Andrea Catherwood to host Radio 4’s Feedback as indie takes over

BBC Radio 4’s Feedback will be hosted by Andrea Catherwood and produced by the independent production company, Whistledown from October 14th.

Andrea replaces Roger Bolton who, after 23 years, presented his last programme on August 26th.

Andrea has presented Woman’s Hour and The Media Show, and made her first Radio 4 documentary at the age of eighteen. She’s a former ITN newscaster and correspondent who reported on Kosovo, the Omagh bombing, and 9/11.

Her previous work with Whistledown includes Media Front for the BBC World Service.

“It’s such a great privilege to be part of the programme that allows listeners to have their say and shines a light on the way radio programmes and podcasts are made”, say Andrea. “It’s the essence of public service broadcasting”.

Whistledown was founded in 1998, and already makes The Reunion, Positive Thinking, All Consuming and Made of Stronger Stuff for BBC Radio 4.

Whistledown previously produced Feedback between 2010 and 2019, and take over, after a three-year break, from Juniper TV.

The new production team will work out of the company’s Scottish base in Glasgow’s Hidden Lane.

“Feedback has a long history of representing listener’s views, allowing them to comment on the BBC’s output of programmes and podcasts, and challenging journalists and programme makers”, says Whistledown Managing Director David Prest. “We want to build on that record and give listeners a programme they can be proud of”.

Mark Rickards, Director of Whistledown Scotland added, “Having established ourselves in January 2020, it’s wonderful to have gone through the rigorous tendering process to bring Feedback to our new base here in Glasgow”.

Whistledown says the programme will reflect listener’s feelings about how the BBC is covering the big stories, take a closer look at BBC podcasts and programmes, and introduce a new feature “Vox Box” which allows two listeners to review and analyse an individual programme in much greater detail.