Radio 5 Live doesn’t look like Radio Bloke from here | Eleanor Oldroyd | Media | The Guardian Share on Messenger Close I’m writing this in Radio 5 Live’s basement office at Wimbledon, between broadcasting stints at breakfast and teatime. Clare Balding is here, as are commentators Gigi Salmon and Alison Mitchell, and reporters Dot Davies and Karthi Gnanasegaram. We’ve enjoyed the company during the fortnight of champions Marion Bartoli, Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotna. It doesn’t look like Radio Bloke from where I’m sitting. That name has been thrown back at us this week with the announcement that Victoria Derbyshire and Shelagh Fogarty are leaving the station , after many years of award-winning broadcasting. It’ll be sad to lose them, of course, and such talented and experienced presenters are incredibly hard to replace. But to say, as some have, that 5 Live is sidelining female talent, is completely wrong. No radio station in the country has such a great record of nurturing the careers of women broadcasters.

Jane Garvey, Fi Glover, Anita Anand and Asmah Mir are just a few of the top presenters who had their big break on network radio at 5 Live. The current crop, including Rachel Burden, Anna Foster, Sam Walker and Caroline Barker, plus new recruits Sarah Brett and Georgie Thompson, will ensure that female voices run through the DNA of the station, as they always have. Twenty years ago, I was one of the Radio 5 Live “originals”, when the station went on air. In 1991, I was brought across from Radio 1’s Newsbeat by Bob Shennan, now controller of Radio 2, to be the first regular female sports presenter on national radio. I went to my first Olympics in 1992, and I haven’t missed a summer Games since, even while bringing up my two daughters. This year I spent three weeks in Sochi, and after Wimbledon, I’ll be off to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. This week, it’s 30 years since I started my first job in radio, and I’d never have believed back then that I’d have such a fascinating, challenging and fun career.

Over the last two decades at 5 Live, I’ve worked on pretty much every show on the station, news and sport. My current pattern of Thursday night’s 5 Live Sport and Saturday Breakfast suits me down to the ground – I spend so much time away at sports events, it’s good to be able to have time at home to be mum, to go to my daughters’ school plays and netball matches. And now I’m really excited to be adding a Friday lunchtime sports preview show to the mix. It’s been pointed out that I’ll be the only solo female presenter on weekdays, but in my view that’s no big deal. From Breakfast until the end of Drive every day, the only time you won’t have a woman as a main on-air voice is the three hours between 10am and 1pm. The rest of the schedule (with the exception of the legendary Mayo and Kermode Film Show on a Friday) is a male/female “double header”. And it’s an insult to the top female broadcasters in those teams – Rachel, Anna, Sarah, or me – to insinuate that we’re the junior partner, some kind of fluffy, giggly sidekick.

Just listen back to Rachel’s brilliant reporting from Camp Bastion last week if you want proof of that. Do I wish there were more female broadcasters out there? Of course I do. Does every station put their female presenters at the heart of the output, as 5 Live does? Sadly not. I recently heard of a young, female, football-mad breakfast show presenter on a commercial radio station who was told she couldn’t talk about the World Cup on air. She had to leave the footy chat to her male co-host. It’s a long way from a perfect world for female radio presenters. But Radio 5 Live is doing a great deal more than others to change that world. I wouldn’t still be here after 20 years if it wasn’t’t.

Female anchor defends BBC radio station against gender bias on air, as she and Victoria Derbyshire are replaced by men Published: 4 Jul 2014 BBC - 5 live blog: 5 live output now available on mobiles 5 live output now available on mobiles Post categories: 5 live Interactive , mobile Brett Spencer | 13:59 UK time, Thursday, 20 May 2010 We get a huge amount of correspondence into 5 live Interactive every week and we try to answer as much of it as possible. The most often asked question is, why can't I hear 5 live on my mobile phone? We normally send back a long wordy explanation as to why, up until now, this has been so problematic. Until today - when the answer changes to, well actually you can. Historically the problem we have had is that most mobiles carry FM radio. 5 live remains on AM. Hardly any mobiles carry digital stations, which once again eliminates 5 live and 5 live Sports Extra . But from today, in time for the impending World Cup and Wimbledon fortnight, 5 live is available on your phone.

