers in Scotland and one in four (26%) viewers in Northern Ireland felt they were portrayed negatively in PSB programmes.

Ofcom research found that over half (55%) of respondents from black ethnic groups felt they were under-represented in PSB programmes and a similar proportion (51%) felt they were negatively portrayed. Around half (51%) of disabled people felt under-represented.

Ensuring PSB reflects the diversity of the UK is an area broadcasters will need to monitor closely to ensure they meet their responsibilities and audience expectations.

Ofcom has partnered with the Creative Diversity Network which will, for the first time, provide data on representation that is standardised, comparable and publicly available.

Ofcom is also working with the Equality and Human Rights Commission on a 'toolkit' that will provide practical steps that broadcasters can take to increase diversity.

Viewing and programme investment

Since 2008, viewing of TV news has fallen by 29% among people aged 16-34. Websites from the PSBs remain important but younger audiences also use Twitter, Facebook, Google and YouTube to stay up-to-date and informed. PSBs need to find ways of delivering news that will appeal to younger audiences.

Spending on first-run UK children's programmes has fallen in real terms, from £103m in 2008 to £88m in 2014. Spending by ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 has dropped 74% overall, to just £3m in 2014, leaving the BBC to account for nearly 97% (£84m) of total PSB spending on children's programmes .

Investment in drama has also fallen. PSBs continue to deliver high-profile, big-budget dramas, such as Sherlock, Doctor Who and Downton Abbey. But spending on first-run UK drama has declined by 44% in real terms since 2008, from £484m in 2008 to £278m in 2014. The amount of new drama being shown on the PSB channels has fallen from 627 hours in 2008 to 371 hours in 2014 - a decline of 41%.

Channel 4's media content duties

Ofcom has today also published a review of Channel 4 Corporation's delivery of its media content duties across its full range of channels and services.

Ofcom's review found that Channel 4 Corporation has broadly performed well in delivering its duties over the review period (2010-2013). It has produced a broad range of relevant media content that appeals to a culturally-diverse society; made high-quality films; and broadcast and distributed that content.

ENDS

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. The average spend figure for 2013 for PSBs and non-PSBs does not include sports content. The major non-PSB providers in the UK are companies such as Sky, Discovery, Fox, NBC Universal, Turner and Sony.

2. Data on viewing, spend and output in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England and their regions is published in Ofcom's The Nations of the UK and their regions statement.

3. Ofcom will publish its regular Public Service Broadcasting Annual Report later this month. The Annual Report summarises the evidence base for assessing delivery of Public Service Broadcasting. Ofcom's PSB Annual Report 2014 is available here.

4. Ofcom is required to report periodically on the delivery of public service content with a view to maintaining and strengthening the PSB system. In order to do so, Ofcom has examined changes in both the broadcasting and wider communications sector and their potential effect on the current PSB system. Today's review assesses how well the system has delivered the purposes of PSB since Ofcom last reviewed PSB in 2008 and looks at the contribution of other media services such as non-PSB television and online offers. It then examines potential future challenges to the system and explores how the system might be maintained and strengthened.

5. The PSB channels considered in the review are BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC Four, BBC News, CBBC, CBeebies, BBC Parliament, BBC HD Services, ITV, STV and BBC Alba in Scotland, UTV in Northern Ireland, Channel 4, Channel 5 and S4C in Wales.

6. The Communications Act 2003 sets out the purposes and objectives of public service broadcasting. Based on these statutory purposes and objectives, Ofcom developed a set of PSB purposes and characteristics.

PSB purposes:

Informing our understanding of the world

Stimulating knowledge and learning

Reflecting UK cultural identity

Representing diversity and alternative viewpoints

PSB characteristics:

High quality - well funded and well produced

Original - new UK content rather than repeats or foreign acquisitions

Innovative - breaking new ideas or re-inventing

Challenging - making viewers think and engaging

Widely available - delivered on channels that have a high reach and impact

Trustworthy - audience should trust PSB programmes, especially News programmes

Distinctive - the style of programmes is different to what I'd expect to see on other channels

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Ofcom publishes public service broadcasting review

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Public service broadcasting is performing well for TV viewers But growth in watching online is creating challenges for broadcasters Concerns about some genres and representation around the UK Ofcom has today published the conclusions of its third review of public service TV broadcasting, the first review since 2008.

