The World Tonight is a British current affairs radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4, every weekday evening, which started out as an extension of the 10 pm news. It is produced by BBC News and features news, analysis and comment on domestic and world issues. Ritula Shah was the main presenter until 27 February 2023, usually presenting the first three days of the week. In the past, the programme utilised other BBC broadcasters, including David Eades, Carolyn Quinn, James Coomarasamy, Roger Hearing to regularly present on Thursdays, Fridays and in Shah's absence. The programme is currently presented on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays by James Coomarasamy. Between 1989 and 2012, the main presenter was Robin Lustig.

History

The World Tonight was first broadcast on 6 April 1970, starting on the same day as PM. It was introduced following the changes at Broadcasting House which ushered in Radio 1, to create "the serious current affairs programme of the day" on the new Radio 4, as one survivor recalls. Broadcast live at 10 pm, initially for only thirty minutes, its tone was set by presenter Douglas Stuart, a former Washington and Bonn correspondent for the BBC. The first edition contained interviews on Northern Ireland and relations between West Germany and the United States. Later that week, ideas for better government in Scotland and peace in the Middle East were featured. Its focus on international news was set early on by events in Washington surrounding Watergate. The US time zone (five hours behind the UK) meant that the programme could bring up to the minute developments at 10 pm. Its first reporters came from within the ranks of the programme's own producers, which meant that packages or features were cut from a different cloth than standard news reports. Presenters with strong journalistic credentials, including John Tusa, Anthony Howard, Richard Kershaw, Isabel Hilton and Robin Lustig, have secured and maintained the programme's reputation for authoritative coverage. Other notable former staffers include Dominic Lawson, former editor of The Sunday Telegraph, Jim Gray, former editor of Channel 4 News, Jonathan Freedland of The Guardian, and Henry Kelly. Veterans recall the traditionally "relaxed" figure of the editor. The laissez faire approach of the boss over the years created a culture in which Output Editors, responsible for daily editions, were able to take risks, some of which have led to notable scoops, such as the predicted arrest on war crimes charges of General Augusto Pinochet in 1998. A staple of the Radio 4 schedule for over four decades, 2013 figures showed The World Tonight has retained 1.75 million listeners, representing 17.8% of the national radio audience at 10 pm.

In popular culture

Presenters

Current

Since 2012 the programme has used a roster of broadcasters to host, with one regular presenter as main presenter.

Past

Editors

Reporters

Current

Past

Awards

Footnotes