My colleague in BBC Audio and Music, James Simcock , summed up how this will work: As a user, once you navigate to a BBC Radio mobile site, you'll see a link to 'Listen Live' under the name of the show now on air near the top of the page. Before audio streaming begins, an interstitial page displays detailed guidance and a warning on costs, in order to help users avoid any bill-shock. A couple of clicks later, via a majority of mobile devices (iPhone & iPod Touch to come) you'll be able to access all of the BBC's national radio networks. You can read James' full post on the BBC Internet blog . Brett Spencer is the editor of 5 live Interactive You can see the 5 live mobile website here . BBC Radio 5 Live : definition of BBC Radio 5 Live and synonyms of BBC Radio 5 Live (English) BBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC 's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News , phone-ins, interviews and sports commentaries. It is the principal radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcasting virtually all major sports events staged in the UK or involving British competitors.

Radio 5 Live was launched in March 1994 as a repositioning of the original Radio 5 , which was launched on 27 August 1990. [2] It is transmitted via analogue radio in AM on medium wave 693 and 909 kHz and digitally via Digital Radio , television and via an internet stream. Due to rights restrictions, coverage of some events (in particular live sport) is not available on-line or is restricted to UK addresses. The station broadcasts from MediaCityUK in Salford . [3] The station controller is Adrian Van Klaveren, who was paid £191,000 in 2011, according to official BBC figures. Contents History BBC Radio Five live logo from launch until 1997. The success of Radio 4 News FM during the 1991 first Gulf War led Liz Forgan to suggest in May 1993 [4] the introduction of a combined news and sport network. As a result, the BBC's fifth radio network, BBC Radio 5 , was closed down. The old service's mix of sport, educational and children's programmes were merged into other services.

The new BBC Radio 5 Live began its 24-hour service at 5am on Monday 28 March. The first voice on air was Jane Garvey , who later went on to co-present the breakfast and drivetime shows with Peter Allen . The launch was described by The Times as "slipp[ing] smoothly and confidently into a routine of informative banter" [5] and The Scotsman as "professionalism at its slickest." [6] The tone of the channel, engaging and more relaxed than contemporary BBC output, was the key to the channel's success and set the model for other BBC News services later in the decade. The first audiences were some four million, with a record audience of six and a quarter million. Among the key editorial staff involved in the design of programme formats and recruitment of staff for the new station were Sara Nathan, later editor of Channel 4 News, and Tim Luckhurst , later editor of The Scotsman newspaper and currently Professor of Journalism at the University of Kent. [7] 2000-2007 Five live logo In 2000, the station was rebranded with a new logo which would remain with the station for another seven years.

In addition, on 2 February 2002 a companion station, BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra , was launched as a digital-only service to complement the range of sport and to avoid clashes; previously BBC Local Radio stations were used. [8] Throughout this period, Five Live gained several awards including five Sony Awards in 2005; the single gold award was for its coverage of the 2004 Asian tsunami in the News Story Award category alongside another four silver awards and six nominations. The station also began to further it's boundaries with the publication of the Radio Five Live Sporting Yearbook. [9] In August 2007, BBC Radio Five Live was renamed BBC Radio 5 Live and was given a new logo in line with the rest of the BBC Radio network [10] , and a new background design featuring diagonal parallel lines.

In 2008, the BBC announced that the station would move to MediaCityUK in Salford [11] Broadcast BBC Radio 5 Live at MediaCityUK BBC Radio 5 Live broadcasts in AM on the medium wave frequencies 693 and 909 kHz nationally, with the frequency 990 kHz used at Cardigan Bay ; these frequencies had been utilised by BBC Radio 5 and were used by BBC Radio 2 previously. Uniquely to the BBC Radio network, it is the only station that is neither purely digital (such as 1Xtra , Radio 4 Extra and 6 Music ) nor broadcast in analogue FM . In addition to the AM output, the station also broadcasts digitally on DAB Digital Radio , and on television through satellite services such as Sky , cable services such as Virgin Media , DTT services such as Freeview and through IPTV . The station also broadcasts programmes live through the BBC Online website and the BBC iPlayer sub-site, which allows programs to be replayed up to a week after the original broadcast. The service is also available on the Radioplayer internet site partially run by the BBC.

