Is there a cull of female broadcasters when they reach a certain age?

Labour MP, Harriet Harman, urges Ofcom to publish data highlighting "discrimination" against older female broadcasters.

Talking to the Radio Times this week, Harman also discussed the issues of the pay gap that is not only evident between male and female presenters, but also how the gap widens with age.

The MP for Camberwell and Peckham said that female presenters in TV and radio are often "young (usually glamourous)" meaning that females in broadcasting who over 50-years-old are "as rare as hen's teeth".

She hopes that with official data open to public scrutiny, media companies guilty of such "discrimination" would be more likely to be held to account under the Equality Act of 2010. This comes as several senior female presenters have left their programmes, such as Sue Barker (64), Selina Scott (69), Anna Ford (77) and Miriam O'Reilly (63).

This issue of ageism within TV is not a new topic, not even for Harman, who publicly outed media outlets back in 2013 for lack of older female presenters staying on our screens.

Vikki Cook from Ofcom said that the broadcasting regulator was "working closely with broadcasters to explore how data collection can be improved, and ensure that meaningful comparisons can be made across the industry".