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BBC - Public purposes and purpose remits - BBC Trust

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The Charter defines the main objective of the BBC as the promotion of six public purposes. These are: 1. Sustaining citizenship and civil society 2. Promoting education and learning 3. Stimulating creativity and cultural excellence 4. Representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities 5.

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When purchasing a radio, consider which transmission type will suit you best. You may have to determine how good digital and analog services are at the location you intend to use the radio to ensure you make the right choice. If you like the appeal of an old-fashioned analog radio purely for its stylish aesthetics but would rather have the modern satellite transmission method, there are retro-styled digital radios available. It is worth considering that the United States is moving in favor of digital transmission, which may affect the long-term worth of analog models, as reported in PR Newswire Washington.

Analog Radio Definition

An analog radio works by picking up the audio signal from the transmission site along radio frequency waves known as carriers. This allows listeners to tune into analog stations on FM/AM frequencies from home radio and car equipment. You listen to the electrical radio waves as they are transmitted directly from the radio station to your analog radio. These radios waves are transmitted continuously, without interruption to the sound.

Pros of Analog Radios

Analog radio waves broadcast a continuous signal, unlike digital transmissions, which means that every note of a melody is heard as a complete sound. This gives analog radio the ability to transmit a truer version of the original recording. Analog radios are eco-friendly by comparison to digital radios, which are computer driven.

Cons of Analog Radio

Analog radios pick up interference from other transmitting stations with relative ease, resulting in the crackle and hiss that can very often be heard in the background. Tuning into an analog station on your radio is manual and relies on the user selecting the desired station and pinpointing the best signal. Analog radios come supplied with a wire aerial, but this may be insufficient to pick up the best reception and you may need to purchase an additional aerial with better reception capabilities.

Digital Radio Definition

Digital radios work by picking up a processed signal which turns sound into patterns of digits (numbers) rather than the radio waves which are used for analogue transmissions. This type of signal uses a different digit for each respective note, which means that when a tune is played over digital radio the sound heard is actually a series of short individual notes rather than one continuous melody. These digital signals are transmitted via satellite to listeners' radios by the same technology as is used for digital television signals.

Pros of Digital Radio

Digital radios provide a clear sound and with less interference than traditional analog radios. Think of it as the difference between an LP and a CD. Digital signals are not affected by interference from other radio signals, making the sound sharper, and listeners will be able to select channels at the touch of a button without having to search for a station with a clear signal. As digital radios are effectively run by a computer chip with the ability to process information, they have the potential to become much more interactive, with the opportunity to provide additional services such as advertising or real-time weather reports via an on-screen display.

Cons of Digital Radio

Although digital radios generally have good reception, your radio may not pick transmissions up clearly if it is too far away from the nearest transmitter. Transmissions in your area may be limited, thereby decreasing the number of stations you will be able to hear. If you don't receive a good signal, you may need to purchase an additional aerial to enhance the signal. The Times Online (UK) reported that digital radios use four times the amount of energy than analog versions.

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Analog Vs. Digital Radios | Techwalla.com

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When purchasing a radio, consider which transmission type will suit you best. You may have to determine how good digital and analog services are at the location you intend to use the radio to ensure you make the right choice.

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BBC iPlayer Radio - listen to live BBC Radio or catch up on BBC programmes from across the UK and World Service.

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Woman's Hour Collection - Woman's Hour - BBC Radio 4

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Woman's Hour has long been considered to be a safe, if slightly worthy, staple of the daytime Radio 4 schedule.

Until now, few would have described it as cool, and nobody would expect it to turn the airwaves blue. All that has changed now Lauren Laverne has taken the helm of a new late night version of the long-running show that is shaking up some of the cosier conventions of BBC speech radio.

After just a week on air, Late Night Woman's Hour has already seen one contributor blurt out the word "fuck", and hosted a lively discussion about "self-lubricating anuses". It would be enough to make regular listeners - and daytime host Jenni Murray - choke on their breakfast tea.

Even Laverne admits she had trouble lowering her eyebrows after one particularly spicy exchange about the sex lives of aliens. But thanks to its 11pm slot, it seems the programme has escaped censure and is fast becoming a niche hit.

Listeners have praised its in-depth discussions on woman's affairs and said it provides a refreshing antidote to some of the BBC's other content.

Until now, Laverne, 37, has been best known as a DJ and presenter on 6 Music and for presenting the BBC's Glastonbury coverage. The former lead singer of 90s band Kenickie has spent parts of her career fighting off assumptions she is a "ladette" more interested in pop culture than serious matters.