Before the launch of digital broadcasting, BBC Radio 5 Live had broadcast on analogue satellite with near-FM quality. For many years, the station was operated over four floors from within the News Centre at BBC Television Centre [12] , because of the close connections between the station and BBC News , and the co-location of BBC Sport . However, as part of the corporation's plan to sell off Television Centre, the decision was made in 2008 to move BBC Radio 5 Live to the new broadcast hub at MediaCityUK . [11] The move itself began in September 2011 and took two months. [13] The new studios are located in Quay House over a single floor and consists of two studios, large enough for several guests, and a separate studio for large groups. [14] Programming News BBC Radio 5 live's remit includes broadcasting rolling news and transmitting news as it breaks. The BBC's policy for major breaking news events revolves around a priority list.

With UK news, the correspondent first records a "generic minute" summary (for use by all stations and channels) and then priority is to report on Radio 5 live, then on the BBC News Channel and onto any other programmes that are on air. For foreign news, first a "generic minute" is recorded, then reports are to World Service radio, then the reporter talks to any other programmes that are on air. [15] As a result, BBC Radio 5 Live is often the first place to hear a breaking news story, and it is this quality that appeals to a number of listeners. Sport BBC Radio 5 live broadcasts an extremely wide range of sports and covers all the major sporting events, mostly under its flagship sports banner 5 Live Sport . Whilst football commentaries form the majority of live commentaries during the football season, the range of events covered by the station include: Major League Baseball Most non-cricket broadcasts are available online only from IP addresses within the UK as both television and radio rights are typically sold on a country-by-country basis. Often UEFA Champions League games are not broadcast live online at all due to rights restrictions imposed by UEFA.

This is sometimes not the case for matches in the knockout stage involving English clubs playing at home, whereby domestic radio stations may bid for non-exclusive rights to all coverage, including online broadcast. [16] BBC Radio 5 Live were Official Broadcasters of the 2006 World Cup along with talkSPORT. Both stations broadcast live Premier League commentaries from August 2007, with the 7 rights packages being shared 6 to 1 in favour of 5 Live.[ citation needed ] Regular programmes Regular shows as of May 2011: Morning Reports, presented by the station's overnight newsreader 'Grand Slam' Tennis tournaments Action from any other competition broadcast on Five Live Sports Extra typically emphasizes full broadcasts of Premier League and Home Nations football if games overlap each other. Five Live carries the first-choice match in such cases. Despite the fact that commercial stations (such as Sky Sports ) have acquired the vast majority of sports television broadcasting rights in the UK, the BBC remains dominant in radio sport with BBC Radio 5 Live and its local radio stations. Its main commercial rival for radio sports rights is TalkSPORT .

Presenters Current newsreaders include Rachael Hodges , Tom Sandars , Richard Foster, Cory Allen, Darren McKenzie, Kate Williams, Theopi Skarlatos, Matt Hewitt and Suzanne Chislett. Current sport readers include: George Riley, Will Perry , Mike Williams, Andy Barwell, Lee James, Jenny Culshaw and Martin Emmerson. Current travel readers include Michelle Dignan and Orna Merchant. Former presenters The future of 5 Live | doctorvee This page is 9 years old. The future of 5 Live 6 March 2008 19:24 working-class Radio 5 Live has a new controller , Adrian van Klaveren. This is of interest to me because pretty much whenever I listen to the radio it is Radio 5 Live. No doubt he will want to make his presence felt and will be making changes soon enough. So it’s a good opportunity to have a look at where 5 Live has gone wrong and where it remains as good as ever. Scott’s post on the same topic last week is also worth a look. I discovered Radio 5 Live in early 2001 when I began to outgrow the local music stations.

