Gwyneth Williams | |
|---|---|
 Gwyneth Williams (2011) | |
| Born | 14 July 1953 |
| Alma mater | St Hugh's College, Oxford |
| Known for | Controller of BBC Radio 4 2010-2019 |
Gwyneth Williams OBE (born 14 July 1953 [1] ) is a former controller of BBC Radio 4. She grew up in South Africa and attended St Hugh's College, Oxford. [2]
Williams joined the BBC World Service in 1976 as a trainee, having briefly worked as researcher at the Overseas Development Institute. In the 1980s she became producer and duty editor of BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight , and then Deputy Editor, Special Current Affairs Programmes, responsible for broadcasting general elections and other major events. [3]
In 1994 as Editor, Policy and Social Programmes she launched current affairs programmes on BBC Radio Five Live and then became Head of Radio Current Affairs and editor of the BBC Reith Lectures – responsible for the department that produced such programmes as File On 4 , Analysis , From Our Own Correspondent , Crossing Continents , 5 Live Report , Money Box and In Business.
In 2007 she returned to the World Service as Director of English Networks and News, responsible for all of the service's English-language programming, until she was made redundant in 2010. [4]
Williams took over from former Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer in September 2010. Her job includes responsibility for BBC Radio 4 Extra, which under her tenure has been rebranded from BBC Radio 7. [5] [6] Her salary was reported to be £175,000 - a 20% reduction on that of her predecessor. [7] The BBC website states her salary to be £183,618. [8]
On 18 November 2011, she was interviewed by Roger Bolton on the Radio 4 programme Feedback about the changes she had made to Radio 4. It was pointed out on the programme that she had caused the biggest changes to Radio 4 for ten years. The changes for which she was responsible included extending the length of The World at One to 45 minutes, and reducing the number of history programmes but increasing Radio 4's coverage of science.
In January 2019 it was announced that Williams was due to leave the corporation after 43 years. [9]
She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to radio and broadcasting. [10]
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasting House, London. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is Mohit Bakaya.
BBC Radio 4 Extra is a British digital radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes originally on BBC Radio 4 nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the principal broadcaster of the BBC's spoken-word archive, and as a result the majority of its programming originates from that archive. It also broadcasts extended and companion programmes to those broadcast on sister station BBC Radio 4, and provides a "catch-up" service for certain Radio 4 programmes.
BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available only on digital media: DAB radio, the Internet, digital television, and throughout northern and western Europe through the Astra 2B satellite.
Moira Clare Ruby Stuart, is a British presenter and broadcaster. She was the first Caribbean female newsreader to appear on British national television, having worked on BBC News since 1981.
Susan Lawley is a retired English television and radio broadcaster. Her main broadcasting background involved television news and current affairs. From 1988–2006, Lawley was the presenter of Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4.
Richard Matthew Bannister is a British media executive and broadcaster.
Mark David Damazer, CBE, is a former Master of St Peter's College, Oxford, and a former controller of BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 7 in the United Kingdom.
Menna Richards OBE was the Controller of BBC Cymru Wales from February 2000 to February 2011.
Malcolm Richard Laycock was an English radio presenter who hosted jazz, big band, and dance band programmes for BBC Radio 2 and the BBC World Service.
Janice Vivienne Hadlow in Lewisham is a former BBC television executive. She was the controller of the BBC television channel BBC Two, taking over this position in November 2008 having previously been controller of BBC Four. At the beginning of March 2014 she assumed a new post within the BBC responsible for special projects and seasons. Hadlow's post was abolished when she left the BBC in 2016.
This is a list of events in British radio during 2010.
Impact, styled also as Impact with Yalda Hakim is a news programme that premiered on BBC World News on 1 February 2010 as part of a network-wide refresh. The programme is hosted by Yalda Hakim, who replaced previous presenter Mishal Husain. The programme brings audiences a mixture of breaking news, debate and analysis using the BBC's range of correspondents based in the Asia Pacific regions and around the world. Broadcasting political, diplomatic, business, sports and breaking news stories directly affecting Asia Pacific, the programme aims to analyse stories from a global perspective. The format includes sport, business and weather updates.
George Edward Entwistle was Director-General of the BBC during 2012, succeeding Mark Thompson. After a career in magazine journalism, he joined BBC Television in 1989, becoming a producer with a primary focus in factual and political programmes. He rose to become the director of BBC Vision, and became the Director-General of the BBC on 17 September 2012.
Charlotte Alexandra Moore is a British television executive who is the BBC's Chief Content Officer. She was appointed to this role in September 2020, having been Director of Content since early 2016 when she assumed responsibility for all of the BBC's television channels after the controller posts were abolished. Moore was Controller of BBC One from 2013 to 2016, in the position of which she was reported to be in charge of a budget of more than £1 billion.
Sophie Henrietta Turner Laing, is a British businesswoman and media executive. She was chief executive officer of global content creator, producer and distributor Endemol Shine Group from December 2014 until July 2020. Prior to taking up that role, she held a number of senior positions at Sky in the UK, including their director of film and managing director of content. She previously worked for the BBC as the acting director of television and, along with Peter Orton and Jim Henson, was a founder of HiT Entertainment. In March 2022 she was named Chair of National Film and Television School.
Anna Carragher is an Irish former broadcasting executive and television producer. From 2000 to 2006, she was Controller of BBC Northern Ireland.
Mary Somerville, OBE was the first Director of Schools Broadcasting at the BBC (1925-1949). She pioneered their school broadcasting program in the 1930s and 1940s, and later served as controller of the BBC Talks division.
Liliane Landor is a Lebanese-born British journalist and broadcasting executive who works as the Director of the BBC World Service. . She worked for the BBC from 1989 to mid-2016, becoming controller for languages at the Service, where she was responsible for radio and television broadcasting in 27 languages. She launched the BBC's 100 Women project in 2014. In November 2016, she was included as one of the inspirational and influential women of 2016 in the BBC's 100 Women — the theme was "defiance".
A timeline of notable events relating to BBC Radio 4, a British national radio station which began broadcasting in September 1967.
A timeline of notable events relating to BBC Radio 5 Live, and its predecessor BBC Radio 5.
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