So although she is no stranger to highbrow output - having presented BBC2's flagship arts programme The Culture Show - her appearance on Woman's Hour has taken some by surprise. But she said the transition to speech radio has been easier than even she anticipated.

"Listening to five contributors all talking at the same time, keeping it moving, making sure everyone gets a chance to be heard ... it is surprisingly similar to doing a mix, just with human voices," she said.

Unlike the magazine format of its daytime counterpart, Late Night Woman's Hour takes a single discussion topic for each hour-long episode, allowing it to take a more in-depth approach.

The subjects so far have been women and fan fiction, why we lie, and the rise of dating app Tinder. Next week will see a discussions of female lust and another about women, drugs and alcohol.

Laverne became involved after she appeared as a presenter of a Woman's Hour episode last year alongside a string of celebrity editors including JK Rowling and Doreen Lawrence.

"I got to know the team really well," she said, "A few months ago we decided to do something a bit different, that would allow us to dig down into topics a little more.

"Because of my music radio background, I'm always thinking about the tone and feel of what is going out on air. It is meant to sound like a group of friends having a conversation in a pub. I like to inject a bit of mischievousness. That said, I'm not trying to stitch listeners' eyebrows to their hairlines. Mine have only just come back down after we talked about self-lubricating alien anuses on the first episode."

Laverne said Thursday's show almost ended in disaster when a fire alarm meant the studio had to be evacuated.

"We had to move to the 5 Live studio instead," she said, "Which is where the continuity announcers are based. They told me, 'If you overrun, we won't be able to do the pips.' I was nervous in case I brought Radio 4 down in my first week."

The final two episodes of the month-long run will be presented by regular Woman's Hour presenter Jane Garvey. She agreed that the new late night format is able to delve into areas the morning show cannot touch.

"I love it," she said. "They're the sort of revealing, intimate conversations it's difficult to have at 10am, however hard you try."

New Statesman deputy editor Helen Lewis, who was a guest on the first episode last week, is another fan of the new format. She said: "Lauren Laverne is a fantastic presenter. She is genuinely interested in what people have to say, rather than her own opinions. She has no ego, so she draws interviewees out of themselves.

"The format lets them talk about things in a way that is normally rare on the BBC, without spoon-feeding people. I've been on BBC programmes before and there is a tendency to ask very 'level one' questions that don't really get below the surface of a subject.

"Late Night Woman's Hour isn't afraid to delve into niche areas a little more. It can also afford to be a little more explicit and adult. There was a very relaxed feeling in the studio. They offered us all beer, though we were all very parsimonious and stuck to tea and coffee."

Writing online, Radio 4 listeners seemed a little shocked at some of the language they had heard on the show, but were full of praise for the format.

On Thursday, Laverne was forced to apologise after Guardian journalist Hannah Jane Parkinson let an expletive slip out in a discussion about Tinder.

Jessica Cusack (@CusackJessica)
Love that a guest said the F word on Late Night Woman's Hour. Radio 4 listeners the world over are still in shock #LNWH

Caroline M (@LadyofMisrule)
Late-night woman's hour is a little different to daytime one. Isn't "hooking-up" via dating app a euphemism for the word one of guests used?

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Lauren Laverne raises eyebrows with Radio 4's Late Night Woman's Hour

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Woman's Hour has long been considered to be a safe, if slightly worthy, staple of the daytime Radio 4 schedule. Until now, few would have described it as cool, and nobody would expect it to turn the airwaves blue.

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Lauren Laverne will host a new monthly late-night Woman's Hour on Radio 4.

The 6 Music presenter will launch the first episode tomorrow as an extended podcast which will then air on Friday at 11pm on Radio 4. New instalments will be made available on the last Thursday of each month.

Late Night Woman's Hour first launched in August 2015 as an eight-part series fronted by Laverne and regular presenter Jane Garvey, and will complement the daily magazine programme, looking at individual topics with in-depth discussion. Episode one will see Laverne and her guests discuss purity and what it means for women in sex, food and religion, with further subjects to include money, anger, fertility and birth.

"I'm so excited to be part of the Woman's Hour team," said Laverne. "Woman's Hour has wonderful history, but has also never felt more relevant. I've been a listener for years and hope that our late-night shows can continue the programme's fearless, surprising and engaging line of inquiry, finding out more about women's lives today."

Next month will also see Woman's Hour launch The Green Room - a video pilot aimed at younger women to run for at least six weeks. Published on BBC Taster, it will include short, shareable films and celebrity interviews focusing on the everyday lived experience of women.

