Radio // Late Night Woman's Hour

Late Night Woman's Hour

Spin Off from the long running BBC Radio 4 daily magazine programme, Woman's Hour.
Late Night Woman's Hour is broadcast once a month, late at night, and is presented by Lauren Laverne and features a number of female panelists.
Each episode focuses on a particular theme relevant to its female audience.

LNWH:
How does LNWH meet the needs of its audience?
The topics and mode of address are appealing to that demographic of people with a higher cultural capital, the topics and issues brought up in the show are quite feminine. 'Late Night' within the title implies that they have the freedom to talk about more controversial topics. The show being a podcast meets the needs of the audience, as it is portable and can be listened to anywhere.

Who is the target audience for this programme?
The target audience for this programme is generally woman, and usually older woman young adult to middle age. These woman are generally middle to upper class, well educated white women with families. There is also a hint of wealth implied by the way that they speak and the topics that they talk about. The hosts are very similar with high brow jobs. A secondary audience includes younger woman and some men, as topics can be transferrable throughout demographics.

What regulatory issues arise from this particular episode?
Radio is more or less self regulated, the host of the podcast can essentially segue the topic and divert if there is a too controversial topic. As well as this, the guests on the show are typically not the kind of people to swear a lot. The show is also initially aired beyond Watershed, meaning that if needed, more topics can be talked about and they could swear if they really wanted to. The regulation is quite light on the show.

Why does the BBC broadcast this show?
The show is empowering to women, as it has an exclusive niche targeted female audience, it fills in a gap that may be much needed to some woman. Lauren Laverne also has a lot of fame, meaning fans of her will also go to watch the show.

The BBC

The BBC abides by 'Reithian principles' Which were proposed by its first DIrector General, John Reith. The BBC is paid for by the T.V. licence fee. The BBC does not prioritise commercial profit. Instead, it focuses on providing its audiences with the best possible content as a public service broadcaster. These principles ensure all BBC content should inform, educate and entertain. Because the public pay for the BBC, it therefore has a duty to reflect stories from people of all walks of life.

OG Woman's Hour

Presented by Alan Inveny. Broadcast 1946 Fits around womanly chores. Violet Carson, Olive Shapely, cooking with whale-meat, I married a lion-tamer. Included popular music, like Vanity Fair. Began to use specialised tracks. 45 minute programme. Reports, interviews, discussions. Misogynistic, patronising. Massive middle class bent, BBC Trust rules it non sexist. Today presented by Jane Garvey and Jenni Murray, cooking is important, Men's hour became a full spin off. 

Encourage woman to rebuild home life. 

3 decades on air, moved in 1973

Jean Metcalfe Marjorie Anderson

BBC made music radiophonic workshop

Format, health education, cultural and political, based around woman

Tim Samuels presents Men's Hour

Historical Context

1946 - "The programme is much too patronising. What women want is a programme to compensate us for being tied o our domestic chores, to help us keep in touch with the world outside, whether its book, films, politics, or other countries."

"There was a felling among many listeners that they were being patronised by the BBC and both the material and the style of presentation appeared to be directed at adolescents, not grown women."

Woman's Hour was first broadcast in the 1940's, so it is worth considering the historical and social shifts that have occured since the show's inception. The original show reflects poosible tokenism (a show set aside for women might imply all other radio content was oriented towards men). Late Night Women's Hour features frank and open discussion that demonstrates societal shifts and increased gender equality although some of the issues raised reflect the fact that society is not yet completely equal.

How have sociohistorical factors lead to a diversification of media output?

To what extent is this influenced by economic factors?