The brash presenters and samey music began to grate to the extreme, and there was nothing for me to listen to. Scanning around the radio looking for something to listen to overnight, I discovered the amazing Up All Night and stuck with 5 Live permanently. Before I start blasting right in, I should point out one thing that is so important that I will say it in bold red letters. Don’t touch Up All Night! I can’t understand why the best programme on radio is shoved away at the arse end of the day. The programme is a fine mixture of laid-back but intelligent analysis of the day’s events and a number of excellent regular features. Pods and Blogs, Dr Karl’s science phone-in, the etymology phone-in, Cash Peters (worth it just for all the awesome banter) and more are all practically must-listen material. Even stuff I am not usually interested in — world football, films, even Bollywood news — is perfectly enjoyable on Up All Night. The advantage of Up All Night is that it was there on the first night of 5 Live and has been on for the best part of a decade and a half.

Over the years, it has gathered up great features like a glittery tumble weed, experimenting now and again with new ideas and ways of approaching the slot. For instance, I remember the days when the hugely successful, 90 minute long world football phone-in was just a small five or ten minute slot about Brazilian football. It has evolved beautifully. It’s difficult to imagine any of the other programmes on 5 Live, apart from perhaps Simon Mayo, managing this. I can understand why you can’t have a 90 minute long slot about Brazilian football in the middle of the day. The fact that news is happening all the time means that the daytime shows have to be more flexible. But that isn’t an excuse for them to be utter shit. When I began listening to 5 Live I was really happy at first. I couldn’t stand Nicky Campbell, but given that I was still at school back in those days he was really easy to avoid. When he moved to breakfast I had to start looking yet again for a new station to listen to, at least between 6am and 9am. I remember his first show on the breakfast slot. Ego-boy Campbell thought the whole show was his and kept on talking over his co-host .

The frosty relationship between Nicky Campbell, Victoria Derbyshire and Fi Glover made for really embarrassing broadcasting and unbearable listening. I have avoided the breakfast slot like the plague ever since. Inexplicably, the awful Nicky Campbell is still in the breakfast slot, still making a total arse of himself . The rot began to spread over to the other slots. Once the excellent Fi Glover fled the station, allegedly unable to take Campbell’s bravado any longer, the morning phone-in slot went to Victoria Derbyshire. Derby-shite more like! The decision was seemingly at attempt for the station to shed its “Radio Bloke” reputation. The fact that every single one of her stand-ins has done a much better job than Derbyshire ever could says it all. John Pienaar, Phil Williams and especially Matthew Bannister were a joy to listen to in the morning. But Victoria Derbyshire is just awful. She so often sounds completely out of her depth. It is particularly cringe-worthy when she has to deal with a sensitive topic. It sounds like she read in a book somewhere that staying silent a lot is a good way to deal with a sensitive situation. But obviously you can’t just stay quiet on the radio.

You have to say something as well. And she says the most banal things. “…It must be awful…,” she says trying to fake a quiver in her voice. No shit Sherlock. A recent interview with Kenny Richey was one of the worst examples. Lots of silences and lots of “it must have been so difficult” interspersed with strange probing questions about the crimes of his fellow inmates, as if that had anything to do with it. The very premise of the show doesn’t help. It is the stereotypical “Speak Your Brains” phone-in for knuckle-heads. It’s not much different to this video . There is a poll out today saying that no-one speaks for thick white working-class people. The people who answered that poll can’t have listened to Victoria Derbyshire. And the irony of unemployed people complaining about immigrants getting so many benefits. At that time of the morning, you can safely hazard a guess that many of the callers are on the dole, and are also thick as pigshit. If this is what a BBC phone-in is like, I shudder to imagine what a station like TalkSport or LBC would be saying.

Thankfully, the rest of the day on 5 Live is okay. Simon Mayo is really good. I was never so keen in the past, but given that so many of 5 Live’s other great presenters have jumped ship he is like a shining beacon. Drive has changed little and remains as good and bad as it always has been. If anything, it has improved since Anita Anand became one of the presenters. Sport on 5 is not my thing, but it will be there until 5 Live shuts up shop, so there’s no point complaining about it. I don’t mind Richard Bacon as much as some people, but when you look at the roll call of the slot’s previous few presenters — Anita Anand, Matthew Bannister, Fi Glover — you can’t help but think we have gone down a rung. Weekends are just one long disaster zone, with sirens wailing and smoke pouring out of the windows. Is Homer Simpson at the controls? I don’t mind the sport. That’s part of 5 Live so you have to live with it. Besides, they do Formula 1 as well so I can’t complain. But what about all of the programmes around it?