"This October we'll be marking our 70th anniversary and I'm immensely proud that as we approach that milestone Woman's Hour continues to evolve," added the programme's editor Alice Feinstein. "We still report on the issues that affect the lives of women often seldom discussed elsewhere, our daily programme is hugely popular with audiences, both male and female, and our podcast has allowed us to connect with even more listeners digitally."

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Lauren Laverne to host monthly Late Night Woman's Hour on Radio 4

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Lauren Laverne will host a new monthly late-night Woman's Hour on Radio 4. The 6 Music presenter will launch the first episode tomorrow as an extended podcast which will then air on Friday at 11pm on Radio 4. New instalments will be made available on the last Thursday of each month.

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Late Night Woman's Hour has created a Twitter storm with its twice-weekly (Thursdays and Fridays) doses of 'mischievous and unbridled conversation'. The 11 p.m.-midnight slot is an ideal opportunity for cardigans to be unbuttoned and tongues unloosed, a chance to show that Radio 4's venerable magazine programme for women can still shake up the station. Lauren Laverne was brought in from 6 Music to host the first few editions, signalling that there would be nothing mumsy about these hour-long chats around the table with a selection of well-chosen guests. Her style is refreshingly different, frank and a little bit cheeky, not at all Radio 4. How could it be when she spends most of her working life talking to musicians or hanging out at Glastonbury?

'Welcome Richard,' she announced on the first edition I happened upon while getting ready for bed. 'How's it hanging?' I nearly swallowed my dental floss. It's just not an expression you expect to hear on Radio 4, no matter the hour. That night's theme was masculinity and Laverne was talking to the comedian Richard Herring. 'What makes you feel like a man?' she continued. He waffled for a bit, about gender and the like, before Laverne went straight to the point: 'It's just the penis for you?'

None of her other guests that night (a doctor who works with patients suffering from erectile dysfunction, a lyricist, a philosopher and a colonel in the British army) could quite match Laverne's willingness to face up to the biological fait accompli. 'I always need to fix things,' said the doctor and gender specialist. His wife complains, 'I don't need it solved. I just need you to listen.'

Other editions looked at dating, where the guests were all female and their conversation focused on Tinder, the phenomenally successful dating app; or at our capacity to tell lies, where again the guests were all women and included Kellie Maloney (the boxing promoter who used to be known as Frank) and an undercover reporter who often works for the Daily Mirror. 'You cannot love a person you've never smelled,' said Irma Kurtz, the veteran agony aunt, when asked what she thought about Tinder (where you decide whether or not you want to date someone purely on photos, on how they look). Kurtz is worried that our obsession with digital aids is making us less and less reliant on intuition, that animal sense we're now quite terrified of.

It's a great idea to put a chat show into that late-evening slot, as the darkness intensifies, midnight approaches. Comedy never quite works in that hour because, although it's winding-down time, it's not light relief you need so much as an outlet for those bigger questions that start infiltrating the thinking mind as the business of the day dies down, the curtains are drawn, and one is left with silence.

Existential worries rise to the surface. What does it mean to be alive? How much time have I wasted today? What lies ahead tomorrow? But Late Night Woman's Hour had none of that. On the contrary it seemed determined to prove that all women think about is dating, desire and drinking. In spite of Laverne's engaging style - her knack of making people talk - there was something too predictable about what everyone was saying (except perhaps for Kurtz).

'They say they don't care about words. But why, then, are the poets always among the people they are most keen to kill?' said Ghias al-Jundi on Poems from Syria (Sunday, Radio 4). He was talking to the journalist Mike Embley about the fighters on both sides of the conflict in his homeland. Embley asked him whether poetry was surviving amid the horror and devastation, as if desperate for something to cling on to, to hope for. Was anything creative coming out of the rubble?

'Writing a poem is as dangerous as carrying a gun,' al-Jundi insisted. He should know. He was once imprisoned for three years in Damascus. He told us of another poet, Ibrahim al-Qashoush, who had written song lyrics attacking the jihadists and had been killed just for that - his throat slit in a visceral attempt to stop the echo of his words.

This arresting programme was an illustration of how much we should care for words, that ability to speak, and how lily-livered we who are lucky enough to live outside the war zones have become. After we had heard a haunting poem by Ghada al-Atrash (who now lives in exile in Canada), about a woman whose student son had been killed when the university at Aleppo was bombed by President Assad's planes, Embley asked: is there a distinctive woman's voice coming out of the Syrian war? The response was another poem, written in Arabic, by the female writer Najat Abdul Samad, and translated for us: 'Rather than be humiliated when I am overcome with weakness, I bandage my heart with a woman's patience in adversity, as she rises from the banquets of death and carries on shepherding life's rituals.'

