Nan Winton became the first woman to appear in vision while reading the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ news on 20 June 1960. The news of this event, unremarkable today, was reported in the national press the following day and generated much discussion over the following months. The decision to place a female newsreader on screen was made partly in response to the challenge of commercial television, but was announced as an experiment.
Winton, who read three news summaries on her first day in front of the camera, was an experienced journalist who had worked on Panorama and Town and Around. She was thought to be serious enough to overcome the prejudice voiced in the media that said women were too frivolous to be the bearers of grave news. However, according to Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Audience Research, viewers thought that a woman reading the late news was "not acceptable". By October, when the initial experiment ended, Winton had read the late bulletins seven times.
The first female newsreader to gain acceptance on the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ was Angela Rippon, who became a regular presenter of the Nine O'clock News in 1975. Winton went on to work for ITV.
June anniversaries
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Juke Box Jury
1 June 1959 -
The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
2 June 1953 -
Mock the Week
5 June 2005 -
Real Lives
5 June 1984 -
D-Day broadcasts
6 June 1944 -
Till Death Us Do Part
6 June 1966 -
First broadcast of Crimewatch UK
7 June 1984 -
Steptoe and Son
7 June 1962 -
Driving School
10 June 1997 -
Last programme from Lime Grove Studios
13 June 1991 -
The Basil Brush Show
14 June 1968 -
Blackadder
15 June 1983 -
Yesterday's Men
17 June 1971 -
De Gaulle's first broadcast to France
18 June 1940 -
Parkinson first broadcast
19 June 1971 -
First female newsreader in vision
20 June 1960 -
Wimbledon first televised
21 June 1937 -
Royal Family first transmitted
21 June 1969 -
Music While You Work
23 June 1940 -
Our World
25 June 1967 -
Opening of Television Centre
29 June 1960