Saturday morning was one slot I was always iffy about. Even when the quite excellent Adrian Chiles was presenting that slot, the programme was inexplicably dull. It seemed to be aimed at boring sport fans who fancied themselves as amateur Stattos. It hasn’t got much better under the control of Eamonn Holmes. Luckily Adam and Joe are on 6 Music on Saturday mornings these days, otherwise I would still be sleeping through until 1pm avoiding all of the dross. And just what on earth has happened to Sunday mornings over the past few months? I hope there is a good reason for Julian Worricker’s disappearance, because his replacement Gabby Logan is terrible. Logan is yet another one of those stars that the BBC has poached from another channel at great expense without even knowing what to do with her (see also Johnny Vaughan, Graham Norton, Richard Blackwood). Is she qualified to broadcast about subjects other than sport? It doesn’t sound like it. Then in the evening there is smooth, calm Stephen Nolan. That was sarcasm there. This loud mouth just approaches every topic from the most controversial and inflammatory angle.

His treatment of sensitive subjects has all the tact and subtlety of a bulldozer knocking over a child’s sandcastle. When you factor in the fact that Stephen Nolan is from Northern Ireland, I should think it is a miracle that this audio arsonist is still alive. To be honest, the only thing that keeps me listening to 5 Live so much is Up All Night — and the fact that all the other radio stations are even worse. BBC 5 Live gets daily Bacon | RadioToday Posted by Roy Martin BBC 5 Live gets daily Bacon Former Capital FM and Xfm DJ Richard Bacon is set to take over the late show on BBC Radio 5 Live from next month, in a schedule shake-up which will also see Jane Garvey leave the station after 13 years, and former late night presenter Anita Anand take over as co-host of the drivetime show. Anita Anand joins Peter Allen on drivetime as the station bids farewell to Jane Garvey, the first voice heard on the network, as she moves on because of family commitments. Anita Anand said: "I am delighted and really rather honoured to be taking over on 5 Live Drive. Jane has always been a presenter I have admired and respected.

"To get the chance to work with a journalist of Peter's calibre is a joyous prospect. Drive is such an important news programme and I relish this new challenge." Richard Bacon, who has presented on 5 Live for the last three years, is given his own permanent slot on the station with a high-profile late night programme (Monday—Thursday, 10pm -1am) of news entertainment and sport. Richard Bacon said of his new role: "I think it's always best if possible to work for a radio station that you listen to. There's no station I listen to more than 5 Live and I think this show will be great fun." Gabby Logan will present a new two-hour news programme on Sunday mornings from 10am to noon, replacing Worricker On Sunday, starting in the New Year. Logan has presented her own programme throughout the summer on Saturday mornings on 5 Live, and was on Breakfast with Nicky Campbell for a month earlier this year. Jane Garvey, on leaving a broadcasting partnership lasting some 13 years, said: "I'm very sad to be leaving 5 Live, where Peter Allen tells me I've been fortunate to spend the best years of my life.

"When we started in 1994 I thought of myself as hip and happening, and of Peter as a cantankerous old git. Thirteen years on and I'm a weary wife and mother and he's still a cantankerous old git. "But I'm very proud of 5 Live and of everything we've achieved. It's easy to forget how many people thought the concept was bound to fail. In fact, the station has a unique bond with its audience and I'm happy I played a part in that. "I'll never, ever stop listening to 5 Live and I'm leaving Peter in the hands of another feisty female, Anita Anand, so I know he will come to no harm." Peter Allen said: "Jane's been a delight to work with — and very long suffering. Bear in mind our partnership has lasted longer than the average marriage at the BBC! "We are likely to have a custody battle over the 6 Sony Awards we have won over the years, some of which have gone missing, but we will try to settle the matter without recourse to the courts. I will miss her and I know the listeners will too, but fortunately there is another talented presenter ready to take on the task.