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Late Night Woman's Hour assumes that all women think about is dating, desire and drinking | The Spectator

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Late Night Woman's Hour has created a Twitter storm with its twice-weekly (Thursdays and Fridays) doses of 'mischievous and unbridled conversation'. The 11 p.m.-midnight slot is an ideal opportunity for cardigans to be unbuttoned and tongues unloosed, a chance to show that Radio 4's venerable magazine programme for women can still shake up the station.

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"How to hang your husband's suit" and "cooking with whalemeat". Which programme? Radio 4's Woman's Hour is celebrating its 60th birthday, writes Martha Kearney.
It's fair to say that the content of Woman's Hour has changed a little over the years.

It was first presented in 1946 by a man, Alan Ivieson at two o'clock in the afternoon - scheduled at a time when morning chores and the lunchtime washing up would be finished and the children wouldn't be home from school.

Early items included "cooking with whalemeat" (still a time of rationing), "I married a lion tamer" and my favourite, "how to hang your husband's suit". But some of the elements of the programme are the same today.

Cooking remains a staple and most of the country's top chefs have appeared including Gordon Ramsay, Angela Hartnett, Rick Stein and memorably the River Cafe duo who started a fire on the studio Baby Belling.

Fashion too is part of the modern mix. Jenni Murray chaired a heated debate on the thong and I have been coached on how to walk on four inch high cerise marabou trimmed mules live on air.

But Woman's Hour in the early days wasn't quite as cosy as you might think. When the word "vagina" was used in 1946 in an item about women's health, there was uproar and for decades the more decorous "birth canal" was used instead.

Feminism

For all the mocking which goes on about the programme being obsessed with women's plumbing (yes, Andy Kershaw, I mean you), we are currently running some very moving listeners' stories about how Woman's Hour has changed their lives.

Many recount suffering in pain for years with conditions undiagnosed by GPs until they heard some advice on Woman's Hour.

Germaine Greer debated women's rights on the programme

Over the years the programme has been at the centre of debates about women's rights. I will always remember a programme of mine in which Julie Burchill let fly at Germaine Greer and we threw away the rest of the running order to let them fight it out.

A discussion in 1948 had a title which wouldn't be out of place today - "Is there a future for feminism? That was delivered by a well-known economist of the time, Honor Croome. She argued that women had won most of the battles - the right to education, to earn a living, own their own property but one big battle remained the right to equal pay for equal work.

Despite the Equal Pay Act in 1970, it remains one of the subjects we return to again and again as the gender pay gap stubbornly remains.

It's amazing to read the roll-call of women in politics who have appeared - Eleanor Roosevelt, Nancy Astor, Vera Brittain, Margaret Thatcher, Hillary Clinton and Cherie Blair. Not to mention the men - Tony Blair, Michael Howard, Gordon Brown, David Cameron.

Women facing violence at the hands of a partner has also been a subject we've returned to again and again. However often you hear the statistic that two women a week are killed through domestic violence, it's still shocking.

Violence

I will always remember one woman coming onto the programme to describe how her husband, a doctor, had abused her for years and ended up nearly murdering her. Another listener told us about the horror of being stalked.

Reading the letters on Women's Hour in 1960

The plight of women in other countries has increasingly been part of our agenda. I will always remember a trip to Afghanistan just after the fall of the Taleban in which we visited a prison where young women were still being held simply for being seen in public with a man who wasn't a family member.

Last Friday we talked to women there now who argued that the security situation has deteriorated and life is getting bad again for women.

So 60 years on is it right that Woman's Hour should still be broadcast on BBC radio? Is it relevant to the 21st century? I think it's fair to assume that no programme of that title would be commissioned today, yet Woman's Hour remains a successful part of the Radio 4 schedule and 40% of its audience are men.

Former Labour politician, Roy Hattersley, for instance, says it is the best magazine programme on the radio. Certainly I would hope that it remains an entertaining listen.

But its enduring success is because so many "wimmin's" issues have become mainstream issues for all of us - work/life balance, childcare, body image, fashion and cookery are things which interest women and men. And my husband is still waiting for me to learn how to hang his suit.

Add your comments on this story, using the form below.

