Nan Winton

Who is Nan Winton?

Nan Winton is a British broadcaster, best known for being the first female national newsreader on BBC television.

She was a BBC TV continuity announcer from 1958–61 and also an experienced journalist who had worked on Panorama and Town and Around. She was given the job to read the 6pm news and weekend bulletins on Sunday evenings, due to pressure from rivals ITN, who had had a female newscaster, Barbara Mandell, since its launch in 1955.

She began on 19 June 1960, but BBC Audience research concluded that viewers thought a woman reading the late news was "not acceptable" and she was removed from the role in March 1961. She remained the only woman to have read the national news on BBC TV until 1975, when Angela Rippon began a much longer spell as a newsreader.

After stepping down from reading the news, Winton remained a TV and radio news reporter and interviewer. She was also a regular panelist on the radio panel game, Treble Chance. She was formerly married to actor Charles Stapley who had appeared as Ted Hope in Crossroads.