"Anita Anand is a terrific find for 5 Live, and has a great sense of humour, which is probably just as well." Radio 5 Live Controller Bob Shennan said: "It's the end of an era and I am really sad to lose Jane. She is a fantastic broadcaster and has played a major part in the station since its launch. I hope she will be back on it at some stage in the future. "I'm delighted to welcome Anita, Richard and Gabby to new places in our schedule. They are all familiar voices to our listeners and great talents." – 0 0 506 14 September, 2007 People News 11:19 am 20079 Friday, September 14th, 2007 How Come Anita Anand Is Back On BBC Radio 5? - Radio - Digital Spy Forums How Come Anita Anand Is Back On BBC Radio 5? 1 of 2 Posts: 28,260 How Come Anita Anand Is Back On BBC Radio 5?

She came back for a few days after her maternity leave some weeks back and said that was going to be the last time she was going to be on the radio and as of yesterday she's back on the radio. Permanent move or is she just covering? Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement. 05-01-2011, 11:49 Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 28,260 I work nights and I woke up with the radio still on and heard Peter say about people where enquiring why Anita is back but he didn't say why so unless he mentioned it before........ Parliament is not sitting either at the moment so that could be another reason I suppose. I bet Peter Allen's pleased. Originally Posted by wasa5livefan I bet Peter Allen's pleased. He doesn't seem to get on with Anita or Asma. The last co host he seemed to get on well with was Jane Garvey, otherwise he and the ladies often seem to be pecking each other and not in a kissing way either, having little digs etc. Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 379 Those were the days! Peter and Jane were 5Live Gold.

I'm surprised Peter hasn't gone by now, having to put up with those giggling girls. I think they both know their politics and current affairs, so why they have to act so silly is a mystery. Originally Posted by Radio_fan Those were the days! Peter and Jane were 5Live Gold. I'm surprised Peter hasn't gone by now, having to put up with those giggling girls. I think they both know their politics and current affairs, so why they have to act so silly is a mystery. I actually mentioned some months back at how Anands laugh gave it away with how content with life she must be, I could just tell, and that maybe they should be mindful that a lot of people are not contnet or well off and can't laugh so easily and so long in that oh so content way and since making those comments, I've noticed their laughs are a lot shorter! Good! They where OTT laughs too. I'm glad Peter is still their, he is a very good listen. Anita is standing in for Aasmah while she's on holiday. Aasmah is back on Drive with Peter next Tuesday. Nigel Smith (Interactive Editor, 5 live) Thank god for that then Nigel !!

Anita has one of the most irritating voices on radio together with her fake laugh but there again all the daytime presenters are well versed in displaying their fake laugh and giggling at every oportunity.Its quite pitiful really. 5live has lost enough listeners because of the current dismal lot of daytime presenters........ without losing anymore !! Here's a snapshot of 5live..... '...... Another soldier has died in Afghanistan........but lets not worry about that because here is man who grows mushrooms in his bedroom .........' cue for more and even greater laughter . BBC - 5 live blog Post categories: #5liveHull , Hull , Humberside , Octoberfest , Shelagh Fogarty , festival , finance Adrian Van-Klaveren | 17:31 UK time, Friday, 23 October 2009 We're almost two thirds of the way through the Octoberfest in Hull. It's been another day of fascinating stories on-air and lots of activity round our igloo in the centre of Hull. I spent most of the morning at the St Stephen's Shopping Centre in the city where Shelagh Fogarty was presenting the mid-morning programme .

We thought we'd take the pulse of the economy, talking to shoppers, retailers and small business-owners on the day it was widely predicted the recession would be officially over. Of course that's not what the figures ended up showing and, as we heard from some of Hull's unemployed and from someone recently made bankrupt, you could tell the scale of the economic problems many people are facing. One of 5 live's key aims is to bring our audience different stories and different voices from around the UK - this was a great example of how we can actually do that. But we've reflected many other aspects of life too - from films with Mayo and Kermode to the latest talking points in an area which is passionate about sport. And we've got lots more sporting discussion to come as Colin Murray presents tonight's 5 live sport from Hull as well as tomorrow's Fighting Talk (including a debut by Former Hull City legend Dean Windass). We'll finish with a crucial match at the KC Stadium as Hull City meet Portsmouth . And in our city centre igloo we're preparing for Saturday - likely to be our busiest day. If you're anywhere near Hull, do come along and see us.