Women's Hour is an amazing programme. Always interesting and often eclectic. My education has definitely benefited from the hours of my childhood spent listening to it! Thank you.
Helen Q, London

Will male listeners have to wait another five years to join in the celebrations?
Gary Williams, Weston-super-Mare

I grew up listening to Woman's Hour in the 60s and now, with the aid of the internet, it is a great pleasure to be able to listen to it again. There is nothing to match it in the States and it is wonderful to listen to a programme, aimed at women, that neither patronises nor demeans us.
Heather, LA USA

I remember listening to Woman's Hour when very young. My mother would stoke the fire up so we would enjoy a good blaze, then we would curl up and listen to the radio. I remember these times with affection, and believe Woman's Hour is part of our culture. It should definitely continue, I listen to it even now when time permits, and still find it informative.
Amber Taylor, West Midlands

I used to listen to Women's Hour on Monday mornings driving (200 miles!) to work. After a while I gave up as most of the articles were middle-class navel-gazing and metropolis-centric. It was almost as if any "poor" woman who wasn't in one of the more pointless forms of employment e.g. law, fashion, publishing, journalism etc.,. was beneath this elitist celebration and only the angst and struggle of the chattering classes was seen as worth airing.
Paul O'Brien, Plymouth

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BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Woman's Hour reaches 60 years

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"How to hang your husband's suit" and "cooking with whalemeat". Which programme? Radio 4's Woman's Hour is celebrating its 60th birthday, writes Martha Kearney. It's fair to say that the content of Woman's Hour has changed a little over the years.

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Radio 4's Woman's Hour programme has just celebrated its 70th birthday. The show, created by Norman Collins, was first broadcast on 7 October 1946 on the BBC's Light Programme (now BBC Radio 2) and transferred to its current home on BBC Radio 4 @10am in 1973.

The show's editors describe the programme on their Twitter page as "informing, entertaining, and surprising", in my view an accurate summing up. In its current format, the first 45 minutes of the programme consists of reports, interviews and debates on health, education, cultural and political topics aimed at women. The last 15 minutes feature short-run drama serials (Woman's Hour Drama).

Whilst the programme is now settled on its mantra of giving its audience what it wants, this wasn't always the case...The programme is currently presented by Jenni Murray and Jane Garvey, but initially a man, Alan Ivimey, was chosen for fear a female presenter might be 'resented' by her listeners.

Archives suggest many earlier female listeners felt the show was at first patronising, dwelling on the plight of the housewife. The first programme's topics covered 'mother's midday meal', 'how to hang your husband's suit' and ended with a feature on 'how to put your best face forward' - a segment that concluded with the advice that a light dusting of powder can do wonders for your look and the family morale!

The development of the show has seen not only a change in the audience - currently 40% of its 3.7 million weekly listeners are male - but in the tone of its hosts too. Three months after the programme launched, the first female presenter was at the helm, and from this they haven't looked back. Today these are presenters who bond with their audience. Jane Garvey, who joined the show in 2007, has been quoted as saying she wants to focus on the POSITIVE side of being female, not just on the problems. The negative side and perceived expectation of women that perhaps coloured the programme's earlier years are long gone.

Over the years the show has evolved to cover hard hitting topics such as abortion, sexual health and the equal pay act to name but a few. In its lighter items women are celebrated be they in literature, film, politics or any other guise. The programme now has a reputation for never ducking an issue. Big issues are matched by big name guests including the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Angelina Jolie.

The last 70 years have seen an incredible shift in female lifestyle, possibly the biggest in any similar timescale throughout history, and Woman's Hour has been there to cover these seismic moments. Editor Alice Feinstein has been quoted as crediting the success of the show to its 'frank and honest debate,' a format she thinks will see the show into their eighth decade and possibly beyond.

In terms of PR, securing coverage on Woman's Hour is a challenge, but understanding the thinking behind the programme is a good first step!

Woman's Hour is available online to listen live or podcasts made obtainable on the BBC iPlayer website, where you can also hear special reports and episodes around the shows 70 year anniversary: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007qlvb/episodes/downloads

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Woman's Hour Celebrating 70 Years! The Evolution of a British Institution - Shout!

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By Arthur Perkins Radio 4's Woman's Hour programme has just celebrated its 70th birthday. The show, created by Norman Collins, was first broadcast on 7 October 1946 on the BBC's Light Programme (now BBC Radio 2) and transferred to its current home on BBC Radio 4 @10am in 1973.