Radio

• The BBC’s not-for-profit, licence fee-funded model influences how its products are produced, distributed and consumed by audiences.
• Economic considerations are central to the production of a programme like Woman’s Hour, reflecting the ethos of the BBC as a public service broadcaster.
• Woman’s Hour is a long-running BBC Radio 4 daily magazine programme, first broadcast in October 1946 on the BBC’s Light Programme.
• The Light Programme was a station which broadcast entertainment programmes and music from 1945 to 1967 and was originally presented by a man, Alan Ivimey.
• Early episodes of Woman’s Hour were thought by some women to be patronising, focusing on the role of the housewife with features including ‘mother’s midday meal’ and ‘how to hang your husband’s suit’.
• The programme has evolved to cover hard-hitting topics including abortion, domestic violence and equal pay, alongside lighter elements including why there is no body hair on Bridgeton and changing trends in maternity fashion.
• Notable recent guests on Woman’s Hour have included Angelina Jolie, Oprah Winfrey and Hilary Clinton.
• Woman’s Hour has had many changes of presenters over the years but has continued to track the changes and report on the issues that have affected women since the Second World War.
• The choice of presenters, guests, topics and scheduling time encodes messages about the ethos of the BBC and its commitment to provide content for a range of audiences.
• Consider possible different readings of the broadcast.
• The continued production of Woman’s Hour and the change in presenters sends a positive message to listeners about how the BBC is actively considering the way in which women are represented by the institution.
• Feminist theory – Van Zoonen asserts that gender stereotypes in the media can only change if more women produce and appear in the media.
• Woman’s Hour has been designed to explicitly appeal to a specialised female audience as part of the remit of the organisation itself.
• Feminist theory – bell hooks highlights how women of lower class or different ethnicity are even more oppressed by patriarchy.
• In one week in March 2022, content included the release of Nazanin Zagahri-Radcliffe, body hair in history, growing up in poverty, domestic abuse and the first black Superwoman.
• As a PSB, the BBC has a remit to produce content for all audience demographics.
• The programme airs a range of serious and more light-hearted stories to appeal to the demographic.
• What is the intended meaning and the preferred reading? What might be a negotiated meaning (e.g from a male audience member)? What might be an oppositional response (e.g from a sexist male listener)?
• Consider how Woman’s Hour challenges this by featuring guests and issues that reflect diversity in the female audience.
• Specialised audiences contribute to the diversity of the BBC and enhance the profile of Radio 4 as a station that caters for a broader demographic.
• Advances in technology have enabled radio audiences to access content across a range of digital platforms to suit their needs.
• Consider the role of the programme in reflecting the changing roles of women in the UK over the past 70 years.
• Some audiences will welcome a programme dedicated to pertinent issues relevant to women today, while others may question the need for such a specialised product.
• The impact of the #MeToo campaign, along with other social media campaigns highlighting sexism, and the popularity of women’s podcasts show there is a diverse and engaged audience for ‘women’s media’.
• Woman’s Hour was originally broadcast in the 1940s, so it is relevant to consider how different life in the UK is for women now (possibly focusing on shifts from the 1950s housewife towards the independence of young women in the 1960s and comparing this with the present day.)
• In 2020, long-running presenters Jenni Murray (33 years) and Jane Garvey (13 years) left Woman’s Hour to be replaced by Emma Barnett and subsequently Anita Rani.
• Woman’s Hour is the cornerstone of the BBC Radio 4 weekly schedule, with new episodes being broadcast every day at 10am for an hour.
• All episodes of the programme are also available as podcasts on BBC Sounds.
• Woman’s Hour was first broadcast in the 1940s, so it’s worth considering the historical and social shifts that have occurred since the show’s inception.
• The original show could be said to reflect tokenism, a show set aside for women might imply all other radio content was oriented towards men.
• The BBC is the most-used brand in the UK for media, used by 90% of UK adults and 80% of young adults on average per week.
• The BBC is a public service broadcaster (PSB) and has a remit to inform, educate and entertain.
• Radio 4 had 10.48 million listeners each week, indicating the important role that BBC Radio plays in people's lives.
• The BBC operates both a consumer-based regulatory model and a citizen-based one, self-regulating its content within strict guidelines.
• The BBC is regulated by Ofcom as established in the Communication Act of 2003.
• Woman's Hour encourages an interactive relationship with its listeners through social media platforms, inviting audience members to enter the discussion and read out their responses during the live broadcast and the Saturday omnibus edition.
• Ofcom's role includes ensuring high-quality and appealing services, protecting audiences from offensive or harmful material, and accepting complaints from anyone about a programme.
• The RAJAR figures for radio in 2021 showed that 34.51 million people tuned in each week across all radio stations, and there were 257 million downloads of BBC podcasts and on-demand radio programmes on third-party platforms globally.
• The BBC's role as a self-regulator challenges the assumption that 'new media' is harder to regulate.
• The BBC considers the access of potential audiences and regulates within the institution.