Adrian Van Klaveren is Controller of BBC Radio 5 live and 5 live Sports Extra Thanks to Richard Bacon for the photo of the 5 live igloo in Queen Victoria Square, Hull. Is Radio 5 Live's future blokey? Unfortunately it's looking that way | Ruth Barnes | Opinion | The Guardian Is Radio 5 Live's future blokey? Unfortunately it's looking that way How the BBC manages to get more straight, white and male with every 'shakeup' is beyond comprehension Victoria Derbyshire is leaving BBC Radio 5 Live. Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian How the BBC manages to get more straight, white and male with every 'shakeup' is beyond comprehension Wednesday 2 July 2014 12.34 EDT First published on Wednesday 2 July 2014 12.34 EDT Share on Messenger Close As a broadcaster who began my career as a travel news presenter on BBC Radio 5 Live I always saw it as a BBC station that was keen to nurture and represent women on air. The news that Victoria Derbyshire and Shelagh Fogarty are both departing – while Adrian Chiles gets an expanded role – leaves me with my head in my hands. What's happening here?

The changes also include new presenting roles for Tony Livesey and Dan Walker – while the station is left with only one weekly programme fronted solely by a woman, with Eleanor Oldroyd set to present The Friday Sports Panel. Aside from skewing the gender balance, the channel is also losing the presenters who attracted listeners with their excellent human interest programmes. When 5 Live launched in 1994 there was an assumption that as a sports/news-focused channel it was aimed primarily at men, and would be blokey as a result. Instead, it proved the sceptics wrong with award-winning female presenters like Derbyshire and the mighty Jane Garvey hosting flagship weekday programmes. Do these recent changes mean the future is blokey? Are women not equipped to talk about sport? The channel still has the excellent Caroline Barker, who hosts Sports World on the BBC World Service, and the Non-League Show at 5am on a Sunday morning on 5 Live, but there wasn't room in the shakeup for her to host her own prime-time programme. With Tony Hall, director general of the BBC, putting pressure on the networks to find women and put them on the air, why overlook prime homegrown talent right under their nose?

Any female presenters who become household names on the channel do tend to leave. Top talent like Jane Garvey, Anita Anand and Aasmah Mir all cut their teeth on 5 Live and then moved on. It's as if 5 Live acts only as a training ground for female presenters, with stations such as Radio 4 reaping the benefits. The fact that there are plenty of female co-presenters doesn't do much to shut me up I'm afraid. Co-presenters are more often than not reactive, and in this case they'll be reacting to a male presenter who must be assumed knows more or is the expert. God forbid they would actually be "brave" enough to schedule two women co-presenting a show – an immediate turn-off, clearly. In 2012 I attended a media conference at Lincoln University where I was speaking about women in the media alongside a very nice chap from Absolute Radio. On putting a slide up on screen of their daytime presenters one female student asked why there were no women in the lineup. He proceeded to reel out the biggest myth in the radio game, which is that people don't like to listen to female voices on the air. At which point the student's face fell.

How easy to crush a young person's dreams, and based on what? Industry pressure group Sound Women (of which I'm an active member) have looked into this common industry myth and there is no research-based evidence to support this claim. There is, however, plenty of evidence that reveals the dearth of female voices on our airwaves. Research undertaken by Sound Women , working with Creative Skillset, looked at a week across the nation's stations in March 2013. The results were depressing: "One in five solo voices on the radio is female, that figure is one in eight during peak-time breakfast and drive hours. In co-hosted shows, you are nearly 10 times as likely to hear two-plus male presenters as you are to hear two-plus female presenters. Solo female presenters are more likely to be on air at weekends than during the week." How the BBC manages to get more straight, white and male with every passing "shakeup" is beyond comprehension. Is Hall going to take action? Is he on the phone to Jonathan Wall, controller of BBC Radio 5 Live , this very minute, asking what the hell is going on? I hope so.

In fact, when Adrian Chiles kicks off his new weekday show, the first phone-in topic should be the decreasing numbers of female presenters on BBC radio stations ("Where are all the women?! Call us! Tweet us! Text us!"), and I propose that Tony is put through, on-air, as caller number one. Female anchor defends BBC radio station against gender bias on air, as she and Victoria Derbyshire are replaced by men Published: 4 Jul 2014 Speech broadcaster of the year Victoria Derbyshire is at the top of her game – her troubled childhood made her unfraid to ask difficult questions. So why is she bound for the wilds of the BBC news channel, asks Emine Saner Published: 22 Aug 2014 Victoria Derbyshire and Shelagh Fogarty among stars departing, leaving only one weekly show solely fronted by a woman. By John Plunkett Published: 2 Jul 2014 Presenter’s upcoming departure, along with Shelagh Fogarty, prompted criticism of the lack of female voices on the station. By John Plunkett Published: 8 Jul 2014 I can listen to Radio Five Live again!

| doctorvee This page is 10 years old. I can listen to Radio Five Live again! 11 January 2007 12:52 Victoria Derbyshire Speaking of Victoria Derbyshire, what a relief it is to have her gone from the morning phone-in on Radio Five Live for the time being. Matthew Bannister is an absolute master compared to the annoying Derbyshire. He should be the permanent presenter, not a stand-in. 10 comments 11 January 2007 at 20:24 Nothing to do with her accent or anything. I just think she’s a bit tabloidy in the way she presents the programme. I remember when they tried out a variety of replacements for the slot after Fi Glover left, Victoria Derbyshire was chosen over Matthew Bannister and John Pienaar. Bannister has authority without being po-faced while Pienaar surely has a better grasp of the issues (Derbyshire only really seems interested in football). Given that Derbyshire was the worst of the stand-in presenters, it seemed like Five Live’s attempt to shake off its “Radio Bloke” image.

I remember one time when some sports person was on the programme, Victoria Derbyshire kept on asking her about her preparations for the 2012 Olympics (!). Time and time again the athlete had to remind Derbyshire of the small matter of the Beijing Olympics in 2008 which were far more important to the sports person than the London 2012 tabloid hype machine. tp dont agree, victoria gave an air of reality to issues, sometimes five live thinks its issues are more important than they are. victoria at least gave the air waves some jollity. Mr Bean Whilst I enjoy almost all of Victoria’s items – I much prefer Fi Glover’s style and warmth. I know it would be impossible to bring her back onto R5 whilst Victoria is around – but I can still dream Ian Brown 20 April 2008 at 02:39 Can we please have the fantastic Fee Glover back she is 20 times better than Victoria Derbyshire and 100 times better than Richard Bacon .When she left your programs went down hill ,Victoria D has a very poor attitude . The best 2 females on at present are Anita A and the young scotish lady at lunch time.

nicky vitiello 30 July 2008 at 11:48 Matthew Bannister should be given the Victoria Derbyshire slot – he always offers pertinent interjections & is objective as presenters should be but always to the point – V D seems at times to laugh at some contributors valid points & always seem to condone drinking You do know why Fi Glover left 5Live don’t you? Mark Sandell is the clue… bernard 14 August 2008 at 12:30 Yes, bring back Matthew Bannister. Get rid of the awful Stephen Nolan and Richard Bacon. Give Phil Williams the 10 pm-1 am slot., seven day a week. Keep the gentle Asmah Mir on the midday news). Don’t know which pair make me laugh more……Nicky Campbell and droll Shelagh Fogarty (who knows how to deflate Nicky when he gets too pompous), or Peter Allen and the great Anita Anand. These four are what make FiveLive so good. prezidentb

Question: On which National Radio Station would you listen to Shelagh Foggerty, Anita Anand and Richard Bacon?
Answer: RADIO